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    Cemetery Road: A Novel
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    Cemetery Road: A Novel
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    Cemetery Road: A Novel
    Ebook823 pages15 hours

    Cemetery Road: A Novel

    By Greg Iles

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Don’t miss the latest Natchez Burning novel, SOUTHERN MAN

    Sometimes the price of justice is a good man’s soul.

    The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Natchez Burning trilogy returns with an electrifying tale of friendship, betrayal, and shattering secrets that threaten to destroy a small Mississippi town.

    “An ambitious stand-alone thriller that is both an absorbing crime story and an in-depth exploration of grief, betrayal and corruption… Iles’s latest calls to mind the late, great Southern novelist Pat Conroy. Like Conroy, Iles writes with passion, intensity and absolute commitment.”

       — Washington Post

    When Marshall McEwan left his Mississippi hometown at eighteen, he vowed never to return. The trauma that drove him away spurred him to become one of the most successful journalists in Washington, DC. But as the ascendancy of a chaotic administration lifts him from print fame to television stardom, Marshall discovers that his father is terminally ill, and he must return home to face the unfinished business of his past.

    On arrival, he finds Bienville, Mississippi very much changed. His family’s 150-year-old newspaper is failing; and Jet Talal, the love of his youth, has married into the family of Max Matheson, one of a dozen powerful patriarchs who rule the town through the exclusive Bienville Poker Club. To Marshall’s surprise, the Poker Club has taken a town on the brink of extinction and offered it salvation, in the form of a billion-dollar Chinese paper mill. But on the verge of the deal being consummated, two murders rock Bienville to its core, threatening far more than the city’s economic future.

    An experienced journalist, Marshall has seen firsthand how the corrosive power of money and politics can sabotage investigations. Joining forces with his former lover—who through her husband has access to the secrets of the Poker Club—Marshall begins digging for the truth behind those murders. But he and Jet soon discover that the soil of Mississippi is a minefield where explosive secrets can destroy far more than injustice. The South is a land where everyone hides truths: of blood and children, of love and shame, of hate and murder—of damnation and redemption. The Poker Club’s secret reaches all the way to Washington, D.C., and could shake the foundations of the U.S. Senate. But by the time Marshall grasps the long-buried truth about his own history, he would give almost anything not to have to face it.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 5, 2019
    ISBN9780062824639
    Author

    Greg Iles

    Greg Iles has spent most of his life in Natchez, Mississippi. His first novel, Spandau Phoenix, was the first of many New York Times bestsellers. His Natchez Burning trilogy continued the story of Penn Cage, the protagonist of The Quiet Game, Turning Angel, and #1 New York Times bestseller The Devil’s Punchbowl. Iles’s novels have been made into films and published in more than thirty-five countries. He is a member of the lit-rock group The Rock Bottom Remainders, lives in Natchez with his wife, and his three children.

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    Reviews for Cemetery Road

