Part of Isaac Bell, book 2
First published 2009
Financial panic grips America in 1907. Across the Western territories, explosions tear apart Southern Pacific Railroad trains. Fires consume depots. The Cascades express line bleeds money and lives. Railroad executives turn to the Van Dorn Detective Agency for help. Isaac Bell, their top operative, arrives to find a pattern in the chaos. A saboteur called the Wrecker moves through hobo camps, recruiting desperate men for attacks on the railroad. After each job, the accomplices turn up dead. The Wrecker strikes without warning, covering impossible distances across the vast Western landscape. Bell realizes this enemy operates with military precision and unlimited resources. The detective faces a puzzle with deadly stakes. Is the Wrecker a labor agitator, an anarchist, or something more dangerous? Each clue points toward a larger scheme, something that could destroy more than just railroad tracks. Bell races against time as the Wrecker prepares for his ultimate target.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, crime, detective, action, 19th-century
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: detective, enemies-to-lovers, mystery
Setting: America, Cascades, Southern Pacific Railroad, Western Territories
Period: 1907
470 pages · Hardcover · Putnam Adult