“Michael Rubin proves himself to be an exceptional storyteller in his novel, The Cottoncrest Curse. The powerful epic is expertly composed in both its historical content and beautifully constructed scenery. I highly recommend picking up this book to catch a glimpse into life and conflict during the height of the Old South.”
– James Carville, political strategist and commentator
“In The Cottoncrest Curse, Michael Rubin takes his readers on a compelling multigenerational journey that begins with the Civil War and ends in the present day. A textured story of plantation owners, the descendants of slaves, small-town Louisiana law enforcement, and Jewish merchants who live in and around a stately Louisiana plantation, The Cottoncrest Curse is impeccably researched, deftly plotted, and flawlessly executed…Michael Rubin is a gifted and masterful storyteller. Highly recommended.”
– Sheldon Siegel, New York Times best-selling author
“Michael Rubin’s debut novel, The Cottoncrest Curse, introduces us to a fresh new voice that weaves talented prose and tack-sharp detail into an intriguing story set in Louisiana’s bayou country. In a historically accurate whodunit that spans multiple generations, Rubin adroitly tackles cultural diversity, racial tension and the dangers of keeping hidden truths while moving the plot toward a satisfying, well-crafted conclusion.”
– Alan Jacobson, national bestselling author of Spectrum
Book Details
In this heart-racing thriller, a series of gruesome deaths ignite feuds that burn a path from the cotton fields to the courthouse steps, from the moss-draped bayous of Cajun country to the bordellos of 19th century New Orleans, from the Civil War to the Civil Rights era and across the Jim Crow decades to the Freedom Marches of the 1960s.
At the heart of the story is the apparent suicide of elderly Civil War Col. Augustine Chastaine who, two decades after the end of the Civil War, viciously slit the throat of his wife and then shot himself. Sheriff Raifer Jackson, however, believes that this may be a double homicide, and suspicion falls upon Jake Gold, an itinerant peddler with many secrets to conceal, not the least of which is that he is a Jewish immigrant in the post-Reconstruction South, where racial, religious and ethnic prejudice abounds.
Jake must stay one step ahead of the law, as well as the racist Knights of the White Camellia, as he interacts with blacks and whites, former slaves, Cajuns, crusty white field hands, and free men of color as he tries to keep one final promise before more lives are lost and he loses the opportunity to clear his name.