Books of Excellence with Author Bonnie Kaye

Tonight Bonnie Kaye welcomes author Michael McGranahan, who has written the book Silver Kings & Sons of Bitches.

Michael McGranahan was born and raised in San Diego. He holds degrees in geology and geophysics and worked for ten years in oil and gas exploration; six of those years were in San Francisco where he fell in love with the City by the Bay. He is married and has two children, and currently divides his time between Modesto (where he maintains a bankruptcy trustee practice) and Santa Cruz, California. He enjoys rock climbing in Yosemite, surfing in Santa Cruz, and going to Giants games with his wife. His love of history, and training in the sciences, has perhaps given him the ideal background for this story about a banker, an engineer, and the silver mines of the Comstock Lode. Silver Kings & Sons of Bitches is his first novel; he is at work on his second historical novel, set in Shakespearian England.

His book is based on the true story of a man who sacrificed everything for a city - San Francisco - and his dream that it would one day be the most beautiful city in the world....and all for the love of a woman. The year is 1854 and William Ralston’s fiancée has just died. She, the granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, was to help Ralston transform the squalid gold rush town into a beautiful, modern city; now, alone, he will take up the quest in her memory. When the Comstock Lode is discovered, the dream seems suddenly plausible: Ralston, a banker, will funnel the wealth of the silver mines into his fledgling city - build magnificent  theaters, hotels, museums, and finance businesses.

Jessalyn Ohhlson is a prostitute who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ralston's deceased fiancée. Ralston finds her irresistible, and they begin a torrid affair. What happens next will surprise you!