BOOK REVIEW: True Evil

Greg Iles does “Evil” as well as any author. His books are filled with people who are so vile and yet so cunning that the reader has trouble believing that such a character will ever be caught and it is possible that Iles may have a different ending in mind. After all, his heroes are not always perfect either. His TRUE EVIL lives us just the right mix of these characters.

Lawyer Andrew Rusk has come up with the perfect way to get his clients out of a marriage without going through a messy divorce. Do it his way and there is no question about child custody or paying large amounts of money in support. You may have to spend some time, maybe as much as a year, watching your spouse die, but you will never be a suspect.

Special Agent Alexandra Morse has reason to believe that her sister had been murdered and that her nephew’s life is in danger. During her investigation she sees the wife of a prominent physician leave Rusk’s office. Knowing that Doctor Chris Shepard is going to be the next victim, she tries to warn him. Believing that his marriage is so perfect, Chris almost throws Agent Morse out of his office.

Morse has had trouble getting any one to believe her. If these cases have been murder, why have the autopsies uncovered no evidence of foul play? Somewhere out there is a brilliant, merciless killer. Not even the clients who have used his services, nor the lawyer who acts as the go between, know who he is. As the reader gets to know this twisted man, we see the very essence of evil and the killer’s motivations become deadly clear.

Most of the action of TRUE EVIL is set in Natchez, Mississippi and some of the background characters are familiar from earlier books by Iles, but this is in no way a sequel to anything else that he has written. Again his characters are well drawn, his plot full of twists, and his action non-stop.

There is always the fear that you will tire of hearing about some of my favorite authors in this blog, but this is one author who will be included regularly, as long as his books are available. Greg Iles has to be one of the supreme masters of the suspense novel being published today. I look forward to what he has in store for us next.