The Curse at the Confluence

“It is of small consolation to us that the white-man will ultimately be the arbiter of his own eventual ruin. But since there is nothing we can do to stop him, I have designed, and now propose, a curse. Like a disease, my curse has been engineered to do its damage over time. Its purpose is to disrupt and prevent lasting social harmony and prosperity by undermining the stability of their society and the productivity of their industries. It will cause great social unrest and upheaval. It will affect climate, making winters bitter and summers unbearably hot. Biting and stinging insects will feast on their flesh and rodents will infest their dwellings, spreading disease among them...Their children will die in the womb in great numbers, and at birth with great frequency. Their elderly will experience protracted years of agonizing suffering. Foreign species of plants, animals, and fish will invade, choke out, and dominate these waters and lands. In time, they will see their own populations dwindle and will be helpless to stem the tide that will make them the minority...This slow poison will permeate every aspect of their existence, and just as we are now powerless to stop them, they too will be powerless. One day they will learn what we have done to avenge ourselves, but only after the damage is complete. Then, my brothers, they will have no choice but to acknowledge the injustices they have inflicted upon us.” Peter Sursile is stressed. By day he finds himself beset by the troublesome behavior of his petulant young fiancée, Eliza, and by the unrelenting pressure to write his PhD thesis, which is all that stands between him and the future he rightly deserves. But deciding on just the right topic has proven to be easier said than done. By night, a vivid recurring nightmare of a horrific train wreck, and a mortally injured woman in the wreckage who hauntingly repeats the phrase Peter...it's time has plagued his sleep for weeks. Yet even after an unnerving encounter with an ancient, white-maned Shaman, he remains stubbornly convinced that these and other strange happenings are merely stress-related. But something he hears during his run-in with the Shaman compels him to research a certain upstate New York town, and for his effort is seemingly rewarded with what appears to be the thesis topic he's been looking for. However, revelations surrounding the inspiration for his research lead him to Binghamton, NY where sudden unprecedented violence has brought the city to its knees. His journey exposes the true purpose of his nightmare, reveals the identity of the woman in the wreckage, and explains the nature of events which will likely destroy the city if left unchecked. But success is far less certain than the consequences should he fail to reveal a 19th century curse to its 21st century victims. The Curse At the Confluence is proud to be the first novel of its kind to be set primarily in the Binghamton, New York area.