Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 1/7/2022 + 1223 more book reviews

This is the third novel in the Penn Cage series by Iles. I've read and enjoyed the first two in the series and this was another compelling read that I was able to read pretty quickly despite its length at over 700 pages. In this one, Penn Cage is now mayor of his hometown, Natchez, Mississippi which he returned to when his wife died to practice law and write. He has vowed to make changes in the city and his highest priority is to change the school system and try to encourage everyone to attend public schools as a means of desegregation. But he decides this is not going to happen anytime soon. In addition, the city needs revenue after the closing of many of its plants and businesses and he decides casino gambling is the best way to do this. But along with the needed revenue comes a myriad of other problems. One of his boyhood friends who works at the Magnolia Queen riverboat casino, comes to Penn with some very disturbing tales about dogfighting and underage prostitution being organized by the casino owners. This leads Penn on a very dark journey that puts him and his whole family in jeopardy. The casino is being run by an Irish thug and his cohorts who engage in anything to make money including the brutal spectacles of dogfighting. But Cage is no pushover and he has some connections who may be able to stand up to the evils of the casino organization. But is that all they need be concerned about? Evidently, the government is also involved in some way and warn Penn and his team to back off.

This novel had some very brutal scenes in it including descriptions of dogfighting and rape and torture. I've read some other reviews of this book and noted a few negative reviews based solely on its descriptions of dogfighting. This didn't make sense to me. I agree that dogfighting is brutal and can't see how anyone would want to participate in it but it is something that happens and people should be more aware of these animal abuses. The characters in this book that ran the casino were some of the most vile I have encountered in literature but the story was very compelling and was overall a very good crime novel that I would recommend. I'll be looking forward to the next books in the series which I understand are a long trilogy starting with Natchez Burning.

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