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Penn Cage #2
Turning Angel
With the same command of suspense that made Blood Memory and The Quiet Game runaway best-sellers, Greg Iles is back with his most dramatic tale to date-the story of two friends torn apart by the mysterious murder of a seventeen-year-old-girl. Turning Angel marks the long-awaited return of Penn Cage, the lawyer-hero of The Quiet Game, and introduces Drew Elliott, the doctor who saved Penn's life in a hiking accident when they were boys. As two of the most respected citizens of Natchez, Mississippi, Drew and Penn sit on the school board of their alma mater, St. Stephens Prep. When a young female student's body is found near the Mississippi River, the entire community is shocked-but perhaps no one more than Penn, who discovers that his best friend had been having a sexual relationship with the girl and may be accused of her murder. Penn takes on the case, and soon both men find themselves drawn into a dangerous world of blackmail and secrets.
644 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 27, 2005
3335 people are currently reading
9648 people want to read
About the author
Greg Iles
122 books7,203 followersGreg Iles spent most of his life in Natchez, Mississippi. His first novel, Spandau
Phoenix, was the first of seventeen New York Times bestsellers. His Natchez
Burning trilogy continued the story of Penn Cage, the protagonist of The Quiet Game,
Turning Angel, and #1 New York Times bestseller The Devil’s Punchbowl. Iles’s novels have been made into films and published in more than thirty-five countries. He was a
member of the lit-rock group The Rock Bottom Remainders.
Phoenix, was the first of seventeen New York Times bestsellers. His Natchez
Burning trilogy continued the story of Penn Cage, the protagonist of The Quiet Game,
Turning Angel, and #1 New York Times bestseller The Devil’s Punchbowl. Iles’s novels have been made into films and published in more than thirty-five countries. He was a
member of the lit-rock group The Rock Bottom Remainders.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,750 reviews
September 20, 2007
This is easily the worst book I've ever read, and I've read Jewel's book of poetry. The story seems to exist only as a vehicle for Iles to create this ludicrous world in which sexy, teenage girls are unable to keep from flinging themselves at every middle-aged man that comes along. This might make for some great poker night b.s. stories for Iles and his buddies, but as a novel, it comes off as a pervert's collection of fantasties. Just creepy. Imagine if John Mark Karr rewrote Lolita, and you've got a pretty good idea.
October 21, 2009
Greg Iles has written a 500 page novel which would make any person's stomach turn when thinking of the corruption of Natchez, Mississippi or I guess Anytown USA. This was at the core a murder mystery with a fairly engaging lawyer/writer Penn Cage. He is a good core character, but what ruined it for me and I can bet lots of fans was the disgusting portrayal of the affair of the town's 40 year old physician and resident hottie with the town's 17 year old high school queen. I'm not naive I know these things happen, but Isle's justification for this throughout the book is that the physician was "in love" even though it's considered a felony in this country with a 30 year punishable offense. The side running story between Penn and his 17 year old babysitter is nauseating. Maybe I am more sensitive than most because I have teenage daughters. Regardless of how Isles puts it, the high school hottie fantasy with the especially lurid description from the girl's diary and porno pictures was sick. I kept reading to the end to see if finally although the good doctor was acquitted for murder he would be sentenced for at least sexual battery ........nope. All the peripheral characters have met their judgement day; the drug dealer, the druggy wife, the gangster exchange student,and even the politically ambitious distric attorney, but the pedophile doctor and the pedophile highschool coach both go free with no mention of justice for their actions and Penn Cage considers this a moral victory as the killer is behind bars. I found this novel poorly written especially the dialogue, it was stilted and unnatural and the subject matter really distastful. It disturbed me that pedophilia was glorified and that the fantiasies of middle aged men doing it with high school girls was attributed to "the girls today aren't like the girls we knew." Not worth your time.
April 19, 2020
This book nearly finished me. 672 pages of teeny tiny print. My eyes hurt from squinting and my arms are tired from holding the book towards the light. This is one time where the kindle would have been better than the paperback.
No matter, the book was so good I persevered and it was worth the pain. I enjoyed the character of Penn Cage very much in the first book and he has not changed in this one. He is a smart man and also a determined and an honourable one. I liked the way he found himself in the same position as Drew but he did not give way to temptation. Unlike Drew who caused his own downfall in a disastrous way.
For a long book Turning Angel keeps up its momentum well - lots of action, many dead bodies and some very unsavoury characters as well as good ones. Lots of tension too especially when the police themselves cannot be relied upon.
I really, really enjoyed this one and will be looking out for #3. Just need to check that the print is a bit bigger before I start. Or better still get the kindle version.
No matter, the book was so good I persevered and it was worth the pain. I enjoyed the character of Penn Cage very much in the first book and he has not changed in this one. He is a smart man and also a determined and an honourable one. I liked the way he found himself in the same position as Drew but he did not give way to temptation. Unlike Drew who caused his own downfall in a disastrous way.
For a long book Turning Angel keeps up its momentum well - lots of action, many dead bodies and some very unsavoury characters as well as good ones. Lots of tension too especially when the police themselves cannot be relied upon.
I really, really enjoyed this one and will be looking out for #3. Just need to check that the print is a bit bigger before I start. Or better still get the kindle version.
November 22, 2023
Sometimes uncomfortable but challenging and compelling!
Penn Cage is a writer and semi-retired attorney, recently widowed and seeing a younger woman in a difficult long distance relationship. He and his close friend, Andrew Elliot, a much loved internist, both living in the town of Natchez, Mississippi, serve on the board of a well-heeled private school of the sort that turns out accomplished students destined for the ivy league likes of Harvard and Yale. Kate Townsend, a tennis ace and beautiful young student at the school, scheduled to be the valedictorian for the graduating class that year is found murdered and raped. The entire town is in shock but Cage receives an overwhelming double dose when Elliot reveals that he had fallen in love with Kate, was sleeping with her and had even gone so far as to make a down payment on a house in Massachusetts where they would live after his divorce from his drug-addicted wife. Shad Johnson, the black district attorney for Natchez with political aspirations to the position of mayor and perhaps beyond, positively salivates at the juicy political prospect of sending a white man to death row in Mississippi for the statutory rape and capital murder of a girl who had yet to reach the age of majority.
TURNING ANGEL is undoubtedly a first rate thriller but it is also a compelling intellectual leap from the typically action based brain candy effort which relies on pure thrills and chills for its effectiveness. In every direction a reader turns, Iles lays bare uncomfortable and difficult issues related to loss of innocence and the perceptions that people have of themselves and one another.
Is it acceptable (or even possible) for a forty year old man to have a valid, meaningful relationship with a 17 year old girl? This line is blurred and the question made much more difficult to answer honestly when Iles makes it clear that Cage, who was openly critical of Elliot's relationship with Townsend begins to develop feelings for his babysitter, Mia Burke, who, unlike Townsend, is above the age of majority - but barely!
A candid presentation of teenage raves, drug experimentation and sexual habits will have many reading parents questioning whether they have the slightest clue about what goes on in the minds of their near adult children. Iles' ability to present dialogue is superb. The conversations that Cage has with Mia Burke are really quite extraordinary and positively gripping! Not only do they build a colourful sketch of a well grounded young lady intelligent and mature beyond her years but they also reveal her as a teenager with a complete helping of the typical angst and fears associated with her entry into a confusing adult world.
One of the more interesting can of worms that Iles unflinchingly pried open was the myriad perceptions of a southern black mayoral candidate's political motives by a potential black constituency - a frank eye opener for me, I must say!
You're likely to find yourself well outside of your mental comfort zone when you read TURNING ANGEL but you will also feel challenged and, as you should with any well crafted thriller, enthralled and wishing you had more time to devote to its reading.
Paul Weiss
Penn Cage is a writer and semi-retired attorney, recently widowed and seeing a younger woman in a difficult long distance relationship. He and his close friend, Andrew Elliot, a much loved internist, both living in the town of Natchez, Mississippi, serve on the board of a well-heeled private school of the sort that turns out accomplished students destined for the ivy league likes of Harvard and Yale. Kate Townsend, a tennis ace and beautiful young student at the school, scheduled to be the valedictorian for the graduating class that year is found murdered and raped. The entire town is in shock but Cage receives an overwhelming double dose when Elliot reveals that he had fallen in love with Kate, was sleeping with her and had even gone so far as to make a down payment on a house in Massachusetts where they would live after his divorce from his drug-addicted wife. Shad Johnson, the black district attorney for Natchez with political aspirations to the position of mayor and perhaps beyond, positively salivates at the juicy political prospect of sending a white man to death row in Mississippi for the statutory rape and capital murder of a girl who had yet to reach the age of majority.
TURNING ANGEL is undoubtedly a first rate thriller but it is also a compelling intellectual leap from the typically action based brain candy effort which relies on pure thrills and chills for its effectiveness. In every direction a reader turns, Iles lays bare uncomfortable and difficult issues related to loss of innocence and the perceptions that people have of themselves and one another.
Is it acceptable (or even possible) for a forty year old man to have a valid, meaningful relationship with a 17 year old girl? This line is blurred and the question made much more difficult to answer honestly when Iles makes it clear that Cage, who was openly critical of Elliot's relationship with Townsend begins to develop feelings for his babysitter, Mia Burke, who, unlike Townsend, is above the age of majority - but barely!
A candid presentation of teenage raves, drug experimentation and sexual habits will have many reading parents questioning whether they have the slightest clue about what goes on in the minds of their near adult children. Iles' ability to present dialogue is superb. The conversations that Cage has with Mia Burke are really quite extraordinary and positively gripping! Not only do they build a colourful sketch of a well grounded young lady intelligent and mature beyond her years but they also reveal her as a teenager with a complete helping of the typical angst and fears associated with her entry into a confusing adult world.
One of the more interesting can of worms that Iles unflinchingly pried open was the myriad perceptions of a southern black mayoral candidate's political motives by a potential black constituency - a frank eye opener for me, I must say!
You're likely to find yourself well outside of your mental comfort zone when you read TURNING ANGEL but you will also feel challenged and, as you should with any well crafted thriller, enthralled and wishing you had more time to devote to its reading.
Paul Weiss
January 26, 2020
This was an utter disappointment. There's just no other way for me to describe it. I really enjoyed Greg Iles' first Penn Cage book, so I was looking forward to continuing the series... but now I'm not sure. I read The Quiet Game in two days. This book took me 3 weeks, despite being only 92 pages longer.
The reason that it took me so long is that it sucked. The more I read of this book, the less I liked it, and the less I wanted to pick it up. But I also didn't want to give up on it, because I hoped that the ending would redeem itself and the series. It did not.
So, in this book, a 17 year old girl is found dead in a creek, and her 40 year old "lover" (who just so happens to be Penn Cage's best friend - though we never heard of him before) is arrested for the crime. What follows is 650+ pages of convoluted bullshit and victim blaming and middle-aged creepiness and a plot and resolution so fucking weak that a newborn kitten could take it down.
