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Book Synopsis
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Greg Iles comes the first novel in his Natchez Burning trilogy--which also includes The Bone Tree and the upcoming Mississippi Blood--an epic trilogy that interweaves crimes, lies, and secrets past and present in a mesmerizing thriller featuring Southern lawyer and former prosecutor Penn Cage.
Raised in the southern splendor of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn Cage learned all he knows of duty from his father, Dr. Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor has been accused of murdering the African American nurse with whom he worked in the dark days of the 1960s. Once a crusading prosecutor, Penn is determined to save his father, but Tom, stubbornly invoking doctor-patient privilege, refuses even to speak in his own defense.
Penn's quest for the truth sends him deep into his father's past, where a sexually charged secret lies. More chilling, this long-buried sin is only one thread in a conspiracy of greed and murder involving the vicious Double Eagles, an offshoot of the KKK controlled by some of the most powerful men in the state. Aided by a dedicated reporter privy to Natchez's oldest secrets and by his fiancée, Caitlin Masters, Penn uncovers a trail of corruption and brutality that places his family squarely in the Double Eagles' crosshairs.
With every step costing blood and faith, Penn is forced to confront the most wrenching dilemma of his life: Does a man of honor choose his father or the truth?
From the Back Cover
#1 New York Times bestselling author Greg Iles returns with his most eagerly anticipated novel yet and his first in five years--Natchez Burning--the first installment in an epic trilogy that interweaves crimes, lies, and secrets past and present in a mesmerizing thriller featuring Southern lawyer and former prosecutor Penn Cage.
Growing up in the rural Southern hamlet of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn Cage learned everything he knows about honor and duty from his father, Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor and pillar of the community is accused of murdering Violet Turner, the beautiful nurse with whom he worked in the dark days of the early 1960s. A fighter who has always stood for justice, Penn is determined to save his father, even though Tom, stubbornly evoking doctor-patient privilege, refuses to speak up in his own defense.
The quest for answers sends Penn deep into the past--into the heart of a conspiracy of greed and murder involving the Double Eagles, a vicious KKK crew headed by one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the state. With the aid of a local friend and reporter privy to some of Natchez's oldest and deadliest secrets, Penn follows a bloody trail that stretches back forty years, to one undeniable fact: no one--black or white, young or old, brave or not--is ever truly safe.
With everything on the line, including his own life, Penn must decide how far he will go to protect those he loves . . . and see justice done, once and for all.
Rich in Southern atmosphere and electrifying plot turns, Natchez Burning marks the brilliant return of a genuine American master of suspense. Tense and disturbing, it is the most explosive, exciting, sexy, and ambitious story Greg Iles has written yet.
Review Quotes
"Natchez Burning excels as a contemporary thriller . . . utterly--and chillingly--believable. Epic."--Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS) "Natchez Burning is 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 "Natchez Burning is just flat-out terrific . . . its themes about race, violence, tradition, and the eternal smoldering anger of the South [bring] to mind Thomas Wolfe and William Faulkner . . . Greg Iles is back and truly better than ever."--Scott Turow, #1 New York Times bestselling author "Natchez Burning obliterates the artificial distinction between genre and literary fiction with passion, grace and considerable style. This is Greg Iles at his formidable best. It's good to have him back."--Washington Post "A searing tale of racial hatreds and redemption in the modern South, courtesy of Southern storyteller extraordinaire Iles. . . . A memorable, harrowing tale."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "A whopping tale, filled with enough cliff-hanging crises for an old summer-long movie-serial. Yet there are still enough unresolved matters at the end of Natchez Burning for two already-promised sequels."--Wall Street Journal "An absorbing and electrifying tale that thriller fans will be sure to devour."--Library Journal (starred review) "Every single page of Natchez Burning is a cliffhanger that will keep you devouring just one more chapter before you put it down."--Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of The Storyteller "It's been half a decade since Iles' last Penn Cage novel, but, oh boy, was it worth the wait! . . . This beautifully written novel represents some of the author's finest work, with sharper characterizations and a story of especially deep emotional resonance, and we eagerly await volume two."--Booklist (starred review) "Much more than a thriller, Iles's deftly plotted fourth Penn Cage novel doesn't flag for a moment . . . This superlative novel's main strength comes from the lead's struggle to balance family and honor."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "The thriller of the year, of the decade even, is Natchez Burning... 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 (London)
