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book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Playaway Audio book read by Dick Hill
Book three in the Penn Cage series finds our hero settled in as mayor of his hometown – Natchez Mississippi. Still he cannot help but keep certain ways of thinking that served him well as a prosecuting attorney in big-city Houston Texas. Like many other towns eager for jobs and an infusion of cash into their economies, Natchez has turned to casino gambling, and five “steamboats” float on the Mississippi River attracting tourists and locals alike. But the Magnolia Queen seems set apart. Somehow she brings in the big gamblers who arrive in private jets for special games of chance; and crime comes with these big dollars. When a childhood friend of Penn’s makes arrangements to meet at the cemetery with a promise of evidence of the criminal activity, things get nasty quickly. Corruption has spread throughout all official channels and Penn can trust only those closest to him.
I’d never read a book by Iles before and wasn’t sure what to expect (other than a fast-paced thriller). I didn’t realize when I picked it up that this was book three in a series, but I’m not sure I missed much by not having read the previous books. Iles gave me enough background on the central characters and their relationships to Penn to make me comfortable.
This is less of a murder mystery than it is a grand international conspiracy with “national security” interests trying to stop Penn from his own investigation. Iles peoples the book with colorful characters, including an ex-Texas Ranger gone undercover, a mysterious beautiful Chinese woman, and an evangelical preacher with a secret vice. I thought the plot got overly complicated, but the action still moved at a fairly quick pace and I was sufficiently interested to keep turning pages. I did find the book pretty violent – dog fighting is part of the plot and Iles spares no details of that bloody “sport.” One of the bad guys is also a sexual sadist and descriptions of his deeds left little to the imagination. Neither of these elements was more than what was necessary given the plot, but readers who find this kind of thing particularly distasteful are best warned away.
Dick Hill did a credible job with the audio though his voice tends to be too gravelly to convincingly voice the women characters. Still his ability with various accents, especially when he’s required to switch quickly from a cultured British accent to a Texas Ranger’s twang to an Irish brogue, really added to the enjoyment of the audio.
Book three in the Penn Cage series finds our hero settled in as mayor of his hometown – Natchez Mississippi. Still he cannot help but keep certain ways of thinking that served him well as a prosecuting attorney in big-city Houston Texas. Like many other towns eager for jobs and an infusion of cash into their economies, Natchez has turned to casino gambling, and five “steamboats” float on the Mississippi River attracting tourists and locals alike. But the Magnolia Queen seems set apart. Somehow she brings in the big gamblers who arrive in private jets for special games of chance; and crime comes with these big dollars. When a childhood friend of Penn’s makes arrangements to meet at the cemetery with a promise of evidence of the criminal activity, things get nasty quickly. Corruption has spread throughout all official channels and Penn can trust only those closest to him.
I’d never read a book by Iles before and wasn’t sure what to expect (other than a fast-paced thriller). I didn’t realize when I picked it up that this was book three in a series, but I’m not sure I missed much by not having read the previous books. Iles gave me enough background on the central characters and their relationships to Penn to make me comfortable.
This is less of a murder mystery than it is a grand international conspiracy with “national security” interests trying to stop Penn from his own investigation. Iles peoples the book with colorful characters, including an ex-Texas Ranger gone undercover, a mysterious beautiful Chinese woman, and an evangelical preacher with a secret vice. I thought the plot got overly complicated, but the action still moved at a fairly quick pace and I was sufficiently interested to keep turning pages. I did find the book pretty violent – dog fighting is part of the plot and Iles spares no details of that bloody “sport.” One of the bad guys is also a sexual sadist and descriptions of his deeds left little to the imagination. Neither of these elements was more than what was necessary given the plot, but readers who find this kind of thing particularly distasteful are best warned away.
