The Devil's Punchbowl

I ve written this review three different ways satirically, derisively, and in the style which you are about to read There are numerous reviews for this book wherein the reviewer flat out lies about the content for whatever reason I wanted to focus on the dishonest nature of these reviews, but that would be break my own code of conduct They are not my reviews These other reviews are those reviewers subjective opinions, even if they are utter bullshit Suffice it to say, most of the negative review [...]

Although a huge fan of Greg Iles, and especially enjoying the previous novels with the character of Penn Cage, had I known this book was about dogfighting I would never have bothered to pick it up I found this book to be disturbing, disgusting and stomach churning I had to skim over several passages because I knew if I had read them, these invoked images would have haunted me for a very long time An avid animal lover, I just found this subject far to revolting to ever be able to consider it ente [...]

I could not put this book down I enjoyed everything about the story, however did become frustrated with Penn Cage Truly a recommended read for a Vick supporter Read the dog fighting scenes, the logic and true character of a person who actually makes it part of their overall moral character and it truly will change, IMHO, your belief in he s done his time and all is forgiven policy, when it comes to the brutailty that Vick obviously has deep within his gene pool All is not forgiven or forgotten a [...]

Former Houston prosecutor Penn Cage is now the disillusioned mayor of his home town, Natchez, Mississippi Cage never failed at anything in his life until now, and he took the office promising to bridge the divisions in the town which is losing jobs along with its best and brightest young people who are moving away in search of better opportunities elsewhere Penn hoped to put Natchez on the track to a better future by reinvigorating the public education system and encouraging white parents who ha [...]

First of all I almost put the rating down to two stars, because while Punchbowl isn t is bad as some books I ve read, it s 550 page length was extra painful to get through Whats wrong with The Devil s Punchbowl It suffers from a severe case of average ness and a major overdose of waffling For at least the first 100 pages we re blugoened with the daily life and thoughts of Penn Cage, town mayor IMO mayor s of small town don t make compelling protaganists The plot is neither melodramatic enough he [...]

I REALLY like the way this guy writes He grabs my attention from page one and makes me keep wanting to turn pages His characters are believable and well textured His settings are vivid His plotting is intricate Each paragraph flows logically from the previous one and the writing is straightforward, not pretentious I ve only read a few of his books, beginning wth Turning Angel, but I want to read because he hasn t disappointed me yet.

Greg Iles THE DEVIL S PUNCHBOWL is the third installment of his Penn Cage novels The first two combined suspense, mystery, and insights into the human condition and the depravity of some Iles latest continues that trend as Cage, a former Houston prosecutor who returned home to Natchez, MS to raise his daughter Annie after his wife passed away from cancer Cage turned to writing and became a successful novelist, but local demands saw him become involved in a major civil rights case, a twisted drug [...]

Grossly disappointed in this latest from Iles I usually enjoy his books about character, Penn Cage But this one did not work for me Mainly, I think I was unable to suspend belief in common sense long enough to appreciate the plot Case in point, most of Iles books about Penn Cage feature a character named Daniel Kelly, a former Delta commando now working as a private security contractor Kelly is tough, former military, and amazing well connected He acts as a go to guy who helps Cage out of many a [...]

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Again, Greg Iles did not disappoint There is something about these books that make you want to keep reading I really like the character, Penn Cage He is strong, moral and doesn t take crap from anyone He s a fighter.The major themes of this bookmbling, dog fighting, foreign immunity, prostitution, education, racism, living in the south.The plot is focused around the gambling boats on the Mississippi and the underground activities that occur in and around these boats that attract not only the gen [...]

Playaway Audio book read by Dick HillBook three in the Penn Cage series finds our hero settled in as mayor of his hometown Natchez Mississippi Still he cannot help but keep certain ways of thinking that served him well as a prosecuting attorney in big city Houston Texas Like many other towns eager for jobs and an infusion of cash into their economies, Natchez has turned to casino gambling, and five steamboats float on the Mississippi River attracting tourists and locals alike But the Magnolia Qu [...]

Although I already have 40 some books in my wishlist, I now have to add at least one, maybe five, I like this book a lotE DEVIL S PUNCHBOWL is my first Greg Iles book, which is the third in a series about the Penn Cage character While Iles is good about supplying background information, so a reader can start these books out of order, THE DEVIL S PUNCHBOWL ends on a cliffhanger Now I want to read the next and maybe the next and the next still to be published in the series.In this book, Cage is t [...]

There were a few reasons why I did not enjoy this installment in the Penn Cage series as much as The Turning Angel Part of the problem was that while Dick Hill was an excellent reader in The Turning Angel, and here his voice kept fading out at various parts of the story, usually when he was reading Penn s role Another factor was that I enjoyed the shades of gray presented by the characters in The Turning Angel, whereas here the situation was much black and white.Penn has won the special electio [...]

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and the suspense that Iles builds throughout the book it is extremely hard to put down The violence can be very graphic, but seemed to be a part of the story, not just gratuitously thrown in Below is a brief summary of events.A former prosecuting attorney, Penn Cage is the mayor of his hometown Natchez, Mississippi Urged by old friends to try to restore this city of the Old South to its former glory, Penn has taken office with strong support from the townspeople f [...]

