Thunder on the Mountain: A Novel of 1936 - Paperback

by David Poyer (Author)

"A stunning period tale in which the oft-forgotten essence of the American dream is visible in every chapter." - Publisher's Weekly, starred review "Dramatic and suspenseful, full of despair and hope." - Booklist, starred review "The prizefight and deer hunt sequences are worthy of Jack London"- Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel "Poyer, who grew up in Bradford, has been compared to Steinbeck, with good cause." - Pittsburgh Post- Gazette

Back Jacket

THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN revisits the terrible winter of 1936 in western Pennsylvania, where a strike to organize the workers in the Thunder Oil Company arises after a refinery disaster exposes the company's contempt for workers' safety. W.T. "Kid Nitro" Halvorsen, a young boxer and well shooter, becomes a leader of the strike against Daniel Thunner's beloved family company -- a strike that draws national attention, not to mention the arrival of ruthless strikebreaker Pearl Deatherage and of determined CIO organizer Doris Gurley Golden. As the unrest spreads in scale and fury, Halvorsen and Thunner must put their ideas of honor and morality to the test. In a high-stakes game of one-upmanship and violence, who will prove himself king of the mountain?

Author Biography

DAVID POYER grew up amid the hills of Western Pennsylvania. Millions of copies of his thirty-plus books are in print. His most enduring body of work, however, may be his Hemlock County series: The Dead of Winter, Winter in the Heart, As the Wolf Loves Winter, and Thunder on the Mountain. Poyer teaches in the MA and MFA Creative Writing Program at Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre.