<DIV>The railroad is coming to Leadville and its rich Rocky Mountain mines. And who is coming to celebrate its arrival but Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the U.S. and former commander of the Union armies. Like other residents in the Colorado boomtown this summer of 1880, Inez Stannert regards the news as mixed. Some folks have wicked memories of the war, others have a stake in the competing railroad lines. And photographer Susan Carothers, Inez's friend, is caught in the deadly crossfire.. Iron Ties is Ann Parker's second novel, following Silver Lies, winner of the Willa (Cather) Literary Award for Historical Fiction, the Colorado Gold Award, and finalist for the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award and the Spur Award for Best Novel of the West. www.annparker.net</div>