I had a LOT of problems with this book. A lot. Let's go through them together, eh? There WILL be spoilers, so.. you know the drill.
-----
Problem #1: The way that teenage girls are viewed in this book. We find out very early on that Drew Elliott (Penn's BFF) was having an affair with 17 year old Kate Townsend, and that apparently she was super sexually adventurous. "You don't understand how girls these days are" was said by various middle aged men in positions of authority over said teenagers. And they weren't wrong. Greg Iles does not know how teenaged girls are, because he apparently thinks that they are all nymphomaniac porn stars. Will there be some rebelliousness and experimentation in the life of a teenaged girl? Of course. But the exotic and wild sexual desires and skills depicted in THIS book? I VERY much doubt it.
On top of that, these girls are ALSO depicted as being the best and the brightest and the most beautiful and "mature" of their class. You know... the kind of girls that in other books are the 28 year old college graduate who has traveled and learned about herself and the world and formed at least somewhat educated opinions of how things work and her place in society and her view of herself, etc. Or, in The Quiet Game, the Caitlin Masters.
Here, they are 17 year old high school seniors bound for Brown and Harvard. Of course they are. Because they have to be to justify MIDDLE AGED MEN apparently thinking that it's appropriate to fuck them.
And on top of THAT, we're supposed to believe that these best and brightest Harvard and Brown bound girls were educated in the SECOND LOWEST RATED SCHOOL SYSTEM IN THE NATION. Oh, right, but they went to the PRIVATE school. In the "dying" town that sees graduating students abandon for greener pastures and better opportunities elsewhere... So, what does the private school come up to? 10th lowest? 15th lowest? Definitely Harvard bound graduates aplenty!
Problem #2: The way that teenage boys are viewed in this book. All boys are bad. But some boys are more badder than other boys. And there's a 15 year old hacker wunderkind when needed. That is all.
Problem #3: Drugs. So... this annoyed me. A LOT. This book apparently thinks that marijuana, ecstasy, and LSD are interchangeable with heroin, the way that they are depicted. I've tried all of them (except heroin) and I can say with confidence that they are nothing at all alike. Heroin is the only one that is actually addictive, for one, despite the books claims that there's a fucking LSD epidemic and HUGE DRUG RING complete with rivals gunning for drug kingpin status in Natchez. Give me a fucking break.
I'm not saying it's impossible that there's a drug market... I just really do not believe that it's anything at all like what was depicted here. I would expect this in a city... not a little backwater with a total population of less than 20,000.
Problem #4: Drug dealers. Of which there were two... sort of. The main one, the "conveniently black, obsessed with our dead teen sex goddess, and also conveniently an adult male drug dealer" was Cyrus. One of his crew was the other main drug dealer, Marko, a 17 year old "foreign exchange student" refugee from Croatia.
Sigh. I don't even know where to start here. The issues with the drugs, and the very out of touch views on them made it REALLY obvious that the REAL bad guy was going to be one of these two. Which one kept flip-flopping and alternating throughout the story, because otherwise the book wouldn't need to be nearly 700 fucking pages long.
But my problem here is that neither of these guys made any sense to me as the killer. If Cyrus, the "drug kingpin" of the area wanted Kate badly enough, he could have had her any time. If he wanted her dead, she'd have been dead. He could have snatched her any time he wanted. Literally, ANY TIME. He and his people were able to easily kidnap PENN CAGE, the ex-District Attorney of Houston (lest we forget), while he was literally on the lookout for Cyrus at the time, while he was armed, and kept him for a week, drugged up and docile. People thought that Cage was dead. That's how easy it was for him to take a GROWN MAN WHO WAS ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR CYRUS ALREADY, in broad ass daylight from outside a busy downtown restaurant.
But I'm supposed to believe that a 17 year old girl thwarted him. HOKAY.
(Also, I fucking hate Seinfeld, so my use of this gif should be telling as to just how stupid the "OMG Cyrus must be the killer!" plotline was.)
Likewise Marko made no sense to me, either. Apparently he's supposed to be so scary that nobody will even talk about him. Like, he's a 17 year old Croatian refugee who happens to deal drugs. He's not goddamn Voldemort. But how convenient that he's an outsider, that he's not part of the community. I thought he so obviously had to be a red herring. It was so obviously a case of "scapegoating" that put him on the radar. It pissed me off. I mean, their only reason for suspecting him is because he was dealing drugs and was hiding out. Because you know, all drug dealers just love presenting themselves for questioning at the police station. It's literally their favorite thing. Obviously. The last 50 pages of this book were some of the most ridiculous I've ever read.
Problem #5: Drew Elliott. Dude is a 40 year old doctor. He's handsome (apparently on the level of Greek God), successful, married, a father. And an Eagle Scout! He was also fucking a 17 year old girl, who happened to be one of his patients, and was in LUUURVE with her. She was DIFFERENT. She understood him and made him feel all the ways that he hadn't felt in however long in his loveless sham of a marriage. Blah blah blah. We have heard this all before from cheaters everywhere.
The problem that I have here is that when Drew is cleared of the conviction after the real killer confessed, he just went back to his old life. Oh, yes, he was GRIEVING for his little dead teen lover of course, but otherwise, no apparent change to his situation. People give him the side-eye, but he is still rich, handsome, a father, a husband, and a doctor. This last is the what the absolute everloving fuck of the whole thing. At one point, it's mentioned that his medical license had been suspended, status pending the outcome of the charges against him for Sexual battery (which is when a GROWN ASS MAN who is in any position of authority over a teenager has sex with said teenager.) which were brought after the murder charges were cleared. He didn't kill her, but he definitely did stick his penis in her underage body repeatedly.
But let me reiterate in case you blinked and missed it. His medical license had been suspended, pending the outcome of the sexual battery charge. Meaning that if they drop the charges (and they do, of course) he keeps his medical license.
I'M SORRY... FUCKING WHAT?
Let me get this straight. This man acted completely unethically, by having sex with a teenage girl who he, as her doctor, was supposed to protect. If this girl had been having sex with a DIFFERENT middle aged man and he knew of it, he would have been legally and ethically obligated to report it as sexual assault. But apparently there are zero penalties for Mr. Sexy Doctor who would still have access to more children in his care. At the very least, he should lose his license. But nah! He's a "good guy"!
I will just add here that I was also really disturbed by how Penn Cage stepped right up to the same line with his own Teenage Seductress. He didn't cross it (though did allow a tiny toe to slip over before pulling it back) but at the end of the book when Drew is like "Now do you see?" and Penn is like "Yeah" I threw up in my mouth a bit. Because, it really, really, seemed like that whole situation was written JUST to make it more "understandable" or "identifiable" to the reader how a middle aged father would be attracted to a teenage girl. But also, look at how forward and direct and sexually aware these girls are. They are teenagers only in fact of their biological age - in behavior, in desire, in attitude, they are 25 year old minxes. Can anyone even blame them?
YES. YES THE FUCK I CAN. I was a teenage girl once, and I was also exploring the boundaries of life and sex and attraction and such, and I made a LOT of mistakes that I regret. We don't know who we are then, and we cannot make those kinds of huge life-altering decisions at that age. I have changed SO MUCH from the person I was when I was 17 that it would make your head spin, and I'm eternally grateful that I survived being that stupid naive person.
So yeah. I don't care if the girl throws herself on you, Mr. Middle Aged Man. YOU ARE THE ADULT. YOU SHOULD FUCKING KNOW BETTER. YOU SHOULD BE BETTER.
Problem #6: Race and Stereotypes
The first book in the Penn Cage series worked for me because it seemed to deal with race in a realistic and decent way. There were still stereotypes, but people were treated as fairly as would be expected in a cultural reality that doesn't reflect equitable idealism. (We're not there yet.) I liked that Penn Cage took up the cause of bringing justice to the white killer of a black man, even though it took place decades before. I liked Penn for that, and I wanted more of THAT Penn (not the creepy cheerleader fan Penn we got in this book. Gross.)
But this book took about 3 or 4 gigantic steps backwards on race issues. Not only was the main drug dealer black, but the "black" housing development that he lived in was described as this horrifically scary, dangerous place, and all of the residents who live there were essentially assumed to be watchers and runners for the drug dealer's people. Regular people who might have no choice but live in a development that they can afford, even if it means that they have to live next door to drug activity - those people apparently don't exist. (Until it's convenient to the plot, anyway.)
Then there were The Asians. That's all they were ever referred to in the book, and the only description they ever got. They were Asian. Ambiguously Asian. Very clearly they were not local, they were othered by nature of how they were described and what they did. They came into the story when it was convenient to the plot, and then they disappeared from it when THAT was convenient to the plot. They literally could have been ANYONE, since their identities were literally unknown and were never important to the plot, but Iles chose to make them Asian, and therefore other them based on stereotypes, as though they were members of the Yakuza.
Then there was Quentin Avery, the uber successful black lawyer who argued and won civil rights cases before the Supreme Court, then left to practice piddly cases for piddly pay... Penn wants to know why, but never asks, and the second time it comes up, it's mentioned that it should be obvious. It's not. Why mention it if you're not going to address it? There are a million reasons why he could have made that decision, and for Penn, a white man who literally does not know this person at all, nor think on the same level as he does, to assume what they are is the height of ignorant arrogance.
THEN there was Caitlin. She was only in the book for 4 pages, but she managed to make me literally hate her during them by spouting some of the most racist shit I've ever seen. Disgusting.
The main problem with this book is that it wants to have its cake and eat it too. It doesn't want to commit to anything, so it just waffles around aimlessly and stupidly. This is probably my longest rant in a long time... and I'm sure to get some shit over it. But I don't care. This all needed to be said - and more, but I'm out of space. BYE!
The reason that it took me so long is that it sucked. The more I read of this book, the less I liked it, and the less I wanted to pick it up. But I also didn't want to give up on it, because I hoped that the ending would redeem itself and the series. It did not.
So, in this book, a 17 year old girl is found dead in a creek, and her 40 year old "lover" (who just so happens to be Penn Cage's best friend - though we never heard of him before) is arrested for the crime. What follows is 650+ pages of convoluted bullshit and victim blaming and middle-aged creepiness and a plot and resolution so fucking weak that a newborn kitten could take it down.
I had a LOT of problems with this book. A lot. Let's go through them together, eh? There WILL be spoilers, so.. you know the drill.
-----
Problem #1: The way that teenage girls are viewed in this book. We find out very early on that Drew Elliott (Penn's BFF) was having an affair with 17 year old Kate Townsend, and that apparently she was super sexually adventurous. "You don't understand how girls these days are" was said by various middle aged men in positions of authority over said teenagers. And they weren't wrong. Greg Iles does not know how teenaged girls are, because he apparently thinks that they are all nymphomaniac porn stars. Will there be some rebelliousness and experimentation in the life of a teenaged girl? Of course. But the exotic and wild sexual desires and skills depicted in THIS book? I VERY much doubt it.
