Mississippi Blood: A Novel by Greg Iles

(Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book:

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

The endgame is at hand for Penn Cage, his family, and the enemies bent on destroying them in this revelatory volume in the epic trilogy set in modern-day Natchez, Mississippi—Greg Iles’s epic tale of love and honor, hatred and revenge that explores how the sins of the past continue to haunt the present.

Shattered by grief and dreaming of vengeance, Penn Cage sees his family and his world collapsing around him. The woman he loves is gone, his principles have been irrevocably compromised, and his father, once a paragon of the community that Penn leads as mayor, is about to be tried for the murder of a former lover. Most terrifying of all, Dr. Cage seems bent on self-destruction. Despite Penn’s experience as a prosecutor in major murder trials, his father has frozen him out of the trial preparations–preferring to risk dying in prison to revealing the truth of the crime to his son.

During forty years practicing medicine, Tom Cage made himself the most respected and beloved physician in Natchez, Mississippi. But this revered Southern figure has secrets known only to himself and a handful of others. Among them, Tom has a second son, the product of an 1960s affair with his devoted African American nurse, Viola Turner. It is Viola who has been murdered, and her bitter son–Penn’s half-brother–who sets in motion the murder case against his father. The resulting investigation exhumes dangerous ghosts from Mississippi’s violent past. In some way that Penn cannot fathom, Viola Turner was a nexus point between his father and the Double Eagles, a savage splinter cell of the KKK. More troubling still, the long-buried secrets shared by Dr. Cage and the former Klansmen may hold the key to the most devastating assassinations of the 1960s. The surviving Double Eagles will stop at nothing to keep their past crimes buried, and with the help of some of the most influential men in the state, they seek to ensure that Dr. Cage either takes the fall for them, or takes his secrets to an early grave.

Tom Cage’s murder trial sets a terrible clock in motion, and unless Penn can pierce the veil of the past and exonerate his father, his family will be destroyed. Unable to trust anyone around him–not even his own mother–Penn joins forces with Serenity Butler, a famous young black author who has come to Natchez to write about his father’s case. Together, Penn and Serenity–a former soldier–battle to crack the Double Eagles and discover the secret history of the Cage family and the South itself, a desperate move that risks the only thing they have left to gamble: their lives.

Mississippi Blood is the enthralling conclusion to a breathtaking trilogy seven years in the making–one that has kept readers on the edge of their seats. With piercing insight, narrative prowess, and a masterful ability to blend history and imagination, New York Times bestselling author Greg Iles illuminates the brutal history of the American South in a highly atmospheric and suspenseful novel that delivers the shocking resolution his fans have eagerly awaited.

my thoughts:

Wow. What a story!  Mississippi Blood is the thrilling conclusion to an epic trilogy filled with suspense, mystery, southern history, and plenty of drama.  I absolutely LOVED every minute I spent with these three fantastic books.  They made for one spectacular story.

In this final book, Penn Cage is determined to save his father and his family.  Yep, Tom Cage is finally on trial for the murder of Viola, and he doesn't want his son taking any part in his defense.  Let me just say that those courtroom scenes - OMG! It was like watching Law & Order to the nth degree - they were excellent!  I was riveted.  I just loved those scenes so much - they really made you feel like you were watching a live courtroom drama unfold right in front of you.  Seriously - they were excellent!  Plus, so many secrets are revealed.  It is pure melodrama and it was so much fun to read.   Meanwhile, Penn is working with Serenity (author come to town to write about Tom's story) to clear his dad's name.  He wants to dig deeper into his family's past, the Double Eagles' past, and his town's history to figure out what really happened and what is really going on.  So many secrets and so much danger all make for one gripping story.

The writing is top notch.  I loved the fast pace of the story.  It was chock full of twist and turns that elevated the level of suspense.  I can only imagine the intricacies involved when it came to plotting out this trilogy - epic!  As for the characters, I was invested and did not want to stop reading until I found out what happened to them all.  I was hooked from the start and LOVED every minute of it.

I would most definitely recommend Mississippi Blood, along with Natchez Burning and The Bone Tree - you will LOVE this trilogy!! It is a must-read for fans of Greg Iles' works and anyone looking for their next great read.  Check it out!!

Here's the link to the TLC Book Tour schedule for: Mississippi Blood

Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!