    4/5

    213 ratings25 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This unabridged audio was read by Scott Brick. If it had been a stage production, Brick would be described as “chewing the scenery.” His over-emphasis of nearly every other word, along with his tremolo vocalizations, made what I think is probably a very good book a real chore to get through.
    • 4/5
      Good story. A little preachy in places and unnecessarily long.
    • 4/5
      Really enjoyed this story! Fast paced & good story plot. includes mystery, intrigue, murder, love, corruption, honesty & keeps you constantly on edge! very well written.
    • 4/5
      A book full of a wide range of melodramatic twists and themes; interesting narrative that kept my interest. However, the book was about 100 pages too long and overly plotted!
    • 4/5
      My 1st Greg Iles; a good mix of love story, mystery, family drama and friendship. Got pretty crazy and I am not so sure I agree with how the journalist handled the information. In this day in age, I Think we need the Truth to come out... no matter what or who is collateral damage - there is too much at risk... This was a very well thought out plot that had a lot of twists and turns. I enjoyed it!
    • 5/5
      I am very stingy when it comes to giving a book a "5" rating, but IMO, this one deserves it. More twists and turns/reverses than can hardly be kept up. This novel easily qualifies for the genre class of Mystery/Suspense/Thriller! Truly, I could hardly put it down and I've read all of Greg's books save one. I was awarded this book as a Advance Readers Edition under the Early Reviewers on this site and my positive review has no bearing whatsoever of winning this book.
    • 2/5
      I just couldn’t get into this book. It was wordy and the subject just kept jumping around from one place to a totally different one. I ended up skipping large sections but could never get back into it. I never finished it.
    • 5/5
      Review of Advance Reader’s EditionWhen, at eighteen, journalist Marshall McEwan left Bienville, Mississippi behind, he’d vowed never to return. His success in Washington, D.C. seemed to guarantee fulfillment of that earnest promise. But with his long-estranged father’s approaching death, he finds himself returning to help his mother in her struggle to keep the family newspaper from dissolution. The murder of archaeologist Buck Ferris, the man who literally rescued Marshall as a boy, sends shockwaves through the town and sets Marshall on a mission for justice. Determined to find the murderer, even if it costs Bienville the Chinese paper mill that promises economic salvation for the entire town, the journalist doggedly digs for answers. Marshall’s quest for the truth sets him against the powerful Bienville Poker Club. His first love, Jet, has married his boyhood best friend, Paul Matheson . . . the man who saved Marshall’s life when he was embedded in Iraq, the man Marshall protected when writing his Pulitzer-winning book detailing that event. And it’s Paul’s father, Max, who holds sway over the town through that same Poker Club. Nevertheless, Jet tries to help Marshall uncover the truth, to bring the members of the Poker Club to the reckoning they have long deserved.But the truth Marshall seeks may not be the truth he wants to find.An intense, vivid sense of place and strong characterizations promise to pull readers into the narrative from the outset. The unfolding story, with its stunning, unanticipated twists, spins out over almost six hundred pages of pulse-pounding revelations and ever-mounting tension. With the events of the past driving the present, the page-turning story weaves a tapestry of opposites, unveiling a complex tale that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Filled with unrelenting action, this harrowing story of power, family, love, honor, greed, jealousy, and truth is a not-to-be-missed, unputdownable masterpiece. Highly recommended.I received a free copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Readers program
    • 2/5
      Although this book was set in my home state of Mississippi, I did not enjoy it or the characters. The lead character who is a newspaperman who sees a body and knows it must have come from not that far away. He uses his drone to spy on the "bad ole boys." However, he's not any better than they are. All the characters are despicable, and I really don't care one iota about what happens to them. The author uses far too much foul language for my taste, and I will not read more works by him. My mom would tell him to wash his mouth out with soap. I received this through a GoodReads giveaway with no obligation to review it although the publisher appreciates them.
    • 3/5
      This book pissedme off when I finished it. Not because it was badly written,but just the opposite. Greg Illes is a hell of a writer with a gift for making you care about his characters. Unfortunately he's not quite as deft with a plot.Cementary Road is a serviceable mystery/suspence novel. While the characters are not terribly fleshed out, Illes gets you to invest in them. But that investment can't cover up the plot holes or where characters decisions exist merely to advance the plot. There were serveral times I found myself pausing and think,"huh?" only to have Illes skill as a writer push me past and continue to move forward in the tale. In a lesser writeres hands the results would be....well to be honest...an Ace Atkins book.Illes keeps touting his books as the next great Southern Gothic and I believe he has such a book in him. This ain't it. This is a higher grade beach read with some interesting history included. Read it, enjoy it, but be careful with making too great an investment.
