David R Leng is an award-winning historical conspiracy thriller author and an available interview guest on American history, buried Civil War and colonial secrets, treasure legends, and the real research behind the Echoes of Fortune series. Journalists, producers, and podcast hosts are welcome to use the materials below.
Story Angles
A few angles that tend to resonate with audiences. Happy to tailor to your show.
A real secret society that hid Confederate gold
The Knights of the Golden Circle were a documented Civil War secret society. Federal investigators tracked them at the highest levels, and the Confederate treasury genuinely vanished in the chaos of 1865. David separates the documented record from the fiction and keeps the door open on what was never accounted for. Timely, and the basis of his new release.
The risk officer who writes the disaster he spends his day preventing
By day, David spent a thirty-year career as a risk management executive and accident investigator, analyzing failure, predicting catastrophic scenarios, and uncovering hidden causes. By night he writes conspiracies that feel real because the same skills built them. A strong second-act and “how a professional life becomes fiction” segment.
They marched an army over a general’s grave
When General Braddock died on the 1755 retreat, a 23-year-old George Washington had him buried in the road and marched the army over the grave to hide it from desecration. It was lost for nearly fifty years. True history from the ground David grew up on, and the seed of the whole series.
Local legend to award-winning series
A chance encounter with a stranger and a metal detector on the Youghiogheny River, asking about Braddock’s gold, planted the seed for a series that has since won the PenCraft Thriller of the Year and back-to-back Best Thriller honors. Great for regional and hometown coverage.
Bios
Three lengths. Click Copy to grab the exact text for your piece.
Short
David R Leng is the award-winning author of the Echoes of Fortune historical conspiracy thriller series, winner of the 2025 PenCraft Thriller of the Year, two Literary Titan Gold Awards, and Kirkus Reviews “GET IT” Picks. He lives in Pennsylvania.
Medium
David R Leng is the award-winning author of the Echoes of Fortune historical conspiracy thriller series, winner of three PenCraft Awards including the 2025 Thriller of the Year and back-to-back Best Thriller honors, two Literary Titan Gold Awards, and Kirkus Reviews “GET IT” Picks. A lifelong resident of Southwestern Pennsylvania and a Penn State alumnus, David grew up in the shadow of the same battlefields his characters explore. His thirty-year career as a risk management executive and accident investigator, analyzing failure and uncovering hidden causes, gives his conspiracies their grounding. When he is not unraveling centuries-old mysteries, he can be found scuba diving, boating, or in his woodshop.
Long
David R Leng is the award-winning author of the Echoes of Fortune historical conspiracy thriller series, winner of three PenCraft Awards, including the 2025 Thriller of the Year and back-to-back Best Thriller honors, two Literary Titan Gold Awards, and Kirkus Reviews “GET IT” Picks.
A lifelong resident of Southwestern Pennsylvania and a Penn State alumnus, David grew up in the shadow of the same battlefields his characters explore. He spent summers near the Shades of Death wilderness in western Maryland and has kayaked the Youghiogheny River, where a chance encounter with a stranger carrying a metal detector and asking about Braddock’s gold planted the seed for the series.
His debut novel, The Search for Braddock’s Lost Gold, follows historian Jack Sullivan into the unsolved mystery of General Braddock’s vanished army payroll from the 1755 Battle of the Monongahela. The series has since expanded to the sunken Confederate secrets of Shadows Over Cozumel and the shadowed world of The Knights of the Golden Circle.
David’s thirty-year career as a risk management executive and accident investigator gives him a distinct advantage as a thriller writer. His professional expertise centers on analyzing failure, predicting catastrophic scenarios, and uncovering hidden causes, skills that translate directly into crafting realistic conspiracies and investigative tension on the page.
When he is not unraveling centuries-old conspiracies, David can be found scuba diving, boating, or in his woodshop. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and family.
The Books
The Knights of the Golden Circle
A Civil War cipher leads Jack Sullivan into a conspiracy Jefferson Davis died protecting, a documented secret society that adapted instead of disappearing, and a threat to the republic 150 years in the making.
“Sullivan is one part Jack Reacher, one part Indiana Jones.”
Kirkus Reviews, “GET IT”
“Leng lets the past press against the present, sometimes like a warning and sometimes like a buried fuse.”
Literary Titan ★★★★★
“A swaggering epic of conspiracies, treasure hunting, historical mysteries, and race-against-the-clock suspense.” Takeaway: “Epic thriller of Confederate secrets, treasure hunting, and an infiltrated America.”
BookLife by Publishers Weekly (comps: Steve Berry, Clive Cussler)
Awards and honors: Kirkus “GET IT” Pick. Strong BookLife by Publishers Weekly review. Literary Titan 5-star.
