The Bone Tree

February 23, 2015
Iles’s richly plotted fifth Penn Cage novel, the middle book of a trilogy, picks up immediately after the previous entry, 2014’s Natchez Burning. Penn’s physician father, Tom, is a fugitive suspected of murder. Meanwhile, an unsolved civil rights case from the 1960s may have been finally cracked, and the Double Eagles, a KKK splinter group, have been linked to the traumatic assassinations of the 1960s. Penn, a former prosecutor who’s now the mayor of Natchez, Miss., and his pregnant fiancée, reporter Caitlin Masters, have barely escaped with their lives from the lair of a flamethrower-wielding sadist. The action-packed narrative moves swiftly to a surprising and moving conclusion as Penn contends with Forrest Knox, the power behind the Double Eagles, and strives to keep his loved ones safe. Some readers may feel that the link between the villains and the J.F.K. assassination is just too much, and that the tale of Penn’s efforts bringing justice to those who committed horrendous crimes against African-Americans would have been enough. Ten-city author tour. Agents: Dan Conaway and Simon Lipskar, Writers House.

April 15, 2015

Penn Cage and fiancee Caitlin Masters doggedly continue their search for the truth behind a series of murders from the 1960s. Past secrets have resurfaced to haunt Penn's father, Dr. Tom Cage. When Tom is accused of killing his former nurse, he jumps bail to evade the far-extending reach of the Double Eagles, a Ku Klux Klan secret cell. Frank Knox, the deceased Double Eagles leader, was rumored to have been highly involved with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Tracking this theory, FBI special agent John Kaiser is determined to hear the truth from Cage. High-ranking state policeman Forrest Knox, Frank's son, is also hunting for Cage, using his extensive network of corrupt police and government officials. Tangible proof of the conspiracy is rumored to be in a giant cypress known as the Bone Tree, but Forrest and the rest of the Double Eagles will do anything to stop Penn, Caitlin, and Cage. VERDICT Picking up immediately from Natchez Burning, best-selling author Iles superbly blends past and present in his swift and riveting story line. [See Prepub Alert, 10/13/14.]--Joy Gunn, Paseo Verde Lib., Henderson, NV

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2015
Picking up only days after the conclusion of Natchez Burning (2014), this ambitious novel (the second in a proposed trilogy) finds Penn Cage's world in disarray. His father, Tom, is on the run, facing charges of jumping bail and murder; his fiancee nearly died in a house fire that claimed the lives of several very bad people (and, heroically, one good man); and Penn no longer knows whom to trust. For those who know the backstoryand familiarity with Natchez Burning is pretty much essential to understanding what's going on herethis is an absolutely compelling sequel, one that not only continues breaking open the racially charged history of Natchez, Mississippi, but also delves into what is, for some conspiracy-minded folk, one of the biggest mysteries of the 1960s: who was responsible for the murders of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.? Andhitting closer to home for Pennwhat did Tom Cage, the kindly small-town physician, know about these assassinations? Don't expect any pat answers here; there's another novel yet to come before Iles wraps up this epic-size story. Do, on the other hand, expect a beautifully constructed story, some extremely fine writing, and some hard-to-bear tragedy. There will be much interest in this title and a parallel bump in demand for Natchez Burning, as readers play catch-up. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Everything is big about this one: its epic scale, its marketing budget, its built-in readership based on the success of its predecessor.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)