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Railroad
Like his first saga, Masterton based this explosive novel on a real life character (Collis P. Huntington) using the transcontinental rail service as his theme. Collis Edmonds' ambition is to blast a railroad through the heart of America - especially after seeing his family made bankrupt by investing in a similar but worthless scheme. Edmonds is portrayed as a gambler, drinker, chauvinist and arrogant womaniser.
569 pages, Hardcover
First published May 11, 1981
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About the author
Graham Masterton
422 books1,982 followersGraham Masterton was born in Edinburgh in 1946. His grandfather was Thomas Thorne Baker, the eminent scientist who invented DayGlo and was the first man to transmit news photographs by wireless. After training as a newspaper reporter, Graham went on to edit the new British men's magazine Mayfair, where he encouraged William Burroughs to develop a series of scientific and philosophical articles which eventually became Burroughs' novel The Wild Boys.
At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.
Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.
Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.
He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.
Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.
He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.
At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.
Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.
Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.
He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.
Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.
He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 26, 2018
Anyone looking for a book rich in historical flavor should consider Railroad. For the mid-19th century (antebellum) period, it has all the right touches: The Panic of 1857, Faro as the popular gambling game, the post-gold rush mess in San Francisco, specific tunes cited from the period, and, of course, railroad fever. I particularly liked Masterton’s used of the old frontier ditty: ‘Oh, I remember well, the lies they used to tell, of gold so bright it hurt the sight, and made the miners yell.’ (Kindle Locations 5485-5486)). Ipso Books. Kindle Edition. The protagonist, Collis Edmonds, is an unreformed, unrepentant ne’er-do-well spending his father’s money with no regrets around the time of the Panic of 1857. From the first chapter, the reader understands the trials through which Collis must pass.
Collis states, “’You don’t have to feel sorry for me,’ he said uncomfortably, ‘I ‘ve got everything I could possibly want.’” To which his female interlocutor responds, “’That’s exactly the trouble,’ she smiled, ‘When you’ve got everything, you’ve got everything to lose.’” With such foreshadowing, the reader immediately knows things aren’t going to go well. In fact, since “no good deed goes unpunished,” you know things are going to unravel as soon as Collis finally does something to please his parents.
And, when things start to unravel, Collis takes the initiative to fix them. But one cannot move from promiscuous and profligate to responsible and rehabilitated in one move. Indeed, Collis has to leave his comfortable society and strike out for the West to feed his ego and, eventually, his ambition. On that quest, Collis becomes involved with a number of women—some physically unrequited and some purely physical. Yet, he learns the value of emotional response in some of the involvements, eventually discovering the cost of love in others. Indeed, things are so tough when he arrives in the Pacific frontier that he is told, ‘Someone worked out that one out of five people die within six weeks of arriving in California, and that three out of the remaining four get sick within three months. (Kindle Locations 7412-7414).
Ironically, he ends up finding some relationship with God, although there are aspects of this relationship that boxes his “God” in as a very “convenient” God. His “testimony” in one conversation is quite interesting: ‘Not faith. Certainty. I’m certain, since I left New York, that God creates currents of history on which we all float. I’m not particularly religious, so don’t question me too close about it. But I know that when I’ve offered up prayers to God, they’ve worked, after a fashion; and that when I’ve needed some kind of aim in my life, God has let me loose in one of his – what shall I call it? flows of destiny.’ (Kindle Locations 5766-5769).Yet, in his own way, Collis allows his relationship to grow. prayer. ‘Dear Lord,’ he said, as if he were starting a letter to a friend in a foreign country, ‘I don’t know what it is that You want of me; or even if You want anything from me at all. But I guess it’s You behind all this, because it’s all too big to be anybody else.’ He paused. He felt like a fool. But he knew, somehow, that God was really there. He knew that God was waiting for him to continue, that God expected more. (Kindle Locations 8917-8920).
Along the way, there are some anticipated tragedies and some unanticipated tragedies. One never feels like the story is going to travel as straight as the rails across the prairie so anticipated by the protagonist. Railroad is an intense journey through a difficult time in U.S. history intertwined with personal failures and triumphs. From the beginning, one knows what is going to happen with the railroad through the Sierras, but one doesn’t know for certain how that result will affect Collis. The ending is not what I expected, but it is an ending that reflects great humanity.
Collis states, “’You don’t have to feel sorry for me,’ he said uncomfortably, ‘I ‘ve got everything I could possibly want.’” To which his female interlocutor responds, “’That’s exactly the trouble,’ she smiled, ‘When you’ve got everything, you’ve got everything to lose.’” With such foreshadowing, the reader immediately knows things aren’t going to go well. In fact, since “no good deed goes unpunished,” you know things are going to unravel as soon as Collis finally does something to please his parents.
