As with many other reviewers I find this book hard to rate due to the disturbing content. I am giving it the same rating I gave Natchez Burning, but my feelings about the two books are very different. Natchez Burning lost a star because after starting as a compelling civil rights mystery/family drama/cultural examination of the South, it devolves into an over the top mess of implausible Harlan Coben style violence. It also could have used a good editor, as the story tended to meander in places and lose focus. This book definitely did not have that problem. It was very tautly paced and kept up a stomach churning level of action and anxiety all the way through. It lost a star due to the fact that the brutality against animals, while condemned by the characters, was described a little too gleefully, almost as if it were meant to be titillating to the reader, instead of completely nauseating. The sexual violence also was written a little more enthusiastically than I felt seemly. All in all, the first book in this series is the only one that really nails it for me. 3 STARS "The poster boy of southern gothic thrillers' (Kirkus review) delivers a powerful and unforgettable reading experience with The Devil's Punchbowl, and he marks the return of Penn Cage, the popular protagonist of The Quiet Game and Turning Angel. The Devil's Punchbowl refers to a deep pit near the river in Natchez, Mississippi. Not only have outlaws dumped numerous murder victims there, but there is also a long-standing rumor that it is where Jean Lafitte buried his treasure. This is a dangerous place, a kudzu-strangled, snake- rat- and armadillo-infested hole so deep that the bottom can't be seen. Against this backdrop, Iles plunges the reader into a mix of murder, racial tension, double-crosses, illicit sex.and all of the ensuing violent consequences." (From Amazon)Glad Penn is back but this one was just okay.
Do You like book The Devils Punchbowl (2009)?
Another good mystery from Iles. Rather long and at times rather gory, but still had a message.
—sharrymellark
