"Deals with the war between the wheat grower and the railroad trust." "First novel in 'The Epic of Wheat,' a projected trilogy. Set mostly in the San Joaquin Valley and San Francisco, it shows the conflict between wheat ranchers and the railroad ('The Octopus') that is the lifeline of trading and shipping. The bloody encounter at the climax of the novel is based on the 'Mussel Slough Tragedy' of May, 1880. The novel roughly covers the period of the...

"On a famous Australian train between Darwin and Adelaide for the Mystery Writers' Society one of the attendees is murdered for real in the new mystery from the author of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone"--

"In 1869, Gloriana Womack's family is much smaller since scarlet fever killed her mother and two of her siblings. She lives in a modest cottage in Duluth, Minnesota, with her father and young brother, and she has dedicated her life to holding her tiny, fractured family together--especially as her father is frequently gone on long fishing trips. Their livelihood may come from the waters of Lake Superior, but storms on the lake can be dangerous, even...

"Stretching across the wild western frontier, the railroad needs guardians like Wells Fargo detective Wolf Stockburn. Known as the Wolf of the Rails, the steely Scotsman is as cold and hard as the tracks he rides -- and those too foolish to fear him will soon lie dead at his feet . . . When train robbers hit the Boot Hill Express -- so called because of all the people riding it who have ended up dead -- with a full head of steam, Wolf Stockburn makes...

"Del Wensley, wife of the most celebrated preacher in Harlan County, tries to mind her place. Until her husband's infidelity pushes an already strained marriage to a breaking point. Clinging to her last hope for self-respect, Del turns her back on the rigid life she's known. A coal train is rolling through the valley. With her eyes wide open to the unfamiliar, and to the freedom she craves, Del takes to the rails. Rumbling across America, Del is soon...

Bloody Arizona: "Yakima's life gets even more complicated than usual when four strangers ride into Apache Springs and shoot the town marshal while Yakima is locked in jail. They would have raped the marshal's wife and burned the entire town to the ground if Yakima hadn't shot his way out of the cell and intervened. Now the marshal's wife, Julia, calls on Yakima to wear her husband's badge and go up against the kill-crazy, vengeance-hungry Rebel Wilkes,...

"Thomas and his friends must use some "steamwork" to keep the devious Diesel Engines in line."--