The Rabbi’s Knight by Michael Cooper, winner of the 2025 Overall Grand Prize CIBA Award!

“Knight Templar Jonathan St. Clair bears two messages for Rabbi Samuel of Baghdad, one of mortal treachery and another of mystic wonder. In The Rabbi’s Knight by Michael J. Cooper, they journey across the Holy Land to Jerusalem while divisions of faith portend the bloody conclusion of the Crusades.” – Chanticleer Book Reviews

Sometimes you meet an author, whether in person or “between the covers,” and you just know their books are going to fit just fine in your collection. This is what I felt during my first conversation with Michael Cooper, the winner of the Overall Grand Prize CIBA Award for Best Book of 2026 for his latest novel, The Rabbi’s Knight!

Cooper’s topics come to us during one of the world’s most tumultuous periods when the old empires transformed into new alliances, new boundaries, and new dangers leading up to World War I. Having been a pediatrician in the Holy Land during his professional career, Cooper’s wealth of knowledge about the area and it’s history offers a broad canvas for his characters to be painted upon.

I encourage you to take a look at author Michael Cooper’s books. You won’t be disappointed!

Four book covers by Michael J. Cooper: 'The Rabbi's Knight,' 'Wages of Empire,' 'Crossroads of Empire,' and 'Foxes in the Vineyard.'

Another Great Gathering of Authors at the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference & International Book Awards!

The 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference and International Book Awards was a huge success! Authors from around the world came together for a weekend of learning, networking, and celebrating the best books of the year!

Every April, the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC) brings working authors to Bellingham, WA for a weekend of masterclasses, workshops, panel discussions, networking, and the annual Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBA) ceremony to celebrate the best books of 2026!

This year, CAC26 featured a masterclass with New York literary agent Donald Maas and best-selling author and keynote speaker, Avanti Centrae.

The work leading up to the conference can be chaotic and exhausting, but that is long forgotten once our Chanticleer authors arrive. Every year I enjoy seeing friends I’ve made from past conferences, and I always meet a few new friends, too!

For a full rundown of the weekend’s events, check out the blog post I wrote on the Chanticleer Book Reviews’ website here!