And, when things start to unravel, Collis takes the initiative to fix them. But one cannot move from promiscuous and profligate to responsible and rehabilitated in one move. Indeed, Collis has to leave his comfortable society and strike out for the West to feed his ego and, eventually, his ambition. On that quest, Collis becomes involved with a number of women—some physically unrequited and some purely physical. Yet, he learns the value of emotional response in some of the involvements, eventually discovering the cost of love in others. Indeed, things are so tough when he arrives in the Pacific frontier that he is told, ‘Someone worked out that one out of five people die within six weeks of arriving in California, and that three out of the remaining four get sick within three months. (Kindle Locations 7412-7414).
Ironically, he ends up finding some relationship with God, although there are aspects of this relationship that boxes his “God” in as a very “convenient” God. His “testimony” in one conversation is quite interesting: ‘Not faith. Certainty. I’m certain, since I left New York, that God creates currents of history on which we all float. I’m not particularly religious, so don’t question me too close about it. But I know that when I’ve offered up prayers to God, they’ve worked, after a fashion; and that when I’ve needed some kind of aim in my life, God has let me loose in one of his – what shall I call it? flows of destiny.’ (Kindle Locations 5766-5769).Yet, in his own way, Collis allows his relationship to grow. prayer. ‘Dear Lord,’ he said, as if he were starting a letter to a friend in a foreign country, ‘I don’t know what it is that You want of me; or even if You want anything from me at all. But I guess it’s You behind all this, because it’s all too big to be anybody else.’ He paused. He felt like a fool. But he knew, somehow, that God was really there. He knew that God was waiting for him to continue, that God expected more. (Kindle Locations 8917-8920).
Along the way, there are some anticipated tragedies and some unanticipated tragedies. One never feels like the story is going to travel as straight as the rails across the prairie so anticipated by the protagonist. Railroad is an intense journey through a difficult time in U.S. history intertwined with personal failures and triumphs. From the beginning, one knows what is going to happen with the railroad through the Sierras, but one doesn’t know for certain how that result will affect Collis. The ending is not what I expected, but it is an ending that reflects great humanity.
December 9, 2017
It Convinced Me To Take the Train to Utah!
This is a wonderful story told with style, grace, adventure, excitement and mist important a sense of historical signifhcance. How the railroad was built over the high sierras is a remarkable fact. I think it would be easy to mess up the telling but this writing provides a careful balance which draws you in and keeps you interested.
This is a wonderful story told with style, grace, adventure, excitement and mist important a sense of historical signifhcance. How the railroad was built over the high sierras is a remarkable fact. I think it would be easy to mess up the telling but this writing provides a careful balance which draws you in and keeps you interested.
October 26, 2017
I read this book as a historic fiction work. The book goes through modern American history of how the first transnational railroad was built, and gives due credit to the pioneers and Chinese labourers. The unsavoury aspects of railroad scams, bank busts, land grants, government loans/subsidies, wheeling-dealing for approvals etc is also covered in the book. A good background for someone to appreciate how bubbles form and burst, as also how a single man can change the course of a nation.
January 27, 2018
Great read with lots of fascinating characters. It was an amazing time where to get to the other side of the country involved a hige amount of time and great risks. What a vision to want to make this railroad and how it changed history and the counrty. But it cost Collis and others a great deal. Would love to know how historically correct it was.
May 9, 2017
Another great true story of the building of the first transcontinental railroad in the US in the 1860s.
December 7, 2017
Outstanding historical fiction -- sure, at times it was overwrought but it was extremely well researched & written. I'd recommended the book & looking into other work by Masterton.
April 14, 2020
Another by this author I really enjoyed when I read it. Plenty of good story to keep you locked in and entertained by.
November 27, 2020
The melodrama almost had me put this down in the beginning, but glad I didn't. It's a fun read that gives a very basic outline of the building of the first transcontinental railway. The real historical story is drastically different than this book and so if you are expecting much accuracy in your historical fiction, turn elsewhere. If you're after an easy read with real locations and a wild west atmosphere, belly up to the bar my friend. 3 stars
February 1, 2016
This is not my usual sort of book, but I really enjoyed it. The story follows a young man in the 1800s as he tries to build a trans-continental railroad (across America of course), not an easy task at all as it turns out. Recommended.
August 11, 2013
This novel is based a real life character (Collis P. Huntington) and uses the USA transcontinental railroad as the central theme. I did enjoy this book and gave it 5 stars.
September 28, 2019
A great read.
Very descriptive and exciting story about desire, fortitude, love and loss during a volatile period in American History. Thank you Mr. Masterton.
Very descriptive and exciting story about desire, fortitude, love and loss during a volatile period in American History. Thank you Mr. Masterton.
April 21, 2017
Long
This was a good read, but from a female standpoint it was rather long and cumbersome. It was an interesting take on the history of railroads in the USA
This was a good read, but from a female standpoint it was rather long and cumbersome. It was an interesting take on the history of railroads in the USA
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews