As many know, I am an uber Greg Iles fan. Have been since book one - although my favorites are Mortal Fear, and The Quiet Game. As a matter of fact, I sent him an email fan letter, and he graciously answered. Then when I thought he was coming to my town for a book signing and I wrote an email so excited and apparently weird he never responded back!! (He cancelled the signing due to illness).  I am really a normal person, Mr. Iles….really!  well...I'm a writer. Everything's relative!

For those of you not familiar with Penn Cage, his kith and kin, it would be good to read The Quiet Game, which holds one of my favorite quotes ever, told by a former FBI agent Stone – “The hour of justice does not strike on the dials of this world.”

This outing Iles is back in his element, the old south dealing with the new. Now there are offshore gambling boats and the money and corruption that comes with that -

Time has passed and Caitlin and Penn have gone their separate ways, and he has also broken up with another lady - Annie, his daughter, has grown into a well adjusted pre-teen, thanks to Penn's parents.

Penn's boyhood friend, Tim Jessup, a card dealer at the Magnolia Queen, has uncovered horrible things going on - not only prostitution, but dogfighting off grounds. He shows some proof to Cage at the town cemetary.

For those of you who haven't been familiar with dogfighting, those of us in the south who have dealt with hearing about Michael Vick's involvement however extensive, with a dogfighting ring, the horrid 'sport' is heavily written about and a large part of this book. I was sickened by the extent of Iles' explicit descriptions, but Iles shows us this reality is beyond any horror or thriller book author can possibly imagine, crueler than anyone could think up - all in the cause of money.

This is not for the feint of heart.

When Penn's friend Tim is murdered, Penn had been waffling between quitting his mayorship of Natchez and leaving, but when his friend's death happens, he goes forth full steam.

Caitlin Masters, his old girlfriend, returns and we see the transition between them being estranged to working together for a common goal, to her opinion - it's just dogfighting, to a more violent awakening that the folks who do this aren't just folks providing entertainment.

Iles brings back the excitement of characterization, the beauty of the landscape, the horror of corruption.

This is who I call our generation's Faulkner.

It is a long book, and can be a stand alone book, but it is the third of the Penn Cage books, with at least one more coming -

But if you want to read the magic that introduces Penn, get The Quiet Game, and go from there.

Iles is a truly talented author and a worthy read.

ellen george

The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles, ISBN 10: 0743292510, Scribner Publishers, review by ellen george