Dick Hill did a credible job with the audio though his voice tends to be too gravelly to convincingly voice the women characters. Still his ability with various accents, especially when he’s required to switch quickly from a cultured British accent to a Texas Ranger’s twang to an Irish brogue, really added to the enjoyment of the audio.
piccolochic90's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
judithdcollins's review against another edition
3.0
The Devil's Punchbowl (Penn Cage Series), Greg Iles third installment in his suspenseful, southern Gothic thriller, with more dark secrets, illegal cover ups, corruption, murder, and the nasty sins of Natchez, MS.
Former prosecutor Penn Cage, turned mayor of Natchez is anything but boring. He is always battling to help save his hometown and his family, but things always get in the way. The casino operators on the one of the gambling steamboats on the Mississippi River with exclusive clientele and high stakes agendas, are up to no good.
When one of his childhood friends is murdered after contacting him with information concerning dog fighting, prostitution, drugs, and money laundering presided over by the manager of a Natchez gambling casino, Cage takes on an investigation that makes him the target of organized crime, endangers the lives of his family and closest friends, and draws the wrath of the Justice Department and Homeland Security.
When Cage learns of the dangerous games, which of course, murder, plus more, he launches a campaign to stop the business, and as always, some protector, and political battles to fight in order to unravel the culprit.
I love the Penn Cage series and Greg Iles is an incredible writer, with his latest (#4) Natchez Burning which was excellent, and working my way backwards. David Ledoux, the narrator was superb!
Love the characters, Penn, his southern physician dad, and his relationship with beautiful Caitlin Masters, and of course, the humor, and the naughty bad guys.
Unfortunately, I dislike Dick Hill, as a narrator, for the audiobook, so this pulled my rating down for this one. Was not one of my favorites, in the series; however; plan on reading the rest in the series, to catch up with all the history of the characters. Would recommend reading them all!
“When everything is at risk, good judgment, not haste, makes the difference between life and death. Panic is the enemy.” ― Greg Iles, The Devil's Punchbowl
Former prosecutor Penn Cage, turned mayor of Natchez is anything but boring. He is always battling to help save his hometown and his family, but things always get in the way. The casino operators on the one of the gambling steamboats on the Mississippi River with exclusive clientele and high stakes agendas, are up to no good.
When one of his childhood friends is murdered after contacting him with information concerning dog fighting, prostitution, drugs, and money laundering presided over by the manager of a Natchez gambling casino, Cage takes on an investigation that makes him the target of organized crime, endangers the lives of his family and closest friends, and draws the wrath of the Justice Department and Homeland Security.
When Cage learns of the dangerous games, which of course, murder, plus more, he launches a campaign to stop the business, and as always, some protector, and political battles to fight in order to unravel the culprit.
I love the Penn Cage series and Greg Iles is an incredible writer, with his latest (#4) Natchez Burning which was excellent, and working my way backwards. David Ledoux, the narrator was superb!
Love the characters, Penn, his southern physician dad, and his relationship with beautiful Caitlin Masters, and of course, the humor, and the naughty bad guys.
Unfortunately, I dislike Dick Hill, as a narrator, for the audiobook, so this pulled my rating down for this one. Was not one of my favorites, in the series; however; plan on reading the rest in the series, to catch up with all the history of the characters. Would recommend reading them all!
“When everything is at risk, good judgment, not haste, makes the difference between life and death. Panic is the enemy.” ― Greg Iles, The Devil's Punchbowl
lisah1058's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
aaronboyes19's review against another edition
5.0
This was by far the best Penn Cage novel. It's a cliché, but I could not put it down.
ckjaer88's review against another edition
4.0
A good thriller. Didn't know it was part of a series when I started it, but I didn't feel like a was missing anything not having read the previous books.
kimcheel's review against another edition
2.0
I had a hard time with this one. Some details left me feeling ill, and disturbed. And I really don't think he writes women characters well/realistic. He described a 30-year old woman as still being attractive, like once you're past 30, all physical attraction is gone. Eye-rolling. The thriller aspect seemed very convoluted as well. A miss for my first read of the year.
mrsfligs's review against another edition
3.0
2 Words that describe the book: Suspenseful thriller
3 Settings where it took place or characters you met:
1. Setting: Natchez, Mississippi, modern times
2. Penn Cage—A former DA and now mayor of his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn returns for another thriller, accompanied by Caitlin Masters (his beautiful newspaper reporter ex-girlfriend) and other characters we've met in previous Penn Cage books. (This book can stand-alone but does reference previous books at times.)
