Book Review: Natchez Burning

By Catherine Groves

In May of 2014, Greg Iles burst back into the bestsellers list with his highly anticipated thriller, Natchez Burning. After waiting for 5 years, (while Iles recovered from a near fatal automobile accident) for his new Penn Cage novel, this 800 plus page book was worth the wait.

Penn has recently returned with his young daughter, Annie, to his hometown of Natchez to serve as mayor to try and heal from the death of his wife. Soon upon his return, his father and local physician, Tom Cage, is accused of murdering his beautiful nurse with whom he worked closely in the 1960s.

In Penns determination to clear his fathers name, he soon finds himself uncovering crimes involving the Double Eagles, a spinoff group of powerful men in the KKK from 40 years before. It soon becomes perfectly clear; under the dictatorship of the same men from years ago, everyone must fear for their own life.

Wanting to believe in the dad hes always respected and loved, but with all signs pointing to deceit, Penn must make a choice on how much hes willing to put his own life and the lives of those he loves on the line to uncover the truth.

The first of a trilogy, Natchez Burning can be summed up perhaps best by Stephen King who wrote, Extra ordinary entertaining and fiendishly suspenseful. I defy you to start it and find a way to put it down.

The second in the triology, The Bone Tree was released in May of this year.

Natchez Burning can be purchased at major bookstores and on Kindle and Nook.