redone15's review against another edition
5.0
Yet again, Greg Isles drew me in from the first page. I was already invested in this story after Natchez Burning, and this book kept me just as enthralled!!! I love the twists and turns Greg Isles uses to make his stories unpredictable and addictive. It's a wild ride from start to finish.
madjuliet's review against another edition
5.0
Book 2 in the trilogy. These books are equally sad and heartening. It is sad to read about the crimes that took place in our history, and even more sad to know that there are people today who still carry such hatred and evil in their hearts. But it is heartening to know that there are people out there who will fight for what is right and just, even if they fight alone or in the minority. And yes I realize this is fiction however there is a lot of truth in these stories and things have happened in our history that are similar and worse than what was written in these books.
lucatiel's review against another edition
I didn't want to put this book down the entire time I was reading it. This is the second book in a trilogy and really painted a clearer picture of the main characters for me. Greg Iles is a great suspense writer and I can't wait to read more. As someone with quite an interest in the JFK assassination I really enjoyed that fictionalized part of the novel.
sarenasbookadventures's review against another edition
4.0
I think I enjoyed this book better than the first one (Natchez Burning). I was more invested in the characters and wanted to see how the story plays out. Still too much fluff and explaining theories to my liking but still 4 stars. One more book to go in this series!
mverdoorn's review against another edition
4.0
So, this was one action packed book. There were even a few events that really surprised me. My only complaint is that every situation was completely unrealistic and some characters made unbelievably terrible decisions to keep the action going. No normal human would live through all of the predicaments that these characters get into. Lastly, they killed off my least favorite character (who I think was supposed to be one of the “good ones”, but I still hated them) in such a satisfying way!
bobbo49's review against another edition
4.0
Although I will get to the third book in this lengthy tale, I'm exhausted right now by the incredibly detailed stories of the Cages and their enemies. Like the first volume, this one is very well written and spun out, with both expected and unexpected twists and turns. The best part for me was discovering the story of Carlos Marcello - a real life character about whom several books have been written, tied in mysterious ways to the assassination of JFK (for real). This has prompted me to add one of the recent books about the Mafia, Marcello and JFK to my endless reading list!
readinggrrl's review against another edition
5.0
This book was crazy from the beginning to the end. It doesn't feel like it is 800 plus pages because it moves so fast. I found myself staying up too late, and grabbing it first thing when my eyes opened needing to find out what happens next.
I think my mind is still reeling from all the action in this book, so many deaths, and not all of them the bad guys! Luckily the Cage's have a lot of people who have their back but not all of them will come out of this unscathed. From murder, to planting of evidence, to who shot JFK this book will take you on a ride that will leave you feeling like you just went through a war.
This is not a stand alone book but you don't need to really start at book 1 either. I feel that the Penn Cage novels are actually two series of trilogies and this one begins with Natchez Burning. This is an epic adventure through some of the darkest American history. I highly recommend it and Greg Iles crafts characters that you either love or hate, but they are very 3 dimensional, you feel like you know these people for good or ill.
I think my mind is still reeling from all the action in this book, so many deaths, and not all of them the bad guys! Luckily the Cage's have a lot of people who have their back but not all of them will come out of this unscathed. From murder, to planting of evidence, to who shot JFK this book will take you on a ride that will leave you feeling like you just went through a war.
This is not a stand alone book but you don't need to really start at book 1 either. I feel that the Penn Cage novels are actually two series of trilogies and this one begins with Natchez Burning. This is an epic adventure through some of the darkest American history. I highly recommend it and Greg Iles crafts characters that you either love or hate, but they are very 3 dimensional, you feel like you know these people for good or ill.
sehalcomb's review against another edition
2.0
So many words but not much said... Burdensome, repetitive and didn't hold my interest whatsoever. Full of pointless dialogue that detracts from the interesting story.
auntieg0412's review against another edition
5.0
The second time around put me through the emotional wringer almost as much as the first.
A common complaint I've read in other reviews is that Iles focused too much on the Kennedy assassination. Maybe it was just a little too much but I kind of liked it, especially the second time around. The first time I just wanted to know what happened with Tom, so I was a bit impatient. (BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if Iles' theory isn't pretty close to what really happened, but of course we will never know.)
I made myself take a minute to write this as soon as I finished rather than immediately diving into Mississippi Blood. Anticipation is sweet, you know. ;-)
A common complaint I've read in other reviews is that Iles focused too much on the Kennedy assassination. Maybe it was just a little too much but I kind of liked it, especially the second time around. The first time I just wanted to know what happened with Tom, so I was a bit impatient. (BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if Iles' theory isn't pretty close to what really happened, but of course we will never know.)
I made myself take a minute to write this as soon as I finished rather than immediately diving into Mississippi Blood. Anticipation is sweet, you know. ;-)