The Books The Rutherford Cipher
ISBN 1-891799-03-7
Published Sept. 2004
(Note: A new softcover editon of The Rutherford Cipher will be released in October 2009. Please contact me if you'd like a copy. I will add on-line purchase links as they become available.)
The Civil War brought death and ruin to the Old South, but out of the ashes there arose a remarkable legend that has intriqued treasure hunters and conspiracy buff ever since --"the lost Confederate gold" said to have been buried somewhere in the swampy flatlands of Georgia following the fall of the Confederate government in 1865 Now an out-of-work former dot-com executive has his hands on a set of old clues that might lead him to the fabled treasure -- if only he can stay alive long enough to find it.
In a fast-paced thriller every bit as intoxicating and nerve-jangling as his previous bestseller, The Lazard Legacy, author William Rawlings, Jr, takes the reader on another gut-clutching soiree deep into the heart of the Old South where greed, corruption, lust and murder are every bit as common as dewdrops, magnolias, moonlight and old family secrets.
When Matt Rutherford's Silicon Valley dot-com firm goes belly-up, the displaced executive has nowhere else to go but home -- home to Walkerville, Georgia where, following the brutal death of his first cousin, he's been named sole heir to his elderly aunt's estate. While searching to clear his name as a suspect for his cousin's death, Matt uncovers a long-hidden family secret; he's descended from the same Southern officer assigned to guard the gold reserves following the fall of the Confederate capital in the waning days of the Civil War. Even more astonishing, he finds an old diary that reveals, through complex coded instructions, where the gold is buried.
Problem is, others know about the gold -- and the old diary. They will stop at nothing to claim the treasure for themselves, even if it means murder.
Enlisting the help of Lisa Li, a beautiful Chinese-American computer expert, Matt sets out to unravel the mysterious clues -- clues that eventually lead him to a top-secret nuclear weapons installation in South Carolina where he must evade a bloodthirsty killer as well as heavily-armed government agents before learning the horrifying truth behind the lost Confederate gold.
In The Rutherford Cipher, Rawlings combines his masterful storytellin authority with his immense knowledge of Confederate history to deliver with a vengeance -- and, in the process, has created an electrifying narrative that is part thriller, mystery and wild adventure -- a rousing novel bound to please conspiracy lovers as well as rekindle interest in the Old South's most popular legend -- the lost Confederate gold.
William Rawlings writes like a man with high octane in his fingertips. While reading The Rutherford Cipher, be advised to buckle your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.
- - Ed Grisamore,
Macon Telegraph
___________________________________________________________
With The Rutherford Cipher, William Rawlings stakes his claim as one of the leading practitioners of what might be called the 'southern thriller.' From Civil War history and forensic medicine to modern cryptography and nuclear physics, the sweep of Rawlings' story is impressive; his range is wide, but with impeccable authority and impressive invention. The Rutherford Cipher is a great story deftly told.
- - St. John Flynn,
Host of "Cover to Cover" on Georgia Public Radio
___________________________________________________________
A masterful story of Confederate gold, Old South aristocracy and encryption technology geeks. Rawlings has done his research and fills every page of this mystery and intrigue with enough history and sense of place to give added authenticity to the story. Rawlings has us reading to the last word of the epilogue and leaves us eager to read the next episode from his pen.
- - Dr. Kirby Godsey,
Mercer University president