On top of that, these girls are ALSO depicted as being the best and the brightest and the most beautiful and "mature" of their class. You know... the kind of girls that in other books are the 28 year old college graduate who has traveled and learned about herself and the world and formed at least somewhat educated opinions of how things work and her place in society and her view of herself, etc. Or, in The Quiet Game, the Caitlin Masters.
Here, they are 17 year old high school seniors bound for Brown and Harvard. Of course they are. Because they have to be to justify MIDDLE AGED MEN apparently thinking that it's appropriate to fuck them.
And on top of THAT, we're supposed to believe that these best and brightest Harvard and Brown bound girls were educated in the SECOND LOWEST RATED SCHOOL SYSTEM IN THE NATION. Oh, right, but they went to the PRIVATE school. In the "dying" town that sees graduating students abandon for greener pastures and better opportunities elsewhere... So, what does the private school come up to? 10th lowest? 15th lowest? Definitely Harvard bound graduates aplenty!
Problem #2: The way that teenage boys are viewed in this book. All boys are bad. But some boys are more badder than other boys. And there's a 15 year old hacker wunderkind when needed. That is all.
Problem #3: Drugs. So... this annoyed me. A LOT. This book apparently thinks that marijuana, ecstasy, and LSD are interchangeable with heroin, the way that they are depicted. I've tried all of them (except heroin) and I can say with confidence that they are nothing at all alike. Heroin is the only one that is actually addictive, for one, despite the books claims that there's a fucking LSD epidemic and HUGE DRUG RING complete with rivals gunning for drug kingpin status in Natchez. Give me a fucking break.
I'm not saying it's impossible that there's a drug market... I just really do not believe that it's anything at all like what was depicted here. I would expect this in a city... not a little backwater with a total population of less than 20,000.
Problem #4: Drug dealers. Of which there were two... sort of. The main one, the "conveniently black, obsessed with our dead teen sex goddess, and also conveniently an adult male drug dealer" was Cyrus. One of his crew was the other main drug dealer, Marko, a 17 year old "foreign exchange student" refugee from Croatia.
Sigh. I don't even know where to start here. The issues with the drugs, and the very out of touch views on them made it REALLY obvious that the REAL bad guy was going to be one of these two. Which one kept flip-flopping and alternating throughout the story, because otherwise the book wouldn't need to be nearly 700 fucking pages long.
But my problem here is that neither of these guys made any sense to me as the killer. If Cyrus, the "drug kingpin" of the area wanted Kate badly enough, he could have had her any time. If he wanted her dead, she'd have been dead. He could have snatched her any time he wanted. Literally, ANY TIME. He and his people were able to easily kidnap PENN CAGE, the ex-District Attorney of Houston (lest we forget), while he was literally on the lookout for Cyrus at the time, while he was armed, and kept him for a week, drugged up and docile. People thought that Cage was dead. That's how easy it was for him to take a GROWN MAN WHO WAS ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR CYRUS ALREADY, in broad ass daylight from outside a busy downtown restaurant.
But I'm supposed to believe that a 17 year old girl thwarted him. HOKAY.
(Also, I fucking hate Seinfeld, so my use of this gif should be telling as to just how stupid the "OMG Cyrus must be the killer!" plotline was.)
Likewise Marko made no sense to me, either. Apparently he's supposed to be so scary that nobody will even talk about him. Like, he's a 17 year old Croatian refugee who happens to deal drugs. He's not goddamn Voldemort. But how convenient that he's an outsider, that he's not part of the community. I thought he so obviously had to be a red herring. It was so obviously a case of "scapegoating" that put him on the radar. It pissed me off. I mean, their only reason for suspecting him is because he was dealing drugs and was hiding out. Because you know, all drug dealers just love presenting themselves for questioning at the police station. It's literally their favorite thing. Obviously. The last 50 pages of this book were some of the most ridiculous I've ever read.
Problem #5: Drew Elliott. Dude is a 40 year old doctor. He's handsome (apparently on the level of Greek God), successful, married, a father. And an Eagle Scout! He was also fucking a 17 year old girl, who happened to be one of his patients, and was in LUUURVE with her. She was DIFFERENT. She understood him and made him feel all the ways that he hadn't felt in however long in his loveless sham of a marriage. Blah blah blah. We have heard this all before from cheaters everywhere.
The problem that I have here is that when Drew is cleared of the conviction after the real killer confessed, he just went back to his old life. Oh, yes, he was GRIEVING for his little dead teen lover of course, but otherwise, no apparent change to his situation. People give him the side-eye, but he is still rich, handsome, a father, a husband, and a doctor. This last is the what the absolute everloving fuck of the whole thing. At one point, it's mentioned that his medical license had been suspended, status pending the outcome of the charges against him for Sexual battery (which is when a GROWN ASS MAN who is in any position of authority over a teenager has sex with said teenager.) which were brought after the murder charges were cleared. He didn't kill her, but he definitely did stick his penis in her underage body repeatedly.
But let me reiterate in case you blinked and missed it. His medical license had been suspended, pending the outcome of the sexual battery charge. Meaning that if they drop the charges (and they do, of course) he keeps his medical license.
I'M SORRY... FUCKING WHAT?
Let me get this straight. This man acted completely unethically, by having sex with a teenage girl who he, as her doctor, was supposed to protect. If this girl had been having sex with a DIFFERENT middle aged man and he knew of it, he would have been legally and ethically obligated to report it as sexual assault. But apparently there are zero penalties for Mr. Sexy Doctor who would still have access to more children in his care. At the very least, he should lose his license. But nah! He's a "good guy"!
I will just add here that I was also really disturbed by how Penn Cage stepped right up to the same line with his own Teenage Seductress. He didn't cross it (though did allow a tiny toe to slip over before pulling it back) but at the end of the book when Drew is like "Now do you see?" and Penn is like "Yeah" I threw up in my mouth a bit. Because, it really, really, seemed like that whole situation was written JUST to make it more "understandable" or "identifiable" to the reader how a middle aged father would be attracted to a teenage girl. But also, look at how forward and direct and sexually aware these girls are. They are teenagers only in fact of their biological age - in behavior, in desire, in attitude, they are 25 year old minxes. Can anyone even blame them?
YES. YES THE FUCK I CAN. I was a teenage girl once, and I was also exploring the boundaries of life and sex and attraction and such, and I made a LOT of mistakes that I regret. We don't know who we are then, and we cannot make those kinds of huge life-altering decisions at that age. I have changed SO MUCH from the person I was when I was 17 that it would make your head spin, and I'm eternally grateful that I survived being that stupid naive person.
So yeah. I don't care if the girl throws herself on you, Mr. Middle Aged Man. YOU ARE THE ADULT. YOU SHOULD FUCKING KNOW BETTER. YOU SHOULD BE BETTER.
Problem #6: Race and Stereotypes
The first book in the Penn Cage series worked for me because it seemed to deal with race in a realistic and decent way. There were still stereotypes, but people were treated as fairly as would be expected in a cultural reality that doesn't reflect equitable idealism. (We're not there yet.) I liked that Penn Cage took up the cause of bringing justice to the white killer of a black man, even though it took place decades before. I liked Penn for that, and I wanted more of THAT Penn (not the creepy cheerleader fan Penn we got in this book. Gross.)
But this book took about 3 or 4 gigantic steps backwards on race issues. Not only was the main drug dealer black, but the "black" housing development that he lived in was described as this horrifically scary, dangerous place, and all of the residents who live there were essentially assumed to be watchers and runners for the drug dealer's people. Regular people who might have no choice but live in a development that they can afford, even if it means that they have to live next door to drug activity - those people apparently don't exist. (Until it's convenient to the plot, anyway.)
Then there were The Asians. That's all they were ever referred to in the book, and the only description they ever got. They were Asian. Ambiguously Asian. Very clearly they were not local, they were othered by nature of how they were described and what they did. They came into the story when it was convenient to the plot, and then they disappeared from it when THAT was convenient to the plot. They literally could have been ANYONE, since their identities were literally unknown and were never important to the plot, but Iles chose to make them Asian, and therefore other them based on stereotypes, as though they were members of the Yakuza.
Then there was Quentin Avery, the uber successful black lawyer who argued and won civil rights cases before the Supreme Court, then left to practice piddly cases for piddly pay... Penn wants to know why, but never asks, and the second time it comes up, it's mentioned that it should be obvious. It's not. Why mention it if you're not going to address it? There are a million reasons why he could have made that decision, and for Penn, a white man who literally does not know this person at all, nor think on the same level as he does, to assume what they are is the height of ignorant arrogance.
THEN there was Caitlin. She was only in the book for 4 pages, but she managed to make me literally hate her during them by spouting some of the most racist shit I've ever seen. Disgusting.
The main problem with this book is that it wants to have its cake and eat it too. It doesn't want to commit to anything, so it just waffles around aimlessly and stupidly. This is probably my longest rant in a long time... and I'm sure to get some shit over it. But I don't care. This all needed to be said - and more, but I'm out of space. BYE!
January 14, 2016
I have enjoyed other novels by Greg Iles, but this one was disappointing, on several levels.
For one thing, it was way too long; I found myself skimming through scenes that didn't seem to me to be either essential or interesting, including the ending, which should have been a high point but wasn't.
Several of the characters were portrayed in what to me was a very unrealistic manner. That may be because I am not familiar with the teenage sexual habits that Iles described in such great detail. Maybe he is giving an accurate rendering, but I found much of it offensive and pandering to the least attractive aspects of sexual interaction. Maybe, by today's standards, I'm just a prude.
Finally, the portrayal of Mia, the teenage girl who is at the center of so many aspects of the story, was strangely missing the kind of internal depth that could have made her emotionally compelling. Instead she was left flat, a huge missed opportunity.
For one thing, it was way too long; I found myself skimming through scenes that didn't seem to me to be either essential or interesting, including the ending, which should have been a high point but wasn't.
Several of the characters were portrayed in what to me was a very unrealistic manner. That may be because I am not familiar with the teenage sexual habits that Iles described in such great detail. Maybe he is giving an accurate rendering, but I found much of it offensive and pandering to the least attractive aspects of sexual interaction. Maybe, by today's standards, I'm just a prude.
Finally, the portrayal of Mia, the teenage girl who is at the center of so many aspects of the story, was strangely missing the kind of internal depth that could have made her emotionally compelling. Instead she was left flat, a huge missed opportunity.
February 20, 2008
If you're just reading Greg Iles for the first time, here's his advice on the order in which to read his books:
If you have just read Turning Angel, you should next read The Quiet Game, the novel in which Penn Cage first appeared, and which many readers believe is my best book. Blood Memory was written before Turning Angel, and Penn’s father Tom Cage appears there in a supporting role, but I would read “Blood Memory” after “The Quiet Game,” not before. You will appreciate Tom much more then.
