Sometimes the price of justice is a good man’s soul.The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Natchez Burning trilogy returns with an electrifying tale of friendship, betrayal, and shattering secrets that threaten to destroy a small Mississippi town.“An ambitious stand-alone thriller that is both an absorbing crime story and an in-depth exploration of grief, betrayal and corruption… Iles’s … and an in-depth exploration of grief, betrayal and corruption… Iles’s latest calls to mind the late, great Southern novelist Pat Conroy. Like Conroy, Iles writes with passion, intensity and absolute commitment.”
— Washington Post
When Marshall McEwan left his Mississippi hometown at eighteen, he vowed never to return. The trauma that drove him away spurred him to become one of the most successful journalists in Washington, DC. But as the ascendancy of a chaotic administration lifts him from print fame to television stardom, Marshall discovers that his father is terminally ill, and he must return home to face the unfinished business of his past.
On arrival, he finds Bienville, Mississippi very much changed. His family’s 150-year-old newspaper is failing; and Jet Talal, the love of his youth, has married into the family of Max Matheson, one of a dozen powerful patriarchs who rule the town through the exclusive Bienville Poker Club. To Marshall’s surprise, the Poker Club has taken a town on the brink of extinction and offered it salvation, in the form of a billion-dollar Chinese paper mill. But on the verge of the deal being consummated, two murders rock Bienville to its core, threatening far more than the city’s economic future.
An experienced journalist, Marshall has seen firsthand how the corrosive power of money and politics can sabotage investigations. Joining forces with his former lover—who through her husband has access to the secrets of the Poker Club—Marshall begins digging for the truth behind those murders. But he and Jet soon discover that the soil of Mississippi is a minefield where explosive secrets can destroy far more than injustice. The South is a land where everyone hides truths: of blood and children, of love and shame, of hate and murder—of damnation and redemption. The Poker Club’s secret reaches all the way to Washington, D.C., and could shake the foundations of the U.S. Senate. But by the time Marshall grasps the long-buried truth about his own history, he would give almost anything not to have to face it.
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Seems like every time I knew what was going on it changed.
If you’ve read other books by this author, you’ll like this one too!
Great plot. His books are always hard to put down.
Big book (600 pages), started a little slow (for me), but interest built as the story progresses. Another Mississippi hit for Greg Iles. Good characters with interesting interactions.
Great book!
Cemetery Road is a great story to get immersed in the lives of the people of Bienville Mississippi.
It’s a dark , gritty and truly believable story of family, secrets, power and corruption and history.
Greg Iles does not disappoint.
I hated the book to end, yet I wanted to get to the end to see what happens.
A must read !!!
As all of Greg Isles books, it was informative & breathtaking in action & a lesson in American history.
Greg Iles is one of the best in the game, and this literary thriller full of murder, lies, sex, greed, and deceit is impossible to put down!
We Greg Iles is always a winnee
Thanks to William Morrow and Goodreads First Reads program for an ARC of this amazing book. The following is my honest review:
Hands down one of my favorite books by Greg Iles!! I made the mistake of starting this book around midnight right before I was ready to go to sleep. At 3 am, with my eyes struggling to stay open, I kept saying just one more chapter to myself over and over. It’s that good.
This story is so gripping. It starts out:
I never meant to kill my brother. I never set out to hate my father. I never dreamed I would bury my own son. Nor could I have imagined that I would betray the childhood friend who saved my life, or win a Pulitzer Prize for telling a lie.
All these things I have done, yet most people I know would call me an honorable man. I wouldn’t go that far. But I try to be a good man, and most of the time, I believe I succeed. How is this possible? These are complicated times.
And it’s not easy to be good.
And there you have it…pulls you right in from the first sentence.
There are so many good things to say about this book.
– The plot is magnificent. I was one edge for so much of this book that I was unable to stop reading. I had to know what was going to happen next. Just when I thought I knew the direction things were going, something would shift and the story would change.
– Characterization is incredible. Iles has a true gift for bringing his characters to life. I could vividly imagine each of them and I began to anticipate what I thought their actions to given situations would be. The people in this book were relatable and as a reader I felt their struggles, fears, and successes right along side of them.
– It was realistic. It’s easy to see the world in terms of what’s right in front of us but Iles reminds us that often times it’s the people with wealth and power that are shaping the events around us and that testing them can be dangerous (or even deadly).
– This novel is filled with good ole Mississippi charm. I love that Iles always incorporates history and culture into his books. He’s also great at setting the tone and the atmosphere of the book and it’s easy to imagine the small town charm Bienville has, while also recognizing the hardships it faces.
I’m pretty stingy with 5 stars but I didn’t hesitate to give Cemetery Road just that. I would have given it more if I could have. Simply put, this book has something for everyone. Mystery, suspense, romance, scandal, history, and the never ending question of what constitutes right versus wrong.
Read this book!
Marshall has returned home because his dad is sick. Marshall has taken over the small town newspaper his dad started. He has also taken up with an old girlfriend….and she is married to his best friend! And if that’s not enough to entertain you, one of his mentors is murdered.
As most of you know, Greg Iles is my all time favorite author. Not only is he from Mississippi, he has, what I call, “smart reads”. You cannot skim anything. If you do, you miss a key point of the story. He also has some of the most realistic characters ever. Marshall is no exception. He makes bad choices and bad decisions. But, his ultimate goal is to find out who killed his friend and why. And the why? Well! You must read to find out because, it may not be what you think.
This is an intricate piece of work full of twists and turns small town corruption and power. It is not only about one murder or three..it is about relationships, especially the relationship between father and son. It also has one of the best opening chapters of any book I have ever read.
I received this novel from William Morrow via Edelweiss for a honest review.