Michael H. Rubin

While this book did take me a little while to get into it, I did enjoy it and I’m glad I gave it the time it needed. The timeline does jump back and forth a bit and this confused me at first, and I’m usually good at holding onto which characters fit when. I think it was because some of the social attitudes stayed the same for the main characters in each time period. For instance, slavery was abolished by 1893 but racism and inequality were still huge issues in Louisiana. Jump forward to the 1960s and Hank Matthews, and some people still have the same attitudes. Even after finishing this book, I’m still a little unsure if there was a third time period, that being modern 2010s. There were short segments that were announced to be Modern Day but it felt like the 1960s where equal but separate was a thing.

So setting aside the time flux issue, which was my only complaint, I found this tale to have quite a bit of depth. We have the murder mystery element along with the social inequalities of the 1890s. The author did a great job of showing how it wasn’t a simplistic white versus black struggle. Instead he showed how there were inequalities and bigotry all over the place. Jake Gold and his mentioned bother Moishe serve as very interesting examples of how Jews in the deep South were treated at that time. Then there are women in general and how their lives are limited, especially Tee Ray Brady’s wife. Even Bucky, who is probably a little mentally handicapped, is ill-used by his closest ‘friends’. All those great examples are wrapped up in this double homicide of a prominent couple.

Sometimes there was a French-Cajun patois and I liked how this showed yet another side to this multi-faceted area of the USA. Little Miss, an elderly lady who’s lost much of her wits living at Cottoncrest Mansion in the 1890s, only speaks French. She quite enjoys Jake’s visits since he also speaks French and the two can spend hours chatting away. Jenny, a former slave, has been looking after Little Miss for years as she needs assistance with the simplest of tasks. However, there’s plenty of trouble brewing in this area of the Mississippi delta with the local KKK-like group, the Order of the White Camellia. So Jenny and many others have to make the hard choice of leaving their home to head north where there’s many more job opportunities.

My favorite character was Jake because he’s seen hard times as a kid and he’s now found himself in yet more hard times. He worked so hard to build himself a route of clients for peddling his wears to and now all that is threatened. His signature quality knives which he holds so much pride in may be his undoing.

My favorite ‘villain’ was Bucky. He seems quite the simple sort and he’s desperate to make his friends proud of him. However, his friends are users so this doesn’t work out so well for Bucky. At times I wanted to root for him and at other times I wanted to give him a slap and then steal him off to the library for some quality reading as I think he has potential.

The mystery of the Cottoncrest murders and the supposed curse had a very satisfying end. None of the characters end up with all the answers, but I as the reader was privy to all of them. It took time for the final justice to be meted out and I feel this is true with so much in life. Overall, The Cottoncrest Curse was insightful and gripping.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Neil Holmes started off needing just a little polish but he swiftly gets into the book and the various characters showing plenty of skill. His female character voices were believable and all the characters were distinct. I was especially impressed with the various accents and languages he had to perform (Cajun patois, French, Yiddish, deep South, more modern American, etc.). He really brought these characters to life always sounding like he was in the moment. I especially liked his voice for Bucky, who seems slightly confused much of the time.… (plus d'informations)

Cashed Out provided just enough crime and drama to keep a reader hooked, while not swamping them down in too many twists they lose track of the mystery and thrill. I enjoyed that it touched on color and racial disparity while addressing corporate greed and the effects on low-income neighborhoods and inequalities present.

For the full review, please visit: https://fortheloveofthepageblog.wordpress.com/… (plus d'informations)