Publication Date May 28, 2024
I’m a retired librarian, and I read a LOT of books. Over the years, two of my favorite genres seem to have been “Southern Gothic “and “Mystery/thriller” and finding authors who combine the two is AWESOME. Greg Iles has been a favorite, and while I haven’t totally loved every single one of his books, I have truly enjoyed the Penn Cage series, particularly Natchez Burning (2014), The Bone Tree (2015), and Mississippi Blood (2017). I was excited to get an advance copy of Southern Man, #7 in the Penn Cage novels (thank you, William Morrow and NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
From the jump, I have to say WOW! I excitedly sat down with my Kindle several days ago, unaware of much about Southern Man other than that it was the next in the series. I had no clue about things like when the story took place, how long the book was, and how closely the events in it matched today’s political/social scene in the U.S. About the length: it is LONG. I was reading for a couple of days and noticed I was only like 11% through, so I just had to look and see how long it really was. When I saw the print version was NINE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX PAGES, I was equally surprised (can it really hold my attention for that long?) and excited (I hope it keeps being as good as it already is). Spoiler: It did and it was.
The story takes place TODAY. So, it is set fifteen years after the “Natchez Burning Trilogy,” and wow have things changed for Penn. He has gone into a sort of self-imposed isolation now that he is dealing with serious health issues and the loss of nearly all his loved ones, other than his daughter Annie (now all grown up, and an attorney herself), whose work focuses on civil rights issues. Early in the book, the way the story matches today’s reality is clear: there is talk about a Trump rally: “Even the dumbest Republican advisers have figured out the skinny on the next election. There’s only one way they win. White Panic.” In case anyone isn’t clear about the state of racial harmony, “…where race in America was concerned, the twenty-first century might soon make 1965 look like a warm-up bout…”
As I was reading, I was struck by how the intensity of the words on the page matched today’s headlines. “…businessmen voted for a repeat bankrupt…evangelicals for a serial adulterer, women for an admitted sexual assaulter, patriots for a draft dodger…educated men for an ignoramus. But they did so with fierce gladness in their hearts. Because what their chosen one had done was open Pandora’s box—yes, the old one, filled with…race hatred and infinite greed…all their anger was justified.”
The action gets going when there is a shooting at a concert, followed by the burning of several antebellum mansions and increasingly large demonstrations. “Their signs demand to know whether black lives matter, when, sadly, the nation has answered that question many times over.” It is tense, and unsettling. Iles reminds us that “Since 2016, we’ve all been living through a great unraveling of the America in which we came of age…That’s what this Trump thing has done…shown that the true white tribe’s got nothing to do with geography. Not really. It’s a blood thing.”
So Penn (along with everyone else in Bienville) finds chaos all around, including the murder of his best friend by a sheriff’s deputy right on the street in broad daylight. The protests continue to grow, arsonists continue to burn buildings, and the racial warfare erupts to the point that the racially divided city government dissolves and activists (often known as “outside agitators”) come to town.
It’s a LOT. I loved the writing, and loved being so drawn in to the story that I did not want to put it down…but I kept having to take breaks because it was so unsettling. It mixes the themes of race, class, family, and morality and takes a deep look at the way complicated individuals react as their whole history and approach to living in today’s world threaten to completely come apart.
I kept making so many involuntary exclamations while reading that my husband just had to dive in as well. He was (if possible) even more enthralled than I was. HIGHLY recommended. Five stars for sure, and I’m hoping that Mr. Iles’ health issues (mirroring Penn’s) benefit from the new treatments available for MM, and he continues to entertain and inform us.