Turning Angel
A Novel
-
-
4.0 • 74 Ratings
-
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
#1 New York Times bestselling author of Mississippi Blood and The Bone Tree keeps the secrets of the South alive in this “powerful…heartfelt…entirely gripping” (The Washington Post) novel of infatuation, murder, and sexual intrigue set in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi.
When the nude body of a beautiful young female student is found near the Mississippi River, the entire community is shocked—but no one more than Penn Cage, who discovers that his best friend, Drew Elliott, was entangled in a passionate relationship with the girl and may be accused of her murder. On the surface, Kate Townsend seems the most unlikely murder victim imaginable. A star student and athlete, she’d been accepted to Harvard and carried the hope and pride of the town on her shoulders. But like her school and her town, Kate also had a secret life—one about which her adult lover knew little. Penn will do all he can to exonerate Drew, but in a town where the gaze of a landmark cemetery statue—the Turning Angel—never looks away, Penn finds himself caught on the jagged edge of blackmail, betrayal, and deadly violence.
By the time Penn arrives at the shattering truth, this quiet Southern town will never be the same and “Turning Angel will have you wondering where Greg Iles has been all your life” (USA TODAY).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A string of unique bestsellers (24 Hours, etc.) is testament to Iles's ability to leap genres and geography. His latest, a gripping legal mystery set in Natchez, Miss., proves he doesn't have to stray far from home to explore the darkest recesses of the human heart. Penn Cage lawyer, author and protagonist of The Quiet Game has just learned that his best friend, Dr. Andrew Elliott, was the secret lover of 17-year-old Kate Townsend, a high school senior found raped and murdered. "Drew was our golden boy, a paragon of everything small-town America holds to be noble, and by unwritten law the town will crucify him with a hatred equal to their betrayed love." Though Penn is furious with Drew for his relationship with Kate, he signs on to represent him in court and unearth the real murderer. Things look bleak for Drew as a DA with political aspirations comes up with plenty of evidence against him. When people start to die and the secret lives of the town's high school students are revealed, Penn begins to doubt not only Drew, but himself as well. This is a study of character and morality, but also of place, as Iles shows Natchez to be emblematic of racial, social and economic issues. The job of great fiction is to entertain, elucidate and educate while keeping readers nailed to their chairs; this does all of that brilliantly.
