The Devil's Punchbowl

By: Greg Iles

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 23 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

As a prosecutor in Houston, Penn Cage sent killers to death row. But as mayor of his hometown - Natchez, Mississippi - Penn will face his most dangerous threat. Urged by old friends to try to restore this fading jewel of the Old South, Penn has ridden into office on a tide of support for change. But in its quest for new jobs and fresh money, Natchez has turned to casino gambling, and now five steamboats float on the river beside the old slave market, like props from Gone With the Wind.

But one boat isn't like the others.

Rumor has it that the Magnolia Queen has found a way to pull the big players from Las Vegas to its Mississippi backwater. And with them - on sleek private jets that slip in and out of town like whispers in the night - come pro football players, rap stars, and international gamblers, all sharing an unquenchable taste for one thing: blood sport - and the dark vices that go with it. When a childhood friend of Penn's who brings him evidence of these crimes is brutally murdered, he begins a quest to find the men responsible. But the local authorities have been corrupted by the money and power of his hidden enemy and, with his family's lives at stake, Penn realizes his only allies are those bound to him by blood or honor.

Together they must defeat a killer who has an almost preternatural ability to anticipate - and counter - their every move. Ultimately, victory will depend on a bold stroke that will leave one of Penn's allies dead - and Natchez changed forever.

©2009 Greg Iles (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Caution: Do NOT read at bedtime!

For ‘The Devil’s Punchbowl’, allow me to repeat exactly what I have said in previous reviews, because it continues to apply in this book as well.

Like previous books in the series, this book starts slowly to develop characters, including bring back characters from prior books. Like the previous books, it suddenly explodes, moving at high rates of sped, periodically throttling back, and continually jinking with new clues, mysteries, and characters. Like the previous books, I kept thinking I knew “whodunit” and how it was going to end. Once again, I was wrong every step of the way!

In this book, we have a mixture of illicit drugs, legitimate AND illegitimate gambling, corruption, greed, torture, murder, and the brutal “sport” of dog fighting. Mr. Iles imagination and his gift for crafting a true mystery works to create a different, but related book in the series. There are never enough slow moments to get bored. In fact, one can lose sleep with these books as they are hard to put down at bedtime.

A funny note: Poor little Natchez, Mississippi has a population that is barely 15,000 people. In California, that barely qualifies as a village. Yet Mr. Iles skillfully uses little Natchez as a backdrop for more drama and mystery than one can find in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago or Los Angeles.

The narrator of this story, Mr. Dick Hill, is among several great narrators who can add extra life to any story, BUT I really wish Mr. Tom Stechschulte would narrate the entire series. His voice is perfect for the setting.

Now, it’s time to start the 3rd ½ book in the series, ‘The Death Factory’.

good book properly narrate

watch out for the violence, the brutal sex and the gory dogs.. Notwithstanding the narrator's feel-good voice, this is not a feel-good book

performance review

I had a hard time hearing the reader when he changed voices . The story was good.

Good story, not narration

While I enjoyed this story, the narrator was very hard for me to understand. I actually could not hear everything he was saying except if I had my headphones on. For an audiobook, it was not easy - and this was a long book, too! Plus, he sounded very old for a man Penn Cage's age in this story. Wish I had looked at some of the other reviews before purchasing - other folks have similar sentiments.

WARNING! EARBUD USE HERE IS DANGEROUS!

I do recommend this book for the story, but Dick Hill's "decibel performance" coupled with the sound production of this book takes away from the individual enjoyment of listening. On the other books I have enjoyed in which Dick Hill was the narrator I was able to lower the volume to my earpiece and set it a little more outside of the "nook" of my listening ear in order to finish. But, with this book my trick didn't work. I was forced to use my computer to listen to it. Unfortunately, that turned what is usually a personal listening experience for me alone into an invasion of the "shared decibel space" of any other person within the listening area. That, I did not like!

The devil's narrator

I have to say I agree with the numerous other reviews that complained about the narration. I really had to stick with the first few hours in order to develop an ear for his style - but he voices the main character as if he is a seventy year old Southern black man (with emphysema), when in fact the main character seems to be a white guy in his 30s-40s. The story is a little gruesome at times (deals with dog fighting) but overall not bad - if you can get past the narration.

The Devil’s Punchbowl

As of this writing, there are seven books by Greg Iles featuring the lead character of Penn Cage. These comments encompass the entire series. All books are lengthy, full length novels. The exception is The Death Factory, a three hour novella - written mid-way in the series. Frankly, my opinion, skip this book as it adds nothing to the series. There are many, many reviews, so I will skip synopsis - you’ll have no trouble finding more details on each book.

Briefly, the lead protagonist, Penn Cage, is the ultimate ‘good-guy’ in the series. Although Iles refrains from explicit physical description, it isn’t difficult to imagine him, i.e., the tall-dark-handsome-sympathetic widower. Cage, an attorney, returns to his childhood home of Natchez in hopes that the environment will ease the grief of his wife’s death - particularly for his little girl. In short order, Cage is mayor of Natchez and the adventures begin. The novels are sprinkled with unique characters, i.e., an opportunistic black attorney, a jack-booted thug sheriff, innocent victims, a kind hearted doctor, unbridled racism, people to trust, people to fear - secrets - something for everyone.

No explicit sex, no language inappropriate to the scene or character. Worthy listens, albeit long books. But, I like them long.

Excellent!!!

This series seems to get better and better with each book. Dick Hill narrates them perfectly. I highly recommend this book and the series.

Great story, Sound quality horrible

The story was strong and interesting, but the volume quality was awful. It was difficult to hear.

Greg Iles doesn't disappoint

This was probably the most suspenseful of the Penn Cage series. Excellent! Will keep you spellbound until the last