    • 4/5
      Cemetery Road by Greg Iles is a 2019 William Morrow publication. Small town corruption, family tragedies, betrayals, and murder-In other words- quintessential Greg Iles. In this standalone novel, award winning journalist, Marshall McEwan, returns home to Bienville, Mississippi to be closer to his parents after his estranged father is diagnosed with Parkinson’s. At least that’s what he tells himself. Deep in his heart, however, he acknowledges an ulterior motive- reuniting with his first love- a woman named Jet, who just happens to be married to his best friend. But when Buck Ferris, a man who had a strong influence on Marshall, is found dead, Marshall is convinced foul play is at hand. But who would want to kill Buck and why? Well, Buck may have made a discovery that could derail the proposed installation of a paper mill, which would breathe new life into the slowly dying town of Bienville. A lot is at stake, and the town’s powerful ‘Poker Club’ will make sure the Chinese investors aren’t scared off, which means Buck might have been collateral damage. As Marshall digs deeper into the circumstances of Buck’s death, the Poker Club members do what they do best- make threats, intimidate, bully, and blackmail, and maybe even murder, anyone who stands in their way- and Marshall and all his dark secrets is in their crosshairs. Cemetery Road is not just a suspenseful thriller, with all its many twists and turns, and layers of deceptions. It is also a stellar piece of southern fiction, with Gothic elements that only the south can lay claim to. The characters are flawed- every single one of them- some more than others, and Marshall, no saint himself, is forced to stare his demons in the face, to make eye contact with them, as everything he thought he knew wavers and fades like a mirage in the desert. Under scrutiny is the moral compromises made in the name of capitalism, the mythology of our youth, the hope of recapturing a lost opportunity, while trying to do what is right for all concerned. For Marshall, it is more personal, perhaps, as he is also coping with deeply embedded grief and carrying a heavy burden of guilt bestowed upon him by his embittered father. However, he is also trying to save his father's newspaper, cover his own butt, and protect the women he loves. I often found myself on the edge of my seat, as Marshall survives one major event after another by the seat of his pants, and as the shock waves reverberate relentlessly. It was hard to put the book down for any length of time. At the end of the day, Iles proves, yet again, his intimate knowledge of the old southern realities, still prevalent and still thriving. But, at the end of the day, his characters, though bruised and bleeding, may finally shake off the ghosts of the past, each in his or her own way, while southern style justice continues to work in the most mysterious of ways.
    • 4/5
      Iles knows how to write about the South, although that's not his only talent or area of expertise. He excels at deep character development, complex plots and accurate depictions of race relations during the 1960's. He's a masterful storyteller, a literary Bo Jackson. Once again he does not disappoint. The only very small negative for me was that at some points the book was a little slow and plodding, but not enough to distract. Four and half stars.
    • 3/5
      Greg Iles tells an interesting story, but drones on and on when the story should have ended. The language and the graphic scenes provide the gore and excitement that are necessary for current readers, but this reader becomes insulted with the repeated language. The main female character, Jet Turner Matheson, stands as an evil vixen, that the reader sees as the main threat for goodness for Marshall McEwan. Greg Iles shows greed and meanness of his characters, and very little goodness leaks through the holes.
    • 3/5
      I felt the story took too long to develop
    • 5/5
      Stirring action throughout. The fast pace was accelerated by frequent twists and turns that all made sense. I couldn't put the book down. Definitely one of Iles' best.
    • 3/5
      An atmospheric novel in small Mississippi. It's strongly written with some interesting development for some of the characters.I found most of the bad-guy characters to be too unbelievable and that detracted from the otherwise strong writing. Some of the plot turns and twists just made little sense to me.
    • 4/5
      Greg Iles knows the south - warts and all - and he writes unsparingly. Lots of twists and turn make this novel a compulsive read.
    • 4/5