Details: Paperback $19.99 (460 pages). Kindle $5.99 preorder, $7.99 at launch. Audiobook narrated by Ben Hauck via ACX. ASIN B0H46XN5CG.
Shadows Over Cozumel
A dive off Cozumel surfaces a Confederate blockade runner lost in 1865, and a sealed brass tube of secrets powerful enough to rewrite history.
“The claustrophobic underwater sequences crackle with authenticity… a masterclass in suspense in which every breath counts.”
Kirkus Reviews, “GET IT”
“Nail-biting novella of dark secrets, history, and danger in the deep.”
BookLife by Publishers Weekly (comps: Sarah Penner’s The Amalfi Curse, James Becker’s The Titanic Secret)
“Leng’s world of sunken secrets moves fast, hits hard and lands every shot.”
BestThrillers
Awards: Kirkus “GET IT” Pick. BookLife by Publishers Weekly Editor’s Pick. Two-time PenCraft Best Thriller. Literary Titan Gold Award.
The Search for Braddock’s Lost Gold
Winner, 2025 PenCraft Thriller of the Year. Historian Jack Sullivan chases a fortune in British Army payroll that vanished during the 1755 ambush on the Monongahela, and the obsession that has already cost him everything.
“A diverting tale of an exciting, harrowing quest for a centuries-old fortune.”
Kirkus Reviews
Awards: 2025 PenCraft Thriller of the Year. Literary Titan Gold Award. BookFest Silver Medal. Kirkus reviewed.
Details: Kindle $4.99. ASIN B0DDF6S5CZ.
Awards & Accolades
- 2025 PenCraft Thriller of the Year (The Search for Braddock’s Lost Gold)
- PenCraft Best Thriller, two-time (Shadows Over Cozumel)
- Literary Titan Gold Award (Braddock and Cozumel)
- Kirkus Reviews “GET IT” Pick (Cozumel and Knights)
- BookLife by Publishers Weekly Editor’s Pick (Shadows Over Cozumel)
- BookFest Silver Medal (Braddock)
- The Search for Braddock’s Lost Gold reached #1 on Amazon’s Mystery/Thriller New Release list.
Suggested Interview Questions
Adapted from David’s real interviews. Hosts may use directly.
- The series started with a real encounter on the Youghiogheny River. What happened that day?
- Your mother made you promise to write the Braddock story. Can you tell us about that promise?
- Readers say they fact-check your novels and are shocked to find the history is real. How much of it actually is?
- The Knights of the Golden Circle were a real secret society. Where does the documented history stop and your fiction begin?
- George Washington buried General Braddock in a road and marched an army over the grave. Is that true, and how did you find it?
- You spent thirty years as a risk executive and accident investigator. How does analyzing real-world failure shape the conspiracies you write?
- Jack, Emma, and Steve are the heart of the series. Who are they based on?
- Confederate gold vanishing into Mexico sounds like a movie. Wasn’t it, sort of? (Cussler’s Sahara.)
- You write with voice-to-text software. How did that change the way you tell a story?
- Where is the series heading, without spoilers?
Fact Sheet & Talking Points
All verified. A journalist can cite these.
- The Knights of the Golden Circle were a real secret society founded in 1854 by George W.L. Bickley. The organization claimed 65,000 members at its 1861 peak.
- The federal government investigated the Knights at the highest levels. Nathan Bedford Forrest, connected to the order, later became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
- The Confederate treasury genuinely vanished in the collapse of 1865. Historians have debated for 160 years where it went.
- General Sterling Price and Confederate personnel really did flee into Mexico under Emperor Maximilian after Richmond fell, the historical backbone of Shadows Over Cozumel. This same mystery inspired Clive Cussler’s Sahara.
- General Braddock died on the 1755 retreat. A 23-year-old George Washington presided over the burial in the road and had the army march over it to hide the grave, which was lost until road workers found it in 1804.
- Washington survived the Monongahela with two horses shot from under him and four bullet holes in his coat, and later carried Braddock’s sash, now at Mount Vernon, the rest of his life.
- David’s debut hit #1 on Amazon’s Mystery/Thriller New Release list.
Downloads
Author Headshot
Download JPG
Braddock Cover
Download JPGCozumel Cover
Download JPGKnights Cover
Download JPGOne-sheet PDF available on request. Email david@davidlengauthor.com.
Media Contact
Direct
David R Leng
Email: david@davidlengauthor.com
Phone: 724-307-5364
Mailing (review copies, press): David R Leng, 311 Main St, Irwin, PA 15642
Online
- Website: davidlengauthor.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565831724919
- Instagram: @leng6310
- Goodreads: David R Leng on Goodreads
- Amazon author page: David R Leng on Amazon