The Devil's Punchbowl: A Novel

The Devil's Punchbowl: A Novel
by Greg Iles

The Devil's Punchbowl: A Novel
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Book Summary Information

Author: Greg Iles
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2009-07-07
ISBN: 0743292510
Number of pages: 592
Publisher: Scribner
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Book Reviews of The Devil's Punchbowl: A Novel

Book Review: This is Greg Iles' Best Novel in Quite Some Time
Summary: 5 Stars

I really enjoy the work of Greg Iles, who is probably the most underrated thriller writer in the business. When he's in top form, with books like BLACK CROSS, THE QUIET GAME, 24 HOURS and DEAD SLEEP, there is nobody better.

THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL is a comeback of sorts for Iles, whose last few books have been mild disappointments. With this novel, Iles returns to his most likable character, lawyer Penn Cage from THE QUIET GAME, who is now Mayor of his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi. The plot deals with a cat-and-mouse game that Cage is forced to play with some sadistic thugs who run the local riverboat casino. The result is an exciting nailbiter of a story.

Iles took two years to write THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL, and it shows in the execution. All the novel's characters are well developed, and its plot is well layered and continuously suspenseful. Iles writes in a melodramatic style, but his books have an intense narrative power that few thrillers possess. As I rushed through this novel, I felt completely absorbed by it, and by the ending literally felt depleted.

It should be noted that THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL has more than a fair amount of brutal violence, including violence against women and animals. There are several harrowing scenes that will require a strong stomach. Personally, I felt that Iles handled the violence in a manner that was non-exploitative. Still, I would not recommend this novel to readers who are easily offended by such graphic content.

Overall, THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL a great suspense work, one of the best thrillers I've read in 2009. Iles is going to write a sequel that is due out next year, and I can't wait to read it.

Summary of The Devil's Punchbowl: A Novel

From New York Times bestselling author Greg Iles comes his most electrifying thriller yet. The Devil's Punchbowl reveals a world of depravity, sex, violence, and the corruption of a Southern town.

As a prosecuting attorney in Houston, Penn Cage sent hardened killers to death row. But it is as mayor of his hometown -- Natchez, Mississippi -- that Penn will face his most dangerous threat. Urged by old friends to try to restore this fading jewel of the Old South, Penn has ridden into office on a tide of support for change. But in its quest for new jobs and fresh money, Natchez, like other Mississippi towns, has turned to casino gambling, and now five fantastical steamboats float on the river beside the old slave market at Natchez like props from Gone With the Wind.

But one boat isn't like the others.

Rumor has it that the Magnolia Queen has found a way to pull the big players from Las Vegas to its Mississippi backwater. And with them -- on sleek private jets that slip in and out of town like whispers in the night -- come pro football players, rap stars, and international gamblers, all sharing an unquenchable taste for one thing: blood sport -- and the dark vices that go with it. When a childhood friend of Penn's who brings him evidence of these crimes is brutally murdered, the full weight of Penn's failure to protect his city hits home. So begins his quest to find the men responsible. But it's a hunt he begins alone, for the local authorities have been corrupted by the money and power of his hidden enemy. With his family's lives at stake, Penn realizes his only allies in his one-man war are those bound to him by blood or honor:

  • Caitlin Masters, the lover Penn found in The Quiet Can Game and lost in Turning Angel
  • Danny McDavitt, the heroic helicopter pilot from Third Degree
  • Tom Cage, Penn's father and legendary local family physician
  • Walt Garrity, a retired Texas Ranger who served with Penn's father during the Korean War
  • Together they must defeat a sophisticated killer who has an almost preternatural ability to anticipate -- and counter -- their every move. Ultimately, victory will depend on a bold stroke that will leave one of Penn's allies dead -- and Natchez changed forever.

    After appearing in two of Iles's most popular novels, Penn Cage makes his triumphant return as a brilliant, honorable, and courageous hero. Rich with Southern atmosphere and marked by one jaw-dropping plot turn after another, The Devil's Punchbowl confirms that Greg Iles is America's master of suspense.

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