      Where to start. The story plot was good--lots of twists, turns, lies, manipulation and back-stabbing to keep the reader interested EXCEPT for the looong, wordy, boring parts which comprise easily half the book. Almost 600 pages--it's like the author's goal was to fill up a certain number of pages by droning on and on with detailed descriptions of every road, path, intersection and highway in Mississippi. Could have been a wild ride if someone had just told him to cut it by half and leave out some of the deadly dull parts, and ease up on the graphic sex. Thank you, LibraryThing for this Advance Reader's Edition.
    • 3/5
      A small southern town in Mississippi with group of local, corrupt businessmen and a local Pulitzer prize winning local hero who gets caught up in a love triangle with his best friend’s wife. Moral dilemmas involving illegal activities to secure a Chinese paper mill for the town and an extramarital affair that has consequences for all involved drive the story. There are passages in the book that kept me riveted, in particular the flashbacks to life changing childhood experiences and the subject matter for his Pulitzer prize winning book. There were also passages that contained too many metaphors and deep thoughts that dragged the story down. They could have been skipped or skimmed without detracting from the story. I thought the book meandered towards the middle but then came together at the end for a satisfying ending that was a bit convoluted but kept me turning the pages to get there. Some political opinions were inserted that added nothing to the story, but I have come to expect that lately from many writers and usually try to ignore it.I would recommend this book for anyone who likes the suspense-thriller genre.
    • 4/5
      Greg Iles' Cemetery Road is enjoyable if a bit formulaic. Set in the Mississippi that he knows and depicts well, Cemetery Road contains the usual Southern stock characters - corrupt politicians, sexy bad girl, alcoholic newspaperman. But to give Iles credit, they're fun in fiction - if not so much in real life.The plot hinges on a murder and the greed that comes with bringing a Chinese paper pulp mill to a small Southern town. There's obviously money to be made by those in the know if they're ruthless enough to destroy naysayers. And the body count commences.It's not a great book, but, in many ways, it's true to its time and place and does neither a disservice. Read and enjoy.
    • 3/5
      I didn't love this book, but my reasons are more a reflection of my reading preferences than any flaws in the writing. This book is highly atmospheric and descriptive. My copy is 591 pages, and I could have easily done without about 300 of them. We have a lot of detail on setting, with both the current condition of the area and its history. A whole lot of history. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a nonfiction book. Then we have a whole lot of backstory. We're constantly traveling back to various times in the main character's life, and we're given immense detail on past events. This sort of sweeping saga works okay in historical fiction, but I'm not a fan of this tactic with suspense novels. Because of all the detail and backstory, the pace is far too slow to call this suspense. It's an extraordinarily slow burn.Then there's the issue of the main character. I didn't like him all that much. As I mentioned, these issues are specific to my taste. The writing itself is quite good. If you enjoy this type of sweeping saga, definitely give this one a try.*I received an ARC from the publisher.*
    • 4/5
      Really good story but easily 200 pages too long. This 630 page book takes place over the course of about 4 days.
      All of the recounting of what took place prior to this was mostly filler and didn’t add much to the story.
      The author can write but he needs to write less.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable, but a bit more uneven than Iles' other books
    • 3/5
      Marshall McEwan, a celebrated journalist, has come to his hometown of Bienville, Mississippi, to help with the care of his fatally ill father. Swearing he would never come back, he finds himself involved in searching for the person who murdered his childhood friend. As he searches for the murderer, he finds himself embroiled with the politics of the Poker Club.
    • 4/5
      An excellent new book by an author who knows how to write about the south.Marshall McEwan has returned to Bienville, Mississippi to run the family newspaper for his critically ill father. Marshall is coming out of politically charged Washington journalism and he wants this trip home to be short.Once he is home, Marshall renews a love affair with his best friend’s wife.Bienville is about to be named the site of a paper mill owned by Chinese investors.The Poker Club of Bienville, the local good old boy power, have worked long and hard , greased all the wheels, bought all the adjacent properties and now sit ready to add millions to their wealth.The only blip they see on the horizon that might cause them any problems is the archeological find made by the old Boy Scout leader/ archeologist, Buck Ferris. Buck is killed , no more problem except that he was a mentor and good friend of Marshall’s.Marshall sets out to investigate and the story goes from there. Fast paced, well written by an author who has proven once again what an exceptional storyteller he is.Read as an ARC from LibraryThing.