3. Jonathan Sands—The local head of a riverboat gambling operation (which has brought corruption to Natchez since its arrival), Sands is a ruthless and chameleon-like bad guy who seems to have his fingers in quite a few pies, including dogfighting and prostitution. Plus he seems to have "friends in high places" who seem willing to protect him despite his corrupt and violent behavior.
4 Things you liked and/or disliked about it:
1. I liked how Iles keeps the story moving. This particular book was 577 pages (!), but it moves along at a good clip, and the plot is always branching off into some new area.
2. I liked revisiting the characters and locations that Iles have written about in previous books. This is the third Penn Cage book he's written, and he even incorporates a character (Danny McDavitt) from one of his previous Natchez-based books that didn't feature Penn Cage.
3. Greg Iles is one of my "go to" thriller writers, along with Nelson DeMille. Although he used to mix it up a bit more at the start of his writing career, lately he's focused on Natchez and Penn Cage. I think I've read every book he's written, and he is one of the few fiction writers that Mr. Jenners will read regularly. He comes out with a book every few years, and we always pick them up.
4. I liked knowing that there will be another Penn Cage book on the horizon based on the ending of this book, which ends with a bit of a cliffhanger for Cage's personal life.
5 Stars or less for your rating?
I'm giving the book 3.5 stars. Like I said, Iles writes a decent thriller, and if you're in the market for a well-done, not too gruesome story with an author who has a decent backlog of books, Iles is the writer for you. This isn't great literature by any means, but it is a great candy bar book to occupy the time when you're between "heavier" books.
3 Settings where it took place or characters you met:
1. Setting: Natchez, Mississippi, modern times
2. Penn Cage—A former DA and now mayor of his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn returns for another thriller, accompanied by Caitlin Masters (his beautiful newspaper reporter ex-girlfriend) and other characters we've met in previous Penn Cage books. (This book can stand-alone but does reference previous books at times.)
3. Jonathan Sands—The local head of a riverboat gambling operation (which has brought corruption to Natchez since its arrival), Sands is a ruthless and chameleon-like bad guy who seems to have his fingers in quite a few pies, including dogfighting and prostitution. Plus he seems to have "friends in high places" who seem willing to protect him despite his corrupt and violent behavior.
4 Things you liked and/or disliked about it:
1. I liked how Iles keeps the story moving. This particular book was 577 pages (!), but it moves along at a good clip, and the plot is always branching off into some new area.
2. I liked revisiting the characters and locations that Iles have written about in previous books. This is the third Penn Cage book he's written, and he even incorporates a character (Danny McDavitt) from one of his previous Natchez-based books that didn't feature Penn Cage.
3. Greg Iles is one of my "go to" thriller writers, along with Nelson DeMille. Although he used to mix it up a bit more at the start of his writing career, lately he's focused on Natchez and Penn Cage. I think I've read every book he's written, and he is one of the few fiction writers that Mr. Jenners will read regularly. He comes out with a book every few years, and we always pick them up.
4. I liked knowing that there will be another Penn Cage book on the horizon based on the ending of this book, which ends with a bit of a cliffhanger for Cage's personal life.
5 Stars or less for your rating?
I'm giving the book 3.5 stars. Like I said, Iles writes a decent thriller, and if you're in the market for a well-done, not too gruesome story with an author who has a decent backlog of books, Iles is the writer for you. This isn't great literature by any means, but it is a great candy bar book to occupy the time when you're between "heavier" books.