Of my “Natchez” or “Mississippi” novels, the “Penn Cage” novels are a subcategory. I’ve tried not to write a series character, for reasons I’ll discuss elsewhere, but Penn has cropped up as a minor character in other Natchez books, and seems to be developing a life of his own. Of the rest, Mortal Fear, Dead Sleep, 24 Hours, and Sleep No More —while all set in Mississippi (or New Orleans)---stand completely alone and can be read at any point.
If you have just read Turning Angel, you should next read The Quiet Game, the novel in which Penn Cage first appeared, and which many readers believe is my best book. Blood Memory was written before Turning Angel, and Penn’s father Tom Cage appears there in a supporting role, but I would read “Blood Memory” after “The Quiet Game,” not before. You will appreciate Tom much more then.
Of my “Natchez” or “Mississippi” novels, the “Penn Cage” novels are a subcategory. I’ve tried not to write a series character, for reasons I’ll discuss elsewhere, but Penn has cropped up as a minor character in other Natchez books, and seems to be developing a life of his own. Of the rest, Mortal Fear, Dead Sleep, 24 Hours, and Sleep No More —while all set in Mississippi (or New Orleans)---stand completely alone and can be read at any point.
September 11, 2009
I disliked this book the more I read it ...I'm sure that the reason I, as a Black man, put it on my to read list is because some review must have said that it dealt with race relations in the Deep South, a murder mystery, and it had an abundance of Black characters. And it did. But I could not shake the feeling that all of the black folks were "others". None were drawn as real people but more like props...one central character..the ex-army drug dealer..hunh? was so cartoonishly drawn as to be ludacris even by CSI standards..I kept thinking how much better G. Pelecanos or R.Price could have told the story. The author, I gather, is a European transplant who lives in MS. and it shows...while taking on delicate racial subjects he turns around and spouts racist notions in his exposition..the D.A. is a Johnny Cochrane like idealouge..the really bad guys are Northern Liberals.. and the only Asians are drug runners..Everything in the book would have been perfectly acceptable in a Hollywood movie but when I..again as a Black Man..cannot recognize the humanity in one single Black character..Oh yes there was a Black defense lawyer but I ask you ....why was he even in the book?..then I think I recognize a Movie treatment...."CSI: the Movie" ..when I read it.
Spoiler!!!! That the white pussy obsessed Black drug dealer would keep our hero, the used to be racist now Klan prosecuting prosecutor, captive for weeks by shooting him up with pure heroin to avoid his trail is probably to much of a stretch even for CSI:MIAMI.
This book wants it both ways..it presents a character supposedly rising above his racist roots fighting against deep South racism but yet pulls out every trope and racist stereotype in the book..the mystery is decent but even that involves a dry gaging plot of child molestation...no I cannot recommend this to anyone..
Spoiler!!!! That the white pussy obsessed Black drug dealer would keep our hero, the used to be racist now Klan prosecuting prosecutor, captive for weeks by shooting him up with pure heroin to avoid his trail is probably to much of a stretch even for CSI:MIAMI.
This book wants it both ways..it presents a character supposedly rising above his racist roots fighting against deep South racism but yet pulls out every trope and racist stereotype in the book..the mystery is decent but even that involves a dry gaging plot of child molestation...no I cannot recommend this to anyone..
July 15, 2020
Following the death of his wife, lawyer Penn Cage, turned writer, has returned to his childhood town of Natchez, Mississippi to raise his young daughter Annie. His pertner, the journalist Caitlin Masters is away working in Boston for most of the book and their relationship seems to be in danger. When the partially nude body of a 17 year old girl, Kate Townsend is found in the creek, the whole town is shocked as Kate was the star of the the graduating class at Penn's old school St Stephen's and had been accepted into Harvard. Penn is even more shocked when his boyhood friend and respected town doctor Drew Elliott tells him he was in love with Kate and was planning to leave his wife and move to Boston with Kate. Although Drew thought no one knew about his affair, his secret is leaked to the sheriff's office by an anonymous source, he becomes the number one suspect for Kate's murder.
After finding a lawyer to represent Drew, Penn agrees to be his assistant and throws himself into investigating Kate's world and that of the students at St Stephen's. His daughter's babysitter Mia proves to be a useful conduit into the world of the senior class and their attitudes to drugs and sex.
This is quite a long book with a number of layers as Kate is not quite the wholesome, innocent girl that her image portrays. Iles makes her out to be very mature for her age, highly sexual and looking for an older man, however that does not justify a 4o year old married doctor risking his career (and facing a prison sentence) by having an affair with an underage girl. Iles tries to justify this by saying how much in love they were and although such things do happen it will still be somewhat disquieting for many readers. Also by placing Penn in a position where he could have had sex with a teenager, it appears that Iles finds it acceptable himself for much older men to sleep with young girls. There were also a number of racial stereotypes which surprised me after reading the first book in this series. These include the politically motivated black District Attorney Shad Johnson who is delighted at the prospect of putting a wealthy white doctor in jail and the local drug lord, the evil and violent Cyrus White whose crew are all black and networking with 'the Asians'.
Apart from these quibbles, the book was well written with a solid plot and although the murderer was always going to be one of two suspects, there were some surprise revelations when the murder is solved. Penn Cage, an intelligent and honest man who will always do his best for his friends makes an excellent main character for this series, but I do hope future episodes can avoid the racial and political stereotypes prevalent in this novel. 3.5★
After finding a lawyer to represent Drew, Penn agrees to be his assistant and throws himself into investigating Kate's world and that of the students at St Stephen's. His daughter's babysitter Mia proves to be a useful conduit into the world of the senior class and their attitudes to drugs and sex.
This is quite a long book with a number of layers as Kate is not quite the wholesome, innocent girl that her image portrays. Iles makes her out to be very mature for her age, highly sexual and looking for an older man, however that does not justify a 4o year old married doctor risking his career (and facing a prison sentence) by having an affair with an underage girl. Iles tries to justify this by saying how much in love they were and although such things do happen it will still be somewhat disquieting for many readers. Also by placing Penn in a position where he could have had sex with a teenager, it appears that Iles finds it acceptable himself for much older men to sleep with young girls. There were also a number of racial stereotypes which surprised me after reading the first book in this series. These include the politically motivated black District Attorney Shad Johnson who is delighted at the prospect of putting a wealthy white doctor in jail and the local drug lord, the evil and violent Cyrus White whose crew are all black and networking with 'the Asians'.
Apart from these quibbles, the book was well written with a solid plot and although the murderer was always going to be one of two suspects, there were some surprise revelations when the murder is solved. Penn Cage, an intelligent and honest man who will always do his best for his friends makes an excellent main character for this series, but I do hope future episodes can avoid the racial and political stereotypes prevalent in this novel. 3.5★
February 5, 2024
TURNING ANGEL [2005] By Greg Iles
[PENN CAGE BOOK 2]
MY REVIEW FIVE STARS*****
TURNING ANGEL is the second installment of the PENN CAGE BOOKS which include THE QUIET GAME, this novel, and then THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL which completes the trilogy. I read this novel out of sequence, which posed no problem because it can easily be read and enjoyed to the fullest as a stand-alone novel.
This BOOK 2 is comparatively lengthy at 672 pages, but it is a definite page-turner, and I can truthfully say that my interest never waned for a single moment. The genre could best be described as a powerful Legal Thriller but that seems woefully insufficient. The novel is more of an epic literary achievement with a narrative engine that propels a gripping tale of psychological drama relentlessly forward, packed with sequences of adrenaline laced action, chilling suspense, and ethical, moral dilemmas that command a reader's attention and demand answers.
The protagonist, a former prosecutor in the Lone Star State, and later a rich, successful author, had returned to his home town of Natchez and his beloved parents. Penn Cage imagined that by bringing his little girl back to his own beginnings and to his loving and supportive family that the two of them might begin to heal following the death of his wife. Penn is involved in a relationship with the beautiful and ambitious Caitlin Masters at the beginning of this novel. She is absent for most of the story line, away from Natchez and immersed in her career as a journalist with the newspaper, her father a wealthy and iconic figure in the newspaper industry.
The book introduces Penn's childhood friend, handsome Drew Elliott who is a physician, active in civil activities, and a veritable pillar of the community. Both men are members of the school board of St. Stephen's Prep, where they had been students together. Then a promising female student at the school, the beautiful Kate Townsend, an athlete and an academic star bound for Harvard, is found murdered, her naked body lying along the banks of the Mississippi River.
The story takes off like a comet from that point, the wealthy and respected doctor admitting he was having a sexual relationship with the 17-year-old victim. Penn is shocked by the revelation but predictably takes on his best friend's defense on a murder charge. There is the ambitious and ruthless DA who sees the case as a gift from God to fuel his own political goals, and then there is the issue of Penn's increasingly close friendship with his daughter's teen aged babysitter when Penn risks losing sight and control of his own moral compass. It is a convincing and shocking reminder to the reader that there is a fine line between (as one critic put it) "the adult" and the "near adult" world. This novel was published roughly 15 years ago and in today's world of the internet and technological advances, that fine line has all but disappeared entirely.
This is an incredibly riveting tale that is set against the atmospheric backdrop of the deep South. Iles is a master story teller, and he does not fail to deliver a genuinely heartfelt, gripping tale of sex, murder, betrayal, and dark secrets laid bare. I loved the book, and would recommend it highly to pretty much anyone who loves psychological fiction, legal thrillers, and epic stories that are replete with a sympathetic hero and pages populated with a host of characters that have the depth of character that we readers love to see.
A STRONG BOOK 2 FOR PENN CAGE, THE HERO OF THE QUIET GAME!!! OUTSTANDING!!!
[PENN CAGE BOOK 2]
MY REVIEW FIVE STARS*****
TURNING ANGEL is the second installment of the PENN CAGE BOOKS which include THE QUIET GAME, this novel, and then THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL which completes the trilogy. I read this novel out of sequence, which posed no problem because it can easily be read and enjoyed to the fullest as a stand-alone novel.
This BOOK 2 is comparatively lengthy at 672 pages, but it is a definite page-turner, and I can truthfully say that my interest never waned for a single moment. The genre could best be described as a powerful Legal Thriller but that seems woefully insufficient. The novel is more of an epic literary achievement with a narrative engine that propels a gripping tale of psychological drama relentlessly forward, packed with sequences of adrenaline laced action, chilling suspense, and ethical, moral dilemmas that command a reader's attention and demand answers.
The protagonist, a former prosecutor in the Lone Star State, and later a rich, successful author, had returned to his home town of Natchez and his beloved parents. Penn Cage imagined that by bringing his little girl back to his own beginnings and to his loving and supportive family that the two of them might begin to heal following the death of his wife. Penn is involved in a relationship with the beautiful and ambitious Caitlin Masters at the beginning of this novel. She is absent for most of the story line, away from Natchez and immersed in her career as a journalist with the newspaper, her father a wealthy and iconic figure in the newspaper industry.
