Yesterday I promised a revue of Greg Iles new book The Devil's Punchbowl..to me it was the most disturbing book I have ever read. The venue for the book is the Mississippi city of Natchez. My initial attraction to this book is because of the city of Natchez where I briefly visited last year as well as the proximity to Louisiana where my son lives. Also I have always enjoyed the authors previous books.
The hero of the story is the reputed mayor of Natchez who has received a message from an old friend who was soon to be murdered , of the horrendous practice of vicious dog fighting going on and being practiced by the owners of the casinos in the city. All throughout the book I kept thinking of Michael Vick who was prosecuted for this activity. The results of this book are so horrific that it is really difficult to read but one continues on because of Iles talent. And to see justice done. There are dresdful pictures of what the fights do to the dogs and in this book to cats and people who are used as choice bits of meat for the dogs who are kept hungry so they will fall on anything that comes their way. When Iles describes how the dogs are devoiced so that they are silent killers giving no warning when they pounce it is terrifying and I am not squeamish. The blood lust of the men and the sexual appetites that go along with it is a hard read for any ordinary sensitive person.
The story continues to unveil the path of destruction of the anti heroes and the eventual punishment of the crimes.
Of course it is all fiction and the city of Natchez is not the culprit of the story just the setting.
In my opinion if Iles desire was to set the world on fire regarding the practice of dogfighting he has clearly been successful. It is not a book one can forget.
2 comments:
Thank you for this review, Nan...I have read all of Greg Iles books so far but won't be reading this one.
Not meant to turn you off the book andIi am a fan of GI too but this was meant to warn....
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