JUNE 2015 - AudioFile
Narrator Robert Petkoff does his best with this second installment in Isles’s Penn Cage trilogy. The book is disappointing. Early in the story there are six murders, rape, torture, arson, and a confusing group of characters. Those events are followed by too much talk and speculation. Finally, it all comes together in an overly long ending. Those who aren’t familiar with the first book, NACHEZ BURNING, will find it the plot and characters difficult to follow. The story goes back through 50 years of Southern history and speculates that a racist group called Double Eagles conspired to kill President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and numerous other Civil Rights activists. Petkoff's narration almost makes up for the author’s meandering. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
Richly plotted…[and] the action-packed narrative moves swiftly to a surprising and moving conclusion.” — Publishers Weekly
“Best-selling author Iles superbly blends past and present in his swift and riveting story line.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“The second installment of his hard-boiled Natchez trilogy finds Iles’ hero Penn Cage on even swampier, and surely deadlier, ground than before.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Absolutely compelling… A beautifully constructed story, some extremely fine writing, and some hard-to-bear tragedy.… Everything is big about this one: its epic scale [and] its built-in readership based on the success of its predecessor.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Race relations, adultery, murder, parenthood and friendship are all smashed together to form a searing saga of remorse and revenge. . . . Better than Natchez Burning. If the third book surpasses the first two then Iles will be elevated to the highest heights of famed storytellers.” — Huffington Post
“’Great Expectations’ transplanted to an American South laced with comparably gothic overtones. . . . Establishes Iles as this generation’s William Faulkner, usurping Pat Conroy as our preeminent Southern writer and potentially establishing him as this era’s finest American novelist, thanks to this moving and meaningful masterpiece of storytelling.” — Providence Journal
“Filled with menace, betrayal, [and] unexpected plot twists. . . . Running through this vast enterprise is the implicit belief that crime fiction is capable of addressing - and illuminating - any aspect of human behavior, including the tragic history of race relations in 20th-century America.” — Washington Post
Providence Journal
’Great Expectations’ transplanted to an American South laced with comparably gothic overtones. . . . Establishes Iles as this generation’s William Faulkner, usurping Pat Conroy as our preeminent Southern writer and potentially establishing him as this era’s finest American novelist, thanks to this moving and meaningful masterpiece of storytelling.
Washington Post
Filled with menace, betrayal, [and] unexpected plot twists. . . . Running through this vast enterprise is the implicit belief that crime fiction is capable of addressing - and illuminating - any aspect of human behavior, including the tragic history of race relations in 20th-century America.
Booklist (starred review)
Absolutely compelling… A beautifully constructed story, some extremely fine writing, and some hard-to-bear tragedy.… Everything is big about this one: its epic scale [and] its built-in readership based on the success of its predecessor.
Huffington Post
Race relations, adultery, murder, parenthood and friendship are all smashed together to form a searing saga of remorse and revenge. . . . Better than Natchez Burning. If the third book surpasses the first two then Iles will be elevated to the highest heights of famed storytellers.
Washington Post
Filled with menace, betrayal, [and] unexpected plot twists. . . . Running through this vast enterprise is the implicit belief that crime fiction is capable of addressing - and illuminating - any aspect of human behavior, including the tragic history of race relations in 20th-century America.
Library Journal
Prosecutor-turned-writer Penn Cage, introduced in Iles's 1999 The Quiet Game, is shocked when his father, Dr. Tom Cage, stands accused of murdering his former nurse Viola. Even more shocking: the secrets that tumble forth suggest that Tom and Viola were somehow associated with the Double Eagle Club, a particularly violent group that scorned the FBI-infiltrated Ku Klux Klan. Harking back to Civil Rights-era Mississippi, this first of a two-parter promises more than passing chills.
JUNE 2015 - AudioFile
Narrator Robert Petkoff does his best with this second installment in Isles’s Penn Cage trilogy. The book is disappointing. Early in the story there are six murders, rape, torture, arson, and a confusing group of characters. Those events are followed by too much talk and speculation. Finally, it all comes together in an overly long ending. Those who aren’t familiar with the first book, NACHEZ BURNING, will find it the plot and characters difficult to follow. The story goes back through 50 years of Southern history and speculates that a racist group called Double Eagles conspired to kill President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and numerous other Civil Rights activists. Petkoff's narration almost makes up for the author’s meandering. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
