First published 2019
Jack Casement pulls on his fur coat and Cossack hat, grips his bullwhip, and strides out to face another impossible day. The former Union general must drive his crews to lay more track than anyone thought possible. While his partners scheme in Washington boardrooms, Casement battles ice in the Sierra Nevada and buffalo herds that tear up freshly laid rails. From the west, thousands of Chinese workers blast through deadly mountain passes. The Central Pacific and Union Pacific race toward each other across a continent, each mile bringing fortune or ruin. Casement knows this iron road will transform America forever, opening the West and uniting a fractured nation. But first he must survive the ruthless men, brutal weather, and financial corruption threatening to derail everything. Williams captures the raw ambition and violence of building the transcontinental railroad through the eyes of the soldiers, immigrants, and profiteers who hammered it into existence.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, adventure, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Sierra Nevada, United States, West
Period: 19th Century
346 pages · Kindle Edition · New Word City, Inc.