Overnight settlements, better known as 'Hell on Wheels, ' sprang up as the transcontinental railroad crossed Nebraska and Wyoming. They brought opportunity not only for legitimate business but also for gamblers, land speculators, prostitutes, and thugs. Dick Kreck tells their stories along with the heroic individuals who managed, finally, to create permanent towns in the interior West

On May 24, 1911, one of the most notorious murders in Denver's history occurred. The riveting tale involves high society, adultery, drugs, multiple murder, and more, all set in Denver's grand old hotel, the Brown Palace. As foreword writer and historian Tom Noel proclaims, "Hollywood murder mystery writers could not have contrived a thriller as chilling as this factual account." The characters in this real-life melodrama could not have been better cast. At the center of the storm was the seductively beautiful Denver socialite, Isabel Springer. In her thrall were three men--two locked in a struggle for her affections, and the third her unsuspecting husband. Little did ambitious John W. Springer, wealthy Denver businessman and politician, know that lovely Isabel, 20 years his junior, had been feeding the romantic fire of an out-of-town suitor at the same time that she was developing a cozy relationship with a man he regarded a friend and business partner. Threat and counter-threat between one-time cowboy and automobile racing driver Sylvester Louis ("Tony") von Phul and the dapper Harold Francis Henwood culminated in a barroom confrontation and a double gunshot murder. What followed were two of the most lurid court trials in Colorado history. This tragic story of a spectacular crime of passion and how it ruined the lives of those involved is one readers won't be able to put down.

Started by Italian brothers from North Denver, the high-profile Smaldone crime syndicate began in the bootlegging days of the 1920s and flourished into the 1980s. Connected to notorious crime figures, politicians, and presidents, Clyde Smaldone was the crime family's leader. Through candid interviews and firsthand accounts, Dick Kreck reveals the true sense of what it meant to be a Smaldone, not only the corrupt but also the virtuous.

Dick Kreck retired from "The Denver Post" after thirty-eight years as a columnist. He is the author of four other books, including "Murder at the Brown Palace." He lives in Denver, Colorado.