Fans of MacLean will recognize the usual plots twists, thrill-packed finale, and trademark sardonic dialogue.

For American audiences, MacLean was less successful capturing an authentic tone of the western frontier, and the 1975 movie version starring Charles Bronson, Richard Crenna, Ben Johnson, and Jill Ireland, proved to be more popular with the public than the novel.

Aboard the train are Nevada state governor Fairchild and his niece Marica, along with U.S. Army cavalry Colonel Claremont and two carloads of troops.

Pearce, a lawman and Indian agent is transporting supposedly dangerous murderer and gunman John Deakin.

Their destination is the remote Fort Humboldt deep in the Nevada mountains, whose troops have recently been decimated by a cholera epidemic.