Trainwreckers

About the Book

It is the golden age of the steam locomotive. The transcontinental railroad has just been completed across America, and while Native American Indians are fighting for their survival in the western territories, scores of people are looking for entertainment.

Trainwreckers is inspired by the true-life exploits of Casey Jones, Joseph S. Connolly, and William G. Crust. Trainwreckers captures the spirit of the defiant, reckless age of the steam engine. This is a fictional account of Red Eagle, Doc Leonard, and Rachael Weatherford as they travel around the country staging head-on train wrecks for groups of adventuresome, frenzied, thrill seeking spectators looking for entertainment. The year is 1890 and the Wild West is in full swing.

When the crowds grow and more money flows, the Trainwreckers decide to stage the ultimate train crash, and only one person will survive. The great train crash takes on a national significance in the race for the presidency of the United States during the William Jennings Bryan presidential campaign in 1896 against the Republican Candidate and former Ohio governor William McKinley.

About the Author

David Rosten has been involved in “Indian Princesses” over the years. His Indian name is Red Eagle. His children’s great-grandmother Ione West was a distant relation of Red Eagle. He is a community director for the Center for Citizenbuilding, Department of Social Sciences, at the University of California, and he is on the national board of directors of the Olive Tree Initiative at UC Irvine. He is former cochair of the Dean’s Council at UC Irvine and currently lives in Newport Beach with his children.

David Rosten is the author of five previous books: Olaf’s Saga: The True Story of a Viking King and the Discovery of America; The Dragon’s Triangle: The True Story of the First Nonstop Flight Across the Pacific; The Last Cheetah: A Narrative History of Egyptian Royalty from 1805 to 1953; and The Last Romantic: The True Story of the Life of Enrique Granados and a fictional book called The Hermitage.