The Race of the Tiger — Alexander Cordell

Born into the appalling deprivation of Nineteenth Century Ireland, Jess O'Hara
and his high-spirited sister, Karen, flee their impoverished homeland to seek
a new life in America.

Exhausted after a nine-week crossing in an overcrowded, disease-ridden 'coffin
ship', they arrive in Pittsburgh - the tumultuous steel capital of the United States.
Surrounded by smoke and fire-belching chimneys, they struggle to adapt to this
alien world.

At first resisting the tug of easy wealth, Jess forsakes his fellow immigrants and
bulldozes his way to fame and fortune, exploiting the love of two women to become
a financial tiger in a city where only the strong and ruthless prevail.