Sinopsis

Greg Iles, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mississippi Blood, keeps the secrets of the South alive in this “powerful…heartfelt…entirely gripping” (The Washington Post) novel of infatuation, murder, and sexual intrigue set in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi.

After winning the most dangerous case of his career, prosecutor Penn Cage decides to remain in his Southern hometown to raise his young daughter in a safe haven. But nowhere is truly safe—not from long-buried secrets, or murder…

When the nude body of prep school student Kate Townsend is found near the Mississippi River, Penn’s best friend, Drew Elliott, is desperate for his counsel. An esteemed family physician, Drew makes a shocking confession that could put him on death row. Penn will do all he can to exonerate Drew, but in a town where the gaze of a landmark cemetery statue—the Turning Angel—never looks away, Penn finds himself caught on the jagged edge of blackmail, betrayal, and deadly violence.

Exploring a surreal world of adolescent sex, drugs, apathy, and violence, Penn is forced to reevaluate his view of his old high school, his best friend, his hometown, and even himself. Foremost in his mind is one question: Could my best friend have murdered a seventeen-year-old girl? Penn’s heart tells him Drew is innocent of murder, but his gut tells him Drew is lying about something else. By the time Penn arrives at the shattering truth, this quiet Southern town will never be the same. “Turning Angel will have you wondering where Greg Iles has been all your life” (USA TODAY).

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A string of unique bestsellers (24 Hours, etc.) is testament to Iles's ability to leap genres and geography. His latest, a gripping legal mystery set in Natchez, Miss., proves he doesn't have to stray far from home to explore the darkest recesses of the human heart. Penn Cage—lawyer, author and protagonist of The Quiet Game—has just learned that his best friend, Dr. Andrew Elliott, was the secret lover of 17-year-old Kate Townsend, a high school senior found raped and murdered. "Drew was our golden boy, a paragon of everything small-town America holds to be noble, and by unwritten law the town will crucify him with a hatred equal to their betrayed love." Though Penn is furious with Drew for his relationship with Kate, he signs on to represent him in court and unearth the real murderer. Things look bleak for Drew as a DA with political aspirations comes up with plenty of evidence against him. When people start to die and the secret lives of the town's high school students are revealed, Penn begins to doubt not only Drew, but himself as well. This is a study of character and morality, but also of place, as Iles shows Natchez to be emblematic of racial, social and economic issues. The job of great fiction is to entertain, elucidate and educate while keeping readers nailed to their chairs; this does all of that brilliantly. (Dec. 27)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Much more than a thriller, Turning Angel is a portrait of a Southern town blighted by a poor economy, bad schools, drugs, racial tensions, and the contrast between this life and the one of privilege. Iles, who lives in Natchez, convincingly depicts how these tensions play out among high school students, who, as Gage repeatedly learns, are not the innocent babes of his youth. The lurid scenes of pornography, drugs, and sex will attract many readers, but so will Iles's portrayal of emotions and morality. A two-dimensional villain and somewhat hackneyed plot barely detract from the novel's powerful depiction of teenagers' lives today.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

From Booklist

The murder of a beautiful 17-year-old girl throws the town of Natchez, Mississippi, into turmoil. When Penn's close friend, Dr. Drew Elliott, confesses that he was about to leave his wife and run off with the victim, Penn agrees to act as his attorney. But he also knows that if the police bring charges against Drew, he'll have a hard time getting him off. As usual, Iles writes gracefully, letting us get to know his characters gradually, keeping certain things hidden until it's the right time to reveal them. The story is solidly plotted, too, but there's one major gaffe: the introduction of the villain is handled so clumsily that readers even remotely familiar with the genre will know instantly whodunit. Unfortunately, for those who spot the killer, much of the novel's suspense is ruined. Still, Iles has become an A-list thriller writer over the years, and anything with his name on it can be counted on to draw a crowd. Call this one a well-written misfire. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Greg Iles was born in 1960 in Germany, where his father ran the US Embassy medical clinic during the height of the Cold War. After graduating from the University of Mississippi in 1983, he performed for several years with the rock band Frankly Scarlet and is a member of the lit-rock group The Rock Bottom Remainders. His first novel, Spandau Phoenix, a thriller about Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess, was published in 1993 and became a New York Times bestseller. Iles went on to write numerous bestselling novels including Third Degree, True Evil, Turning Angel, Blood Memory, The Footprints of God, the Natchez Burning trilogy, and 24 Hours (released by Sony Pictures as Trapped, with full screenwriting credit for Iles). He lives in Natchez, Mississippi.