Natchez Burning
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4.4 • 42 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
‘Extraordinarily entertaining and fiendishly suspenseful’ (Stephen King). The stunning new Penn Cage thriller in which a shocking murder from the 1960s finds new life - and victims - in the present.
The sins of the past never die…
Raised in Natchez, Mississippi, former prosecuting attorney Penn Cage learned all he knows of honour and duty from his father, Dr. Tom Cage.
But now Tom stands accused of murdering on African-American nurse with whom he worked in the 1960s, when racist violence was at its peak.
As he hunts for the truth, Penn uncovers a long-buried secret that could place his family in mortal danger- a conspiracy of greed and murder connected to a vicious sect of the KKK.
Up against the most powerful men in the state, Penn faces an impossible choice: does a man of honour choose his father or justice?
Reviews
Praise for NATCHEZ BURNING:
“The thriller of the year, of the decade even … The first of a projected trilogy, Natchez Burning is Penn Cage’s fourth outing. But you don’t need to read its predecessors to be wholly consumed by this wonderful book. Buy, read, and marvel’ The Times
‘Terrific, engrossing’ Sunday Times
‘A tale that is both riveting in detail and amazing in its sheer scope’ Sun
‘Often seen as a John Grisham imitator, Iles clearly outperforms the master of the Deep South thriller in this angry yet engrossing novel’ Sunday Times
‘Extraordinarily entertaining and fiendishly suspenseful. I defy you to start it and find a way to put it down …This is an amazing work of popular fiction’ STEPHEN KING
‘I don't know how Iles did it, but every single one of the 700+ pages of NATCHEZ BURNING is a cliffhanger that will keep you devouring just one more chapter before you put it down to eat, work, or go to bed. A mystery rooted in the real-life racial divides of the Deep South, this ambitious, unique novel is the perfect marriage of a history lesson and a thriller. Greg? You owe me some sleep!’ JODI PICOULT
‘Natchez Burning is just flat-out terrific, written with all the fire of its title. With its scope and passion and its themes about race, violence, tradition, and the eternal smouldering anger of the South, it brings to mind Thomas Wolfe and William Faulkner, even while its cagey plot and restless energy keeps you flying through the pages. Greg Iles is back and truly better than ever’ SCOTT TUROW
Praise for previous Greg Iles novels:
‘A scorching read’ John Grisham
‘A rarity. A thriller that really thrills’ Stephen King
‘An incredible web of intrigue and suspense’ Clive Cussler
‘My favourite kind of novel … Ambitious in its scope and superbly satisfying in its execution’ Dan Brown
‘Iles is a great thriller writer’ Independent
About the author
Greg Iles spent most of his youth in Natchez, Mississippi, and graduated from Ole Miss in 1983. His thirteen New York Times bestselling novels have been made into films, translated into more than twenty languages, and published in more than thirty-five countries worldwide. He lives in Natchez with his two teenage children.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
American author Greg Iles returns with an explosive crime thriller set in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi. Steeped in the disturbing legacy of racial violence in the Deep South during the ’60s, Natchez Burning is an epic tale that involves political conspiracies, the Civil Rights movement—and the relationship between Penn Cage (the mayor of Natchez in 2005) and his father, a righteous small-town doctor accused of murdering a black nurse. Iles demonstrates his formidable storytelling talents, weaving headline-making true crimes into this breathtakingly suspenseful novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Much more than a thriller, Iles's deftly plotted fourth Penn Cage novel (after 2008's The Devil's Punchbowl) doesn't flag for a moment, despite its length. In 2005, the ghosts of the past come back to haunt Cage now the mayor of Natchez, Miss. with a vengeance. His father, Dr. Tom Cage, who has been an institution in the city for decades, faces the prospect of being arrested for murder. An African-American nurse, Viola Turner, who worked closely with Tom in the 1960s and was in the end stages of cancer, has died, and her son, Lincoln, believes that she was eased into death by a lethal injection. Tom refuses to speak about what happened (he admits only that he was treating Viola), which prevents Cage from using his leverage as mayor to head off charges. The mystery is inextricably interwoven with the violence Natchez suffered in the 1960s, including the stabbing of Viola's brother by Ku Klux Klansmen in a fight. The case may also be connected to the traumatic political assassinations of the decade. This superlative novel's main strength comes from the lead's struggle to balance family and honor.
