A few years ago I found myself between books and didn't know what to read next so I resorted to my tried and true method of just browsing the fiction shelves. I pulled off a few titles that looked interesting. I skimmed the first page of Greg Iles's Dead Sleep and knew I had to read it. Jordan Glass happens upon a controversial art exhibit entitled The Sleeping Women. There is something about the women in the paintings that left the viewer with the impression that their sleep was the more permanent kind. One of the women looks familiar....just like her. A year earlier, Jordan's twin sister vanished without a trace. I really enjoyed that book and have recommended it often over the years.
What I like about Greg Iles is that each book is very well-written and you don't have to read them in any particular order. There are a few characters that pop up from time to time, but only one has been a main character in more than one and that is Penn Cage. Penn Cage first appears in The Quiet Game. He is a former prosecutor who has achieved fame as a writer of legal thrillers. At the opening of The Quiet Game it is not long after his wife died of cancer and his young daughter is not taking it well. He decides the best thing to do is to return to his old hometown of Natchez, Mississippi. While giving an interview to a local reporter who is originally from the north, he is drawn into a conversation about race relations and the way Southerners think. He makes reference to the murder of a local Civil Rights activist in the early 1960's that was never solved. When asked why, he asserts that no one wanted it to be solved even after all these years. The reporter's story appears the next day focused on the unsolved murder and implies that Penn wants to solve it. Needless to say, this doesn't set well with some people in the community and gives hope to others who never thought they would get justice including the man's widow and son. If you liked Grisham's A Time to Kill, you will like The Quiet Game.
What I like about Greg Iles is that each book is very well-written and you don't have to read them in any particular order. There are a few characters that pop up from time to time, but only one has been a main character in more than one and that is Penn Cage. Penn Cage first appears in The Quiet Game. He is a former prosecutor who has achieved fame as a writer of legal thrillers. At the opening of The Quiet Game it is not long after his wife died of cancer and his young daughter is not taking it well. He decides the best thing to do is to return to his old hometown of Natchez, Mississippi. While giving an interview to a local reporter who is originally from the north, he is drawn into a conversation about race relations and the way Southerners think. He makes reference to the murder of a local Civil Rights activist in the early 1960's that was never solved. When asked why, he asserts that no one wanted it to be solved even after all these years. The reporter's story appears the next day focused on the unsolved murder and implies that Penn wants to solve it. Needless to say, this doesn't set well with some people in the community and gives hope to others who never thought they would get justice including the man's widow and son. If you liked Grisham's A Time to Kill, you will like The Quiet Game.
Other titles I would recommend by Greg Iles include: True Evil and Turning Angel which are both set in Natchez. On July 7, 2009 his latest The Devil's Punchbowl is due to be released. Be sure to reserve it now!
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