The book introduces Penn's childhood friend, handsome Drew Elliott who is a physician, active in civil activities, and a veritable pillar of the community. Both men are members of the school board of St. Stephen's Prep, where they had been students together. Then a promising female student at the school, the beautiful Kate Townsend, an athlete and an academic star bound for Harvard, is found murdered, her naked body lying along the banks of the Mississippi River.
The story takes off like a comet from that point, the wealthy and respected doctor admitting he was having a sexual relationship with the 17-year-old victim. Penn is shocked by the revelation but predictably takes on his best friend's defense on a murder charge. There is the ambitious and ruthless DA who sees the case as a gift from God to fuel his own political goals, and then there is the issue of Penn's increasingly close friendship with his daughter's teen aged babysitter when Penn risks losing sight and control of his own moral compass. It is a convincing and shocking reminder to the reader that there is a fine line between (as one critic put it) "the adult" and the "near adult" world. This novel was published roughly 15 years ago and in today's world of the internet and technological advances, that fine line has all but disappeared entirely.
This is an incredibly riveting tale that is set against the atmospheric backdrop of the deep South. Iles is a master story teller, and he does not fail to deliver a genuinely heartfelt, gripping tale of sex, murder, betrayal, and dark secrets laid bare. I loved the book, and would recommend it highly to pretty much anyone who loves psychological fiction, legal thrillers, and epic stories that are replete with a sympathetic hero and pages populated with a host of characters that have the depth of character that we readers love to see.
A STRONG BOOK 2 FOR PENN CAGE, THE HERO OF THE QUIET GAME!!! OUTSTANDING!!!
September 20, 2008
Sweet Christ. This book is basically a dirty old man's fantasy: what all 16-year-old girls really want--no, what it BEST for them, is to have sex with a 40-year-old man. I get it, Greg Iles, you're having a midlife crisis. Do I have to read about it?
December 11, 2015
This could have been a good book. Leave out all of Mr. Iles' sexual fantasies involving underage girls and gymnastic-grade positions, and it would have been a decent mystery. (And a 350 page book instead of 644.)
October 25, 2011
When I started reading Turning Angel, I found myself arguing about reasons why I should like it.
Synopsis: In a small American town in the South called Natchez, a high school girl called Kate Townsend is found dead. Beautiful, intelligent, and popular, her death sends the town reeling. Penn Cage, for whom this book is the second in his series, finds even more surprises. Namely, that his long-time friend, Drew Elliot, admits to having sex with the deceased girl. And by the way, this isn't a spoiler - it's revealed in the back cover and the first couple of pages.
Pros
It's a really good thriller. Really. It's interesting, with lots of murders, keeps the pace going without having cheap thrills, and there's a lot of suspense from the constant surprises that are revealed about Drew and Kate's relationship. And everything keeps getting worse, not only for Drew, but for Penn as well.
It raises some questions for sexuality in small towns. Maybe drugs and so forth are just as prevalent, but hidden - and when something like a high-profile death occurs, the town explodes.
Penn's struggle about Kate's death is rather fascinating. I like how there's his visceral reaction against a married, middle-aged man sleeping with a vulnerable high school girl, be she ever so mature, and his admiration and friendship towards his friend the doctor, who is accomplished, and noble, and intelligent, and has helped so many people. But more on that later.
Cons
There's some distinct racist overtones in this book. Among the other suspects for Kate's death, there's a South American exchange student, a black pimp and drug dealer, and her Caucasian estranged boyfriend. And Drew, sure. But out of the other three suspects, guess who is never seriously implicated in the crime?
Drew is presented somehow as a better, more manly version of Penn. Sort of an idealized version, except for his little tendency to have sex with minors. It sort of works with the message that Greg Iles is trying to send here... I think... except that it's never really made clear why
Something else that bothered me: I've attended an American high school, and it was nothing like the way it was portrayed here. I may have been sheltered, but I highly doubt that the rampant sex and drug use are so common in high schools, because someone with authority would have noticed.
And finally, let's talk about the middle-aged, marrieddoctor man in position of power having an affair frequent, unsafe sex with a Harvard-bound, intelligent, athletic, mature vulnerable, fatherless, seventeen-year-old high school girl, shall we? As I've said, I tried to like this book, and on some level, I did. It's an excellent story, honestly. However, the message it sends across is repulsive on any moral level. Through the book, we see Penn find reasons to suggest that it wasn't as bad as just an older man having sex with a minor. He finds evidence that she was hardly a clean, good American girl and he even questions whether or not having an affair with Drew had added some measure of stability into the last days of her life. This is irrelevant. It doesn't matter if she had sex with every other person in her high school or how many other, less worthy people wanted her. Furthermore, there's no way of telling whether or not Drew having sex with her bettered her life, it's perfectly possible to say the opposite: that having sex with Drew ruined her life. She was seventeen years old. Even if she was a few months from the age of consent, even if she was mature for her age - whatever that means, even if she was the one who seduced him, it. Doesn't. Matter. As the adult - and as her doctor - Drew Elliot was responsible for making sure that nothing happened. He failed. The law is in place for a reason, and anyone who can disobey it so flagrantly deserves to lose his marriage, his career, and custody of his son. No one gets the right to decide to break the law, because it's not the rapist's decision to make. If Drew gets away with sexual battery, then it would send a message to all the other members of his community, who seem as though they have leanings in the same direction. For that alone, Drew should go to jail, and rot there. There's another excuse that Drew makes, that even Kate's mother makes: that Kate and Drew were in love. So in response to that, all I can ask is: if you loved her so much, why couldn't you wait a few more months? Instead, their constant escapades to have sex makes it look like a case of midlife crisis meeting teenage lust rather than some tragic love affair. And personally, I never felt as though the two were truly in love. But even if they were, and in case I haven't said this clearly enough yet, there are no excuses for sex with a minor. None.
I apologize for the rant. Still, this is one of the overarching messages of the story, that there can be extenuating circumstances for statutory rape. In my personal opinion, that's simply not true, and acceptance of underage sex is one of those social problems that's considered controversial, even if the issue should be black and white.
Synopsis: In a small American town in the South called Natchez, a high school girl called Kate Townsend is found dead. Beautiful, intelligent, and popular, her death sends the town reeling. Penn Cage, for whom this book is the second in his series, finds even more surprises. Namely, that his long-time friend, Drew Elliot, admits to having sex with the deceased girl. And by the way, this isn't a spoiler - it's revealed in the back cover and the first couple of pages.
Pros
It's a really good thriller. Really. It's interesting, with lots of murders, keeps the pace going without having cheap thrills, and there's a lot of suspense from the constant surprises that are revealed about Drew and Kate's relationship. And everything keeps getting worse, not only for Drew, but for Penn as well.
It raises some questions for sexuality in small towns. Maybe drugs and so forth are just as prevalent, but hidden - and when something like a high-profile death occurs, the town explodes.
Penn's struggle about Kate's death is rather fascinating. I like how there's his visceral reaction against a married, middle-aged man sleeping with a vulnerable high school girl, be she ever so mature, and his admiration and friendship towards his friend the doctor, who is accomplished, and noble, and intelligent, and has helped so many people. But more on that later.
Cons
There's some distinct racist overtones in this book. Among the other suspects for Kate's death, there's a South American exchange student, a black pimp and drug dealer, and her Caucasian estranged boyfriend. And Drew, sure. But out of the other three suspects, guess who is never seriously implicated in the crime?
Drew is presented somehow as a better, more manly version of Penn. Sort of an idealized version, except for his little tendency to have sex with minors. It sort of works with the message that Greg Iles is trying to send here... I think... except that it's never really made clear why
Something else that bothered me: I've attended an American high school, and it was nothing like the way it was portrayed here. I may have been sheltered, but I highly doubt that the rampant sex and drug use are so common in high schools, because someone with authority would have noticed.
And finally, let's talk about the middle-aged, married
I apologize for the rant. Still, this is one of the overarching messages of the story, that there can be extenuating circumstances for statutory rape. In my personal opinion, that's simply not true, and acceptance of underage sex is one of those social problems that's considered controversial, even if the issue should be black and white.
October 31, 2018
Superbly written. A thick plot and every chapter has something exciting happening.
Good atmosphere and imagery to the setting. Awesome dialogue.
Can’t think of anything bad to say about this one.
Good atmosphere and imagery to the setting. Awesome dialogue.
Can’t think of anything bad to say about this one.
November 26, 2016
Greg Iles used to be one of my favourite authors. Mortal Fear still remains one of the top psychological thrillers I've read. Since then, most of what I've read from him has been quite good, steadily meriting 4-star reviews from yours truly, but none have measured up to Mortal Fear.
The Quiet Game I quite enjoyed, and yet after that, Iles had dropped off my radar. Blame Goodreads for exposing me to a gazillion more books. Whatever, that doesn't take away from the guy's talent and when I saw some more recent reviews of his books I decided that Turning Angel needed
to be on my to-read list so I wouldn't forget about him again.
Well, I'm not sure what to say at this point. Is it me? Have I outgrown the thriller genre?
Here's the thing. Whenever I'm reading on the Kindle, if something strikes me as particularly brilliant, or particularly stupid, I'll type in a note. Most books that I've done this in have ended up with one or two notes in it.
I made 14 (FOURTEEN) notes in this, and none were references to anything brilliant.
Let me summarize the gist of these notes.
I remarked a few times about a) a "duh" moment from our supposedly intelligent protagonist, and b) Iles really dumbing things down for the reader with reminders of who did what or who this or that guy was.
I remarked about one girl who explains about how girls are these days, where they're so hot for middle-aged men.
Look: I have a 23 year old step-daughter. She used to work retail and was occasionally hit on by what she described as "old" men (we're talking barely middle aged here). Iles expects us to believe that most of these high-school girls want to hook up with middle aged men. To quote my Kindle note: Oh, please.
To quote my step-daughter: "GROSS!"
I also remarked on Penn Cage's repeated claims on how much he cared for his daughter and is resentful of his girlfriend's not spending enough time with her. Holy shit. At just about every point in the story Cage is taking off again and leaving his daughter with the babysitter once again,
not to mention putting himself in life-threatening situations. Pot. Kettle. Black.
Which brings me to the obligatory shoot-outs. At this point the story was reading like a...well...a cliched thriller. Maybe I shouldn't blame it for being what it is. But I will blame it for becoming over-plotted and bordering on stupid for the final 100 pages or so.
Turning Angel had so much promise for me because in the beginning it was the Greg Iles I remembered enjoying, and it seemed that this was another 4-star read. But as time went on I kept seeing stars drop off to the point were I just wanted it to be over.
Maybe it is just me. Perhaps I've grown out of the thriller genre. Whatever it is, my review reflects my feelings on this book. 2.5 stars but I am truncating at 2 because of the 14 instances I had to stop and gripe about something.
