Life and Death at Hoover Dam

By: Jerry Borrowman

Narrated by: Wes Tanner

It’s 1931 - the start of the Great Depression.

With jobs running sparse, David Conroy is among the lucky few who is selected to work in the searing heat of the Nevada desert on the massive Hoover Dam, one of America's most amazing and biggest engineering accomplishments.

The goal is to tame the mighty Colorado River with a dam that towers sixty stories high. But is the cost too great for these desperate men who must sacrifice their safety to support their families?

From choking on gasoline fumes in 120-degree heat inside the five-stories-tall diversion tunnels, to dangling by slender cables from the thousand-foot walls of Black Canyon, building a dam in the middle of a barren desert is a matter of life and death for the workers.

Amidst the dangerous conditions, there is another battle David and his colleagues must conquer. The battle over prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry, all while overcoming family drama and the economic problems of the Great Depression.

Listeners will find themselves cheering for the heroes and booing the villains, minute after minute, with every breath-taking incident in this gripping tale. Get your copy today!

©2010 Jerry Borrowman (P)2023 Jerry Borrowman

Did not disappoint

My family and I recently toured the Hoover Dam. The tour was intriguing and fascinating, mostly covering the purpose, history and engineering of the project. However, it left me with a lot of unanswered questions about the personal struggles of all of the people involved in the project from the top down. Knowing the 30s in our American history, racism and prejudice were still running rampant in the work force, laborers were being taken advantage of because of the Great Depression, and OSHA wasn’t even a thought yet. What were the living conditions like for the employees? How did being so far from home affect the their families and relationships? What were their wages and benefits? No deaths were mentioned in the tour, but knowing the time in our history and work safety practices, I knew there had to be some deaths involved. There were 98 deaths in total. Did the government or company provide any compensation to their families? I just had so many questions and this book answered most of them in a well written historical fiction form. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

This was an amazing audiobook

I really enjoyed listening to this story of the Boulder/Hoover dam and those who are in the story. Loved the many characters...except for the cops!