Greg Iles takes us back to Natchez, MS for a tale about total evil infecting the city from a new riverboat casino Using common stereotypes of the US South to great effect, parts of this book are so disturbing it is hard to readat is, hard not to skip over the violence and depravity.This time, our hero, Penn Cage is the Mayor at the midpoint of his term and questioning the wisdom of staying in office, Natchez, or even the South How his team defends the virtue, and lives of the populace of his cit [...]

Oy The Devil s Punchbowl is hard reading, and not just because of its 550 page length Seriously, it s so physically awkward to hold open the book at times Dog fighting It s not mentioned on the cover summary, but this is one of those things you really need to know beforehand It s extremely graphic DO NOT READ CHAPTER 31 I did, and I wish I hadn t Just trust me on this Nothing in that chapter happens plot wise that isn t summarised later, so it s okay to skip.The novel ends on a cliff hanger, whi [...]

The only reason I read this one was that I ran out of books when I was in Turkey on vacation One of the other travelers had finished with it and passed it on to me In need of SERIOUS editing It goes on and on in excruciating detail about awful things dog fighting, rape, etc Concentrates on the evil doings of a group of men associated with a gambling barge moored in the Mississippi Yuck

Another Greg Iles thriller, starring Penn Cage as mayor of Natchez battling a sociopath manager of a riverfront gambling house, drawing in characters from other Iles novels Suspenseful and well written although I think Iles use of italics when Cage is not narrating is truly unnecessary.

Took me a while as I was busy I really enjoyed the characters and how the bad guys were built up Good story and I loved the southern feel.

Another can t put down book from Greg Iles.

This is the first time I have read anything by this author I have to say he uses some neat metaphors and writes a thriller which moves well and has some of the great twists and turns The cover of this one fooled me The cover shows some dice with an odd image on it, and I expected it would turn into some sort of an Indiana Jones expedition I was shocked when it remained a normal thriller dealing with really bad guys and extreme violence, in this case the Devil s punchbowl was a reference to the n [...]

This is a difficult book to read, not because of the authors writing, but rather because of the themes and subtexts that are the core of the story Unspeakable horror and pain are inflicted for no reason than inflicting pain for the sake of pain and satisfying a blood lust for purposes of entertainment The pain and horror comes in many shades in this book tortured painful rape, murder without feeling or conscience and disguised as sport The basest human depravities are displayed front and center [...]

This book actually doesn t grab you from the first page It lifts its fingers and slowly motions for you to come closer Once you have gotten to the last sentences in Chapter 1, you are in deep and there is no return as you experience all of the gritty, testosterone driven atrocities that can be put in one book I read this book voraciously I stayed up way too late, I ate with my fork in one hand and book in the other, and found myself even reading a few lines while at traffic lights It was so inte [...]

3.5 of 5 starsThis third Penn Cage novel went on a bit too long By the end, I decided that I really didn t like any of the main characters and I was tired of the story Penn, formerly a DA and author, and now the ersatz mayor of Natchez, Mississippi his childhood home and Caitlin Masters, his former girlfriend reporter who has returned home for unknown reasons, team up again in a sordid story of gambling, prostitution, dog fighting and corruption at the riverboat casinos.Penn has to call on his b [...]

I really like how the author writes The characters and background story are a real page turner.The dog fighting aspect was pretty upsetting but I got some insight into how this is done illegally It takes a special type of person to go in there and break up this activity because it attracts a certain type of crowd and involves the exchange of money I love animals, but bearing my head in the sand and not understanding some aspects of how things like this happen wouldnt help the situation I love an [...]

Greg Iles Penn Cage series is hard work for this reader, not because it s difficult to follow but because of the emotional toll it takes on me When I reach into the shadows for one of Iles dark fixes, inevitably I get than I bargained for Like my last rollercoaster ride, midway in the book I had to remind myself I willingly stepped aboard That holds doubly true with The Devil s Punchbowl, a tale that sends Cage back to hometown, Natchez, Mississippi to serve as its mayor.One moment, I m awash w [...]

These Penn Cage novels by Greg Iles are a guilty pleasure for me As with his other novels, this one is a real page turner, and as much as I have some misgivings about his books, he is still compulsively readable for me He does tell an exciting story, to be sure.This is another story where the bad guys are all of the non Southern good old boy characters At least in this one the protagonists are not spending their time obsessing over 17 year old girls as in his previous book Cage, ex Assistant Dis [...]

Greg Iles delivers his usual novel packed with bad guys and good This is the continuing series that includes Penn Cage and is set in Natchez MS Penn is no longer a practicing attorney having turned his talents to writing novels He has also been Mayor of Natchez for the past 2 years and is disappointed at how slowly things go as he tries to make the positive changes he promised in his campaign The only thing that is bringing any prosperity to the city are the gambling boats.Turns out that s not t [...]

Penn Cage is two years into his term as mayor of Natchez MS He came into office full of vigor to reform the educational system because he knows a good education is the basis for a good work force Now, completely disillusioned by the in fighting and obstructionism he has encountered, he wants to quit Except, one night, his old friend, Tim Jessup, comes to him to reveal there are dangerous things happening on one of the casino barges moored at the Natchez pier, drugs, prostitution, and worst of al [...]

Difficult to star rate this book 2 means it was OK and 3 means I liked it Well liked is not a word I would necessarily use reviewing The Devil s Punchbowl.Anyway I ve given it 3 because of the following The setting was interesting and the author described it well Some of the characters were believable, but the baddies stereotyped Irish were probably far too way over the top As usual with the majority of contempory books I ve read recently the heroine was an absolute PIA The writing was well writ [...]