BOOK REVIEW: The Devil's Punchbowl

THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL is the most disturbing Greg Iles book that I have read. A Greg Iles book is going to deal with unsavory characters and situations. We know that; he is not for the faint of heart or squeamish. This time the subject matter pushed some personal buttons.

After the death of his wife, and thinking to give his young daughter the support of her grandparents, Penn Cage had returned to his home town, Natchez, Mississippi. He had been elected mayor on the promise to bring fresh money to the small city and to improve the school system.

Penn reluctantly agrees that one way to bring jobs and money in is to allow riverboat casinos to set up at the bottom of the town. When his old high school friend Tim asks to meet him in the local cemetery, Penn is pulled into the evil that has come to his town. Tim shows Penn graphic pictures of the dog fights that are drawing the big money gamblers to the Magnolia Queen Casino. Shortly after their meeting Tim is found murdered and when threats are made to Penn’s family, the depraved new world collides with Penn’s world.

Although I feel that I should warn you of the violence, it was always done as part of the horror of the situations. (Trust me; you will not be able to forgive the people involved in dog fighting after reading this book.)

There are so many things that I like about Greg Iles and this novel is no exception. First of all, he is never a formula writer. Each book is fresh and inventive. I also love his use of language. On one page his description is Southern poetry; the next page will be in words that only a man from the gutters would use. Both rang true to me.

If I have a problem with THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL it is that it ends with a doozy of a cliff hanger. In searching for the title of the next book in line, I found that Iles has been in a very bad automobile accident and, as far as I can find, the sequel has not come out yet. He is worth waiting for, but I hope that he hurries up!