07/28/2014
Theater and film actor Ledoux is given a full vocal workout in this ambitious novel set in the apparently still (as of 2005) Ku Klux Klan–infested state of Mississippi. The book spans several decades of Klan villainy, from torture and murder in the 1960s to more recent homicides prompted by the return of a witness. Ledoux delivers Isles’s rich, eventful story in properly dramatic style, underlining its many suspenseful moments while capturing the book’s atmospheric trappings and the voices of its large cast—from homicidal racists to African-Americans, fearful and proud—with effective accents that are subtle rather than stereotypical. But the author’s major achievement is his handling of the chapters narrated in present tense by Penn, the humane and honorable mayor. Ledoux captures Penn’s increasing desperation as his efforts to save his father, his relationship, and his city fail, adding a touch of mental anguish as the mayor struggles to decide if his search for justice is worth it. A Morrow hardcover. (May)

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.

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.

Natchez Burning excels as a contemporary thriller . . . utterly—and chillingly—believable. Epic.

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.

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.

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.

Every single page of Natchez Burning is a cliffhanger that will keep you devouring just one more chapter before you put it down.

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.

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.

An absorbing and electrifying tale that thriller fans will be sure to devour.

A searing tale of racial hatreds and redemption in the modern South, courtesy of Southern storyteller extraordinaire Iles. . . . A memorable, harrowing tale.

08/01/2014
Spanning from 1960s civil rights violence to post-Katrina hurricane recovery in Louisiana and Mississippi, Iles's (The Devil's Punchbowl) latest looks at events that affected the family of Penn Cage, now mayor of Natchez. This long, involved tale of historic and contemporary racism, greed, revenge, and corruption is excellently read by David Ledoux. Including Klan killings; conspiracy theories regarding the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy; and police corruption shielding a methamphetamine empire, this has it all. Iles fans will be enthralled by the plot twists and incredibly stupid decisions the main characters make that keep them in jeopardy throughout. Almost nothing is resolved at the end: Penn, his entire family, and his fiancée are in limbo, either hiding or having escaped, while the forces of evil close in. VERDICT As patrons will be looking for this in multiple formats, it is recommended for adult collections. ["An absorbing and electrifying tale that thriller fans will be sure to devour," read the starred review of the Morrow hc, LJ 2/15/14.]—Cliff Glaviano, formerly with Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH

★ 2014-02-01
A searing tale of racial hatreds and redemption in the modern South, courtesy of Southern storyteller extraordinaire Iles (The Devil's Punchbowl, 2009, etc.). Natchez didn't burn in the Civil War, having surrendered to the Yankees while its neighbors endured scarifying sieges. It burns in Iles' pages, though, since so many of the issues sounded a century and a half ago have yet to be resolved. Some of Natchez's more retrograde residents find it difficult to wrap their heads around the idea that men and women of different races might want to spend time together, occasioning, in the opening episode, a "Guadalcanal barbecue," as one virulent separate-but-unequal proponent puts it. The Double Eagles, an even more violent offshoot of the KKK, has been spreading its murderous idea of justice through the neighborhood for a long time, a fact driven home for attorney/politico Penn Cage when the allegation rises that his own father is somehow implicated in the dark events of 1964—and, as Iles' slowly unfolding story makes clear, not just of that long-ago time, but in the whispered, hidden things that followed. As Penn investigates, drawing heat, he runs into plenty of tough customers, some with badges, some with swastikas, as well as the uncomfortable fact that his heroic father may indeed have feet of clay. Iles, a longtime resident of Natchez, knows his corner of Mississippi as well as Faulkner and Welty knew theirs, and he sounds true notes that may not be especially meaningful for outsiders—for one thing, that there's a profound difference between a Creole and a Cajun, and for another, that anyone whose first three names are Nathan Bedford Forrest may not be entirely trustworthy when looking into hate crimes. His story is long in the telling (and with at least two more volumes coming along to complete it), but a patient reader will find that the pages scoot right along without missing a beat. Iles is a master of regional literature, though he's dealing with universals here, one being our endless thirst to right wrongs. A memorable, harrowing tale.