The Quiet Game I quite enjoyed, and yet after that, Iles had dropped off my radar. Blame Goodreads for exposing me to a gazillion more books. Whatever, that doesn't take away from the guy's talent and when I saw some more recent reviews of his books I decided that Turning Angel needed
to be on my to-read list so I wouldn't forget about him again.
Well, I'm not sure what to say at this point. Is it me? Have I outgrown the thriller genre?
Here's the thing. Whenever I'm reading on the Kindle, if something strikes me as particularly brilliant, or particularly stupid, I'll type in a note. Most books that I've done this in have ended up with one or two notes in it.
I made 14 (FOURTEEN) notes in this, and none were references to anything brilliant.
Let me summarize the gist of these notes.
I remarked a few times about a) a "duh" moment from our supposedly intelligent protagonist, and b) Iles really dumbing things down for the reader with reminders of who did what or who this or that guy was.
I remarked about one girl who explains about how girls are these days, where they're so hot for middle-aged men.
Look: I have a 23 year old step-daughter. She used to work retail and was occasionally hit on by what she described as "old" men (we're talking barely middle aged here). Iles expects us to believe that most of these high-school girls want to hook up with middle aged men. To quote my Kindle note: Oh, please.
To quote my step-daughter: "GROSS!"
I also remarked on Penn Cage's repeated claims on how much he cared for his daughter and is resentful of his girlfriend's not spending enough time with her. Holy shit. At just about every point in the story Cage is taking off again and leaving his daughter with the babysitter once again,
not to mention putting himself in life-threatening situations. Pot. Kettle. Black.
Which brings me to the obligatory shoot-outs. At this point the story was reading like a...well...a cliched thriller. Maybe I shouldn't blame it for being what it is. But I will blame it for becoming over-plotted and bordering on stupid for the final 100 pages or so.
Turning Angel had so much promise for me because in the beginning it was the Greg Iles I remembered enjoying, and it seemed that this was another 4-star read. But as time went on I kept seeing stars drop off to the point were I just wanted it to be over.
Maybe it is just me. Perhaps I've grown out of the thriller genre. Whatever it is, my review reflects my feelings on this book. 2.5 stars but I am truncating at 2 because of the 14 instances I had to stop and gripe about something.
April 3, 2010
I found this book disturbing on many levels not the least was the relationships between a high school girl and a doctor more than twice her age. Along with this, the doctor allows the girl to get into dangerous situations in helping him supply pain killers for his addicted wife.
Penn Cage, his friend whose life the doctor saved, is sexually tempted by his daughter's babysitter, Mia Burke. Cage also puts Mia, another high school student, in tremendous danger when she helps him unravel the mystery surrounding Mia's classmate's murder. For adult men, one a doctor and the other an attorney, it is unbelievable that they would place teenage girls in such dangerous positions. It is sickening, but believable, they would be tempted to have affairs with these young girls.
Having just visited Natchez, it was interesting to note various places which were familiar to me in the book. However, the portrayal of the town would have changed my travel plans if I had read the book before going. Iles does not paint a very pretty picture of his chosen place to live.
Iles's Natchez is rife with drugs, danger, gangs, murder, blood and gore, and it may be. Iles certainly will not be invited to speak to the Natchez Chamber of Commerce or Tourist Board any time soon.
I'm not sure if my problems with this book are because of what it is or because I'm not big on fictional murder mysteries.
What I found most interesting was not about the murder or those who solve it. I didn't care much about the characters, because I found the men shallow and the young girls just silly young girls playing sex games with older men.
The interesting part was about the legend of the Turning Angel in Natchez City Cemetery. That is a supernatural aspect and one that any Natchez resident can tell you about.
Rather than read the book, write the Natchez Tourist Office and request a brochure on the Turning Angel. It will save you all the agony of sloughing through the sleaze of Iles book.
Penn Cage, his friend whose life the doctor saved, is sexually tempted by his daughter's babysitter, Mia Burke. Cage also puts Mia, another high school student, in tremendous danger when she helps him unravel the mystery surrounding Mia's classmate's murder. For adult men, one a doctor and the other an attorney, it is unbelievable that they would place teenage girls in such dangerous positions. It is sickening, but believable, they would be tempted to have affairs with these young girls.
Having just visited Natchez, it was interesting to note various places which were familiar to me in the book. However, the portrayal of the town would have changed my travel plans if I had read the book before going. Iles does not paint a very pretty picture of his chosen place to live.
Iles's Natchez is rife with drugs, danger, gangs, murder, blood and gore, and it may be. Iles certainly will not be invited to speak to the Natchez Chamber of Commerce or Tourist Board any time soon.
I'm not sure if my problems with this book are because of what it is or because I'm not big on fictional murder mysteries.
What I found most interesting was not about the murder or those who solve it. I didn't care much about the characters, because I found the men shallow and the young girls just silly young girls playing sex games with older men.
The interesting part was about the legend of the Turning Angel in Natchez City Cemetery. That is a supernatural aspect and one that any Natchez resident can tell you about.
Rather than read the book, write the Natchez Tourist Office and request a brochure on the Turning Angel. It will save you all the agony of sloughing through the sleaze of Iles book.
August 19, 2025
I understand why the reviews on this are so mixed; the subject matter will alienate folks no doubt about it. This kicks off with a 17 yo woman being found dead, murdered. Shortly thereafter, one of Penn Cage's oldest friends (Drew) confesses to Penn that he was sleeping with her, but did not kill her. So, a 40 yo man and a 17 yo woman. Not exactly Lolita, but jeez! Penn's friend has a 9 yo boy and has been married for over a decade; actually, the dead woman started off as the babysitter.
Iles always tries something new in his novels and really has no formula (except most of his novels are set in Natchez, Mississippi). Here, Iles explores the idea of how a man could basically toss his life away for someone 23 years younger than him. The 'theme' if you will circulates around the idea that the new Millennial generation really are different in how fast they grow up. Drew defends his love of the woman to Penn numerous times, saying how mature she was, so knowing, despite her age. Hell, even Penn has to confront the idea that his babysitter has the hots for him. Difficult subtext for sure.
As a thriller, this excels, and Iles really knew how to tale an engaging tale. We have several characters from the first Penn novel (The Quiet Game) and this takes place about 5 years after that. Once the town hears about Drew's affair with the murdered gal hell breaks loose as you might expect. Drew, a respected doctor in town, gets the tar and feathers along with being arrested. Shortly thereafter, Drew gets charged with murder, although he implores Penn he did not kill her (he only loved her), so who did the deed? We get into the familiar legal realm here once again. You might call this a legal thriller, although that does not really do it justice. Not one of my favorites of Iles, but worth a read if you can get pasts the Lolita triggers. 3.5 stars!
Iles always tries something new in his novels and really has no formula (except most of his novels are set in Natchez, Mississippi). Here, Iles explores the idea of how a man could basically toss his life away for someone 23 years younger than him. The 'theme' if you will circulates around the idea that the new Millennial generation really are different in how fast they grow up. Drew defends his love of the woman to Penn numerous times, saying how mature she was, so knowing, despite her age. Hell, even Penn has to confront the idea that his babysitter has the hots for him. Difficult subtext for sure.
As a thriller, this excels, and Iles really knew how to tale an engaging tale. We have several characters from the first Penn novel (The Quiet Game) and this takes place about 5 years after that. Once the town hears about Drew's affair with the murdered gal hell breaks loose as you might expect. Drew, a respected doctor in town, gets the tar and feathers along with being arrested. Shortly thereafter, Drew gets charged with murder, although he implores Penn he did not kill her (he only loved her), so who did the deed? We get into the familiar legal realm here once again. You might call this a legal thriller, although that does not really do it justice. Not one of my favorites of Iles, but worth a read if you can get pasts the Lolita triggers. 3.5 stars!
December 9, 2008
I hated this book. It's filled with completely unrealistic story lines, characters that are patently unbelievable in a small Southern town, and the dialogue is extremely preachy and contrived. Additionally, the relationships between the protaganist and his babysitter has got to be a joke, right? She's constantly having this sophisticated and ultra-intelligent, yet sensitive and seductive conversations with Penn Cage, and it literally had me rolling my eyes. Also, if you have any sort of opinions of your own, regardless of what they might be, you may find it a little...oh I don't, repulsive, that this writer is basically using his fantasy for teenage girls as a medium to preach about race, how religion doesn't exist, and his leftist ideals every chance he gets.
April 29, 2020
A page-turner that I put down halfway through because I felt like I needed a shower every time I read another chapter. The descriptions of the 40-something doctor having sex with a 17 year old turned my stomach, as did the vague rationalizations by the protagonist. Yuck.
March 7, 2015
While this was an excellent book with great writing, just as the others have been, the subject matter made me very uncomfortable.
I actually look at Penn Cage a little differently now. He's come down a couple of notches.
Now, on to The Devil's Punchbowl.
I actually look at Penn Cage a little differently now. He's come down a couple of notches.
Now, on to The Devil's Punchbowl.
May 10, 2017
From BookList:
I don't think I can even list all the reasons I dislike this book. So, I'll list only two: characters and plot. Pretty much sums it up for me. (I have to add that the conclusion ... no, just no.)
Plenty of one and two star reviews on page 1 that pretty much hit the nail on the head. Read them instead of the book.
*Looking at page 1 reviews, others mention that Dr. Drew with high school senior Kate and protagonist Penn with high school senior Mia fall into sketchy territory. However, no one mentions what unrealistic characters these girls are. Take Kate: gorgeous blonde, sexually precocious and likes the kinky, valedictorian, cheerleader, state champion - two sports, meets up with Dr. Drew after 11 p.m each night for sex, heading to Harvard in the fall. So maybe she's that rare wonder girl. But no, Mia is a gorgeous brunette, salutatorian, head cheerleader and maybe homecoming queen (less sure about that one - could have been Kate but whatever), babysits till all hours (maybe she studies then?), and heading to Brown in the fall. Each girl moves on the father of the child she babysits. Now understand that neither Kate nor Mia make that move out of anything but love for these middle-age fathers. I can only suspend belief so far.
Call this one a well-written misfire.Oh, so true.
I don't think I can even list all the reasons I dislike this book. So, I'll list only two: characters and plot. Pretty much sums it up for me. (I have to add that the conclusion ... no, just no.)
Plenty of one and two star reviews on page 1 that pretty much hit the nail on the head. Read them instead of the book.
*Looking at page 1 reviews, others mention that Dr. Drew with high school senior Kate and protagonist Penn with high school senior Mia fall into sketchy territory. However, no one mentions what unrealistic characters these girls are. Take Kate: gorgeous blonde, sexually precocious and likes the kinky, valedictorian, cheerleader, state champion - two sports, meets up with Dr. Drew after 11 p.m each night for sex, heading to Harvard in the fall. So maybe she's that rare wonder girl. But no, Mia is a gorgeous brunette, salutatorian, head cheerleader and maybe homecoming queen (less sure about that one - could have been Kate but whatever), babysits till all hours (maybe she studies then?), and heading to Brown in the fall. Each girl moves on the father of the child she babysits. Now understand that neither Kate nor Mia make that move out of anything but love for these middle-age fathers. I can only suspend belief so far.
October 28, 2015
Penn Cage returns in Greg Iles’ novel TURNING ANGEL. Five years have passed since Cage solved a civil rights case that dated back to the 1970s and he has settled into his new life as an author in Natchez, MI. Cage a former prosecutor in Houston is a widower and the father of a young girl. Now a successful author he finds himself a pillar of the community serving on the St. Catherine’s School Board among other official duties. The story begins at a School Board meeting when the school secretary informs the board that one of their students, Kate Townsend has been found dead where St. Catherine’s Creek washes into the Mississippi River. Townsend, a 17 year old senior, valedictorian, and athlete had won a scholarship to Harvard and now is the center of a murder investigation that will rock the Natchez community.
Dr. Andrew Elliot is the leading physician in Natchez with a stellar reputation, and like his friend Cage very involved in the community. After the body is found he asks his friend to be his lawyer. It seems that Elliot, entrapped in a poor marriage was having an affair with Townsend and was being blackmailed as he wanted to keep that information quiet. Further, it was Elliot who had found the body and had intimate relations with Townsend two days before the murder. It turns out that Townsend was pregnant and that her mother knew about the affair and did not disapprove. Penn takes on the case and is up against Shad Johnson, the black District Attorney who is no friend of Cage since he believed that five years earlier he had cost him election as Natchez’s mayor. At this time, the current mayor has resigned and a new election must take place within forty five days. Johnson sees the prosecution of a rich white physician as a way to reassert his bonifides with the black community and assure himself the mayor’s office. From this point on the novel which has already engrossed the reader gathers further steam.
Many of Iles’ characters from his previous Penn Cage novel are major players in TURNING ANGEL, particularly Shad Johnson who has his own personal political agenda and is a thorn in Cage’s side. A number of new ones emerge that are critical to the story. One of which is Quentin Avery, an elderly lawyer who suffers from diabetes. When Cage realizes that he is too close to his friend’s case he hires Avery who agrees to defend Elliot because of his disdain for Johnson and other personal reasons. Employing Avery as his mouthpiece, Iles’ views on black civil rights leaders emerges. He sees a crisis in black leadership and breaks down that leadership into a number of interesting categories. In today’s climate of racial tension with Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore, MD, and events in New York, Iles’ comments are important. He points to a managerial type who pretend that race is not an issue. These individuals want a large white constituency, but also want to keep blacks loyal to them. They tend to be pragmatic and want blacks to join mainstream society. Then you have the black protest leader that is loud and proud that want personal status and power, i.e., Louis Farrahkan and Al Sharpton. They tap into an emotional appeal and can be dangerous. The last category he terms the “prophetic leader” who relies on intellect, someone like President Obama. The jury is still out whether any of these types can be successful, however, thus far their success rests on the pervasiveness of mass market culture and the failure of the black middle class. Throughout the novel the plight of the black community in the south is ingrained in the plot and provides insights into all aspects of southern society.
Another theme that pervades the novel is the drug crisis in America’s schools. Iles is a very competent chronicler of events as they relate to the use of heroin, pain killers and ecstasy. By weaving the drug scenario throughout his story he is trying to educate his readers about this crisis and that something must be done to make our schools safe. A lesser theme that Iles explores that emerges in detail toward the novel’s conclusion is that of the Yugoslavian civil war of the 1990s. Though briefly presented its horror still lives on in Croatia, Serbia and throughout the Balkans. Overall, Iles writes in exquisite detail that allows the reader to feel they are personally witnessing the action in the story. This is my second Penn Cage novel and I look forward to reading the other three. Iles is the type of writer that hooks his reader in the first few pages and does not let them go even after the book is completed.
Dr. Andrew Elliot is the leading physician in Natchez with a stellar reputation, and like his friend Cage very involved in the community. After the body is found he asks his friend to be his lawyer. It seems that Elliot, entrapped in a poor marriage was having an affair with Townsend and was being blackmailed as he wanted to keep that information quiet. Further, it was Elliot who had found the body and had intimate relations with Townsend two days before the murder. It turns out that Townsend was pregnant and that her mother knew about the affair and did not disapprove. Penn takes on the case and is up against Shad Johnson, the black District Attorney who is no friend of Cage since he believed that five years earlier he had cost him election as Natchez’s mayor. At this time, the current mayor has resigned and a new election must take place within forty five days. Johnson sees the prosecution of a rich white physician as a way to reassert his bonifides with the black community and assure himself the mayor’s office. From this point on the novel which has already engrossed the reader gathers further steam.
Many of Iles’ characters from his previous Penn Cage novel are major players in TURNING ANGEL, particularly Shad Johnson who has his own personal political agenda and is a thorn in Cage’s side. A number of new ones emerge that are critical to the story. One of which is Quentin Avery, an elderly lawyer who suffers from diabetes. When Cage realizes that he is too close to his friend’s case he hires Avery who agrees to defend Elliot because of his disdain for Johnson and other personal reasons. Employing Avery as his mouthpiece, Iles’ views on black civil rights leaders emerges. He sees a crisis in black leadership and breaks down that leadership into a number of interesting categories. In today’s climate of racial tension with Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore, MD, and events in New York, Iles’ comments are important. He points to a managerial type who pretend that race is not an issue. These individuals want a large white constituency, but also want to keep blacks loyal to them. They tend to be pragmatic and want blacks to join mainstream society. Then you have the black protest leader that is loud and proud that want personal status and power, i.e., Louis Farrahkan and Al Sharpton. They tap into an emotional appeal and can be dangerous. The last category he terms the “prophetic leader” who relies on intellect, someone like President Obama. The jury is still out whether any of these types can be successful, however, thus far their success rests on the pervasiveness of mass market culture and the failure of the black middle class. Throughout the novel the plight of the black community in the south is ingrained in the plot and provides insights into all aspects of southern society.
Another theme that pervades the novel is the drug crisis in America’s schools. Iles is a very competent chronicler of events as they relate to the use of heroin, pain killers and ecstasy. By weaving the drug scenario throughout his story he is trying to educate his readers about this crisis and that something must be done to make our schools safe. A lesser theme that Iles explores that emerges in detail toward the novel’s conclusion is that of the Yugoslavian civil war of the 1990s. Though briefly presented its horror still lives on in Croatia, Serbia and throughout the Balkans. Overall, Iles writes in exquisite detail that allows the reader to feel they are personally witnessing the action in the story. This is my second Penn Cage novel and I look forward to reading the other three. Iles is the type of writer that hooks his reader in the first few pages and does not let them go even after the book is completed.
May 2, 2011
A young lady turns up dead in Natchez, Mississippi and the town secrets are about to tear the place apart. A very fast paced page turner that ends each chapter with a teasing glance at things to come. This seems to hook the reader and pull you into reading just one mere chapter. Until I found myself losing sleep because I could not put the book down. A very good mystery that moves at a great pace.
************* Personal Note: I just had to do this. I read some very unfavorable reviews on this book and I just thought that some of those folks may have fallen off the prude ship lollipop. This book, published in 2005, does involve a lot of sex, drugs and murder centered around a high school setting. It is now 2011 and all of this stuff is currently happening in our schools today. Our high schools. Junior high schools. And even our elementary schools! This is not something we can just bury our heads in the sand and say is not happening. Pay very careful attention to what your children are doing and give them all of the love that they need. And don't shoot the messenger. Greg Iles is a very talented writer that has brought a very sensitive issue to print. And I feel that he has done a fine job. Thank you. Now I will get off my soapbox and return to my reading.
************* Personal Note: I just had to do this. I read some very unfavorable reviews on this book and I just thought that some of those folks may have fallen off the prude ship lollipop. This book, published in 2005, does involve a lot of sex, drugs and murder centered around a high school setting. It is now 2011 and all of this stuff is currently happening in our schools today. Our high schools. Junior high schools. And even our elementary schools! This is not something we can just bury our heads in the sand and say is not happening. Pay very careful attention to what your children are doing and give them all of the love that they need. And don't shoot the messenger. Greg Iles is a very talented writer that has brought a very sensitive issue to print. And I feel that he has done a fine job. Thank you. Now I will get off my soapbox and return to my reading.
February 15, 2024
As good as it was long, and man, was this long.
A 17yo student's body is found with her clothes in disarray, tangled in tree roots alongside a creek. Nobody is feeling her loss more than Dr. Drew Elliot, one of Penn's oldest friends. Drew admits that Kate was one of his patients... and that he was sleeping with her, but he swears he didn't kill her. Nobody in the world would believe that except Penn, who feels obligated to take his case.
The slow, methodical plot is nearly 700 pages, but author Greg Iles made it worth my while. Kate's murder is only the first of many tragedies to strike tiny Natchez, Mississippi over the next few weeks, and for a county that with only two homicides the year before, the volume of violence and crime reaches staggering proportions.
There were a few unexpected plot developments I never saw coming, and the author must've had fun planning to reveal the "who" in this whodunit, because he sure takes us on a ride in the last 15-20%! If I was a patient person I would've given this five stars, but dammit, no Mystery should be 700 pages. Yes, I wanted to finish it faster than I did, but it was really excellent and I'm glad I decided to read the series.
I'm crossing my fingers that the next entry, The Devil's Punchbowl, is shorter but just as good.
A 17yo student's body is found with her clothes in disarray, tangled in tree roots alongside a creek. Nobody is feeling her loss more than Dr. Drew Elliot, one of Penn's oldest friends. Drew admits that Kate was one of his patients... and that he was sleeping with her, but he swears he didn't kill her. Nobody in the world would believe that except Penn, who feels obligated to take his case.
The slow, methodical plot is nearly 700 pages, but author Greg Iles made it worth my while. Kate's murder is only the first of many tragedies to strike tiny Natchez, Mississippi over the next few weeks, and for a county that with only two homicides the year before, the volume of violence and crime reaches staggering proportions.
There were a few unexpected plot developments I never saw coming, and the author must've had fun planning to reveal the "who" in this whodunit, because he sure takes us on a ride in the last 15-20%! If I was a patient person I would've given this five stars, but dammit, no Mystery should be 700 pages. Yes, I wanted to finish it faster than I did, but it was really excellent and I'm glad I decided to read the series.
I'm crossing my fingers that the next entry, The Devil's Punchbowl, is shorter but just as good.
January 30, 2024
In this, the second of Iles’ Penn Cage series, Penn has decided to stay in his beloved hometown, Natchez MS, to raise his daughter after the untimely death of his wife. Now working as a novelist after years as a district attorney, he is quickly drawn into an investigation when the body of a high school girl is found and his childhood best friend is accused of the crime. Compelling, nonstop, flowing action.
4.5
4.5
November 13, 2011
There are so many unlikeable and unethical people in this book, on all sides of the law. It’s an ok mystery, long and complicated.
STORY BRIEF:
Drew is a medical doctor in his 40s. His wife is addicted to prescription pills. He falls in love with their babysitter Kate who is 17. They have frequent sex. Kate asks Drew to meet her. When he arrives he finds her dead, strangled, and raped. Drew moves the body. A blackmailer calls Drew wanting money. Drew is arrested for the murder of Kate. Drew’s longtime friend Penn investigates to find evidence to help Drew.
This is book 2 in the Penn Cage series. Penn was a district attorney for about fifteen years. Now he writes bestsellers based on crimes he’s seen.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
Like his first book, this is an in-depth, complicated, well developed plot. It kept my interest. It’s an ok way to pass time. But I can’t say I “really liked it,” which is my definition for 4 stars. I didn’t find myself saying wow, or being pulled in so much that I didn’t want to stop reading. Yes there was one time I didn’t want to stop because I worried about how Penn would get out of a situation. But for most of the book I wasn’t as emotionally engaged as I would have liked. Maybe because I wasn’t drawn enough to Penn. I was more drawn in to some of Michael Connelly’s lead characters (another author). There are so many bad things going on here, that I needed something more special about the lead characters to provide positives.
With Drew’s actions I kept thinking “That is so dumb. Why did you do that?” He did a number of stupid/reckless things. Penn’s good instincts plus luck allowed him to uncover a lot of evidence. But he wasn’t cautious enough which caused him to lose evidence and to be put in harm’s way more than once.
The subject matter includes a lot of sex among teens. There is a lot of explicit talk about oral and anal sex. There is a bad guy who tortures people in ways I won’t repeat here. Those thoughts were hard to get out of my mind when I wanted to sleep. In one scene we hear about terrible rapes and other things the Serbs did to the Croatians. Race relations and corrupt politicians are also part of this book.
The author used a phrase I liked in both books 1 and 2. “The total tonnage of what we don’t know would sink an ocean liner.”
NARRATOR:
I had problems with the narrator Dick Hill. He went out of his way to use different voices for the various characters which can be good, but I did not like the following. 1. He overacted when he did Marco’s voice, reminding me of a cartoon character grinning and laughing with arrogance as he says bad things. Too loud, too laughing, too fake smiling pretending things are funny. 2. Dick would sniff before speaking a number of times. I doubt those sniffs were written into the work. I assume those were actor enhancements, but they felt too actorish. 3. Several female voices sounded too whiny. 4. But my biggest complaint was the southern accent for most of the characters. I’m sorry but I prefer generic TV anchor-type speech. I know this was set in the south, but hearing a very long book done with this “particular accent” wasn’t as fun. Dick did excellent narration for some of the Michael Connelly books set in California. He did not use a southern accent for those. Maybe a different person doing a southern accent would be better. I don’t know.
DATA:
Unabridged audiobook reading time: 17 hrs and 37 mins. Swearing language: strong, but rarely used. Sexual content: a lot of explicit content but mostly told after the fact rather than shown, but there were two specific scenes shown. Setting: 2003 Natchez, Mississippi, area. Copyright: 2005. Genre: mystery suspense. Ending: Reasonably happy for the good guys.
OTHER BOOKS:
I gave 3 ½ stars to the Penn Cage book #1 “The Quiet Game.”
STORY BRIEF:
Drew is a medical doctor in his 40s. His wife is addicted to prescription pills. He falls in love with their babysitter Kate who is 17. They have frequent sex. Kate asks Drew to meet her. When he arrives he finds her dead, strangled, and raped. Drew moves the body. A blackmailer calls Drew wanting money. Drew is arrested for the murder of Kate. Drew’s longtime friend Penn investigates to find evidence to help Drew.
This is book 2 in the Penn Cage series. Penn was a district attorney for about fifteen years. Now he writes bestsellers based on crimes he’s seen.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
Like his first book, this is an in-depth, complicated, well developed plot. It kept my interest. It’s an ok way to pass time. But I can’t say I “really liked it,” which is my definition for 4 stars. I didn’t find myself saying wow, or being pulled in so much that I didn’t want to stop reading. Yes there was one time I didn’t want to stop because I worried about how Penn would get out of a situation. But for most of the book I wasn’t as emotionally engaged as I would have liked. Maybe because I wasn’t drawn enough to Penn. I was more drawn in to some of Michael Connelly’s lead characters (another author). There are so many bad things going on here, that I needed something more special about the lead characters to provide positives.
With Drew’s actions I kept thinking “That is so dumb. Why did you do that?” He did a number of stupid/reckless things. Penn’s good instincts plus luck allowed him to uncover a lot of evidence. But he wasn’t cautious enough which caused him to lose evidence and to be put in harm’s way more than once.
The subject matter includes a lot of sex among teens. There is a lot of explicit talk about oral and anal sex. There is a bad guy who tortures people in ways I won’t repeat here. Those thoughts were hard to get out of my mind when I wanted to sleep. In one scene we hear about terrible rapes and other things the Serbs did to the Croatians. Race relations and corrupt politicians are also part of this book.
The author used a phrase I liked in both books 1 and 2. “The total tonnage of what we don’t know would sink an ocean liner.”
NARRATOR:
I had problems with the narrator Dick Hill. He went out of his way to use different voices for the various characters which can be good, but I did not like the following. 1. He overacted when he did Marco’s voice, reminding me of a cartoon character grinning and laughing with arrogance as he says bad things. Too loud, too laughing, too fake smiling pretending things are funny. 2. Dick would sniff before speaking a number of times. I doubt those sniffs were written into the work. I assume those were actor enhancements, but they felt too actorish. 3. Several female voices sounded too whiny. 4. But my biggest complaint was the southern accent for most of the characters. I’m sorry but I prefer generic TV anchor-type speech. I know this was set in the south, but hearing a very long book done with this “particular accent” wasn’t as fun. Dick did excellent narration for some of the Michael Connelly books set in California. He did not use a southern accent for those. Maybe a different person doing a southern accent would be better. I don’t know.
DATA:
Unabridged audiobook reading time: 17 hrs and 37 mins. Swearing language: strong, but rarely used. Sexual content: a lot of explicit content but mostly told after the fact rather than shown, but there were two specific scenes shown. Setting: 2003 Natchez, Mississippi, area. Copyright: 2005. Genre: mystery suspense. Ending: Reasonably happy for the good guys.
OTHER BOOKS:
I gave 3 ½ stars to the Penn Cage book #1 “The Quiet Game.”
October 3, 2009
I read this book on CD on my trip from Virginia to Florida. It kept my interest, but I am increasingly distressed over the portrayal of supposedly intelligent, successful men who are pillars of the community falling hopelessly in love with high school girls who are beautiful, intelligent, amoral and so sexually sophisticated that they make hookers look like librarians. Real people just don't act this way unless they are deeply flawed and that is usually apparent by their lifestyle.
In reality, this is child abuse and honorable men don't engage in it. If, in truth, there is the rare man who has all his marbles and falls in love with a teenager, his love will keep him from taking advantage of her, and will allow her to grow up. There is just the hint of this in the character of Penn Cage, but it is far too subtle. Equally, high school girls who have experienced all that the girls in this book have are not generally the kind of girls that make for long-term relationships. This seems more like a male fantasy.
With that said, the book is still interesting and as a flight of fancy, it will keep the reader guessing how the book can possibly end with anything that makes sense.
In reality, this is child abuse and honorable men don't engage in it. If, in truth, there is the rare man who has all his marbles and falls in love with a teenager, his love will keep him from taking advantage of her, and will allow her to grow up. There is just the hint of this in the character of Penn Cage, but it is far too subtle. Equally, high school girls who have experienced all that the girls in this book have are not generally the kind of girls that make for long-term relationships. This seems more like a male fantasy.
With that said, the book is still interesting and as a flight of fancy, it will keep the reader guessing how the book can possibly end with anything that makes sense.
December 4, 2016
4.5 Stars. This was an excellent follow-up to the first book in the Penn Cage Series, The Quiet Game. The events in this book take place five years after the first book and revolve around the murder of a girl two weeks before her 18th Birthday and the affair she was having with a married Doctor. Was he responsible for her murder or was there something else going on in her life that led to her murder? Call in Penn Cage, the doctor's best friend, to investigate.
This is quite an in-depth story with many layers that have to be unpeeled. This held my interest from the very beginning and was difficult to put down the further I got into the book. I like the character of Penn Cage and the link he had with his baby sitter, Mia, who helped him throughout this case. The further the story goes on the more ramifications that it has on the town of Natchez and Kate's murder isn't the only casualty of the period. It lost half a star for me for the indepth description of the effect of taking heroin, I didn't feel this was called for, otherwise I would have given it five stars. I would certainly recommend this series based on the first 2 books in the series.
This is quite an in-depth story with many layers that have to be unpeeled. This held my interest from the very beginning and was difficult to put down the further I got into the book. I like the character of Penn Cage and the link he had with his baby sitter, Mia, who helped him throughout this case. The further the story goes on the more ramifications that it has on the town of Natchez and Kate's murder isn't the only casualty of the period. It lost half a star for me for the indepth description of the effect of taking heroin, I didn't feel this was called for, otherwise I would have given it five stars. I would certainly recommend this series based on the first 2 books in the series.
August 7, 2019
As an avid reader, my first choice of genre is usually drama or humor. Favorite authors include Richard Russo, Murakami, Nelson DeMille and countless others. But as of the past months, Greg Iles has risen to the top! Turning Angel is the 8th book read by this author and I plan to read the rest.
Meticulous at developing a 'launch pad for action', the reader is engaged from the very start. What's unique about Greg as a suspense/crime author is how he weaves humanity and family into an explosive story filled with unexpected plot twists and action. Penn Cage, a former prosecutor turned author is a great character; dedicated to the city of Natchez, his family and daughter, his integrity is unquestionable. Quentin Avery, a black high power attorney is reminiscent of Atticus Finch (Mockingbird). Whether antagonist or protagonist, the characters are engaging and filled with surprises.
For those who enjoy stories of depth, prefer page turners to romance and seek an author who's mastered the craft, Greg Iles should be added to your 'to read' list, Turning Angel included.
Meticulous at developing a 'launch pad for action', the reader is engaged from the very start. What's unique about Greg as a suspense/crime author is how he weaves humanity and family into an explosive story filled with unexpected plot twists and action. Penn Cage, a former prosecutor turned author is a great character; dedicated to the city of Natchez, his family and daughter, his integrity is unquestionable. Quentin Avery, a black high power attorney is reminiscent of Atticus Finch (Mockingbird). Whether antagonist or protagonist, the characters are engaging and filled with surprises.
For those who enjoy stories of depth, prefer page turners to romance and seek an author who's mastered the craft, Greg Iles should be added to your 'to read' list, Turning Angel included.
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