Status
Available
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Pocket Books (2006), Edition: Reprint, 672 pages
Description
Lawyer Penn Cage returns to defend his best friend since childhood for the murder of a young female student, with whom his friend was intimate, at their old alma mater, St. Stephen's Prep.
User reviews
LibraryThing member SqueakyChu
Although I'm not much of a fan of murder mysteries, I've come to like the writing of author Greg Iles very much. What stands out for me is that his home town of Natchez, Mississippi, has just as big a role in his novels as do his characters. A sense of love for his hometown is always in the
Turning Angel is the third book by Iles that I have read, and it does not disappoint. I like the level-headed character of former lawyer, and now writer, Penn Cage. I also like that the novel, although pretty hefty at almost 500 pages, moves along steadily. It's not like other mysteries in which nothing is unravelled until the bitter end. It could have been a bit shorter (and maybe a bit more believable), but I think the author wanted to take time to develop the story and provide the reader with unexpected plot twists.
The history of the south seems to rattle through Iles' books with an eye to educate rather than anger. I especially like this quote:
What's the third type of black leader? ... The prophetic leader. That's Martin, Malcolm...Ella Baker. Or James Baldwin in the intellectual sphere ... The current generation has produced no leaders of this type, much less of that caliber. I'm watching Barak Obama, but I'm not sure yet.
After reading those lines, I was curious to see when this book was written. It was copyright 2005, well before Barack Obama was a household name.
The story begins with the revelation that stunningly beautiful Kate Jennings, a 17-year-old Harvard-bound high school senior is found raped and murdered. Penn Cage's friend Dr. Elliott, a well respected 40-year-old physician, reveals that he has been involved in a secret love affair with this woman although he firmly states that he did not kill her. So who did? If the true killer is not found, a jury is soon to put Dr. Elliott behind bars for 30 years.
If you've never read a book by Iles before, I must admit that I liked Mortal Fear and The Quiet Game better. However, this story will give you an idea of how Greg Iles can twist the history, the setting, and the people of Natchez, Mississippi, into a captivating story.
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forefront even if the plots of his novels are somewhat malevolent.Turning Angel is the third book by Iles that I have read, and it does not disappoint. I like the level-headed character of former lawyer, and now writer, Penn Cage. I also like that the novel, although pretty hefty at almost 500 pages, moves along steadily. It's not like other mysteries in which nothing is unravelled until the bitter end. It could have been a bit shorter (and maybe a bit more believable), but I think the author wanted to take time to develop the story and provide the reader with unexpected plot twists.
The history of the south seems to rattle through Iles' books with an eye to educate rather than anger. I especially like this quote:
What's the third type of black leader? ... The prophetic leader. That's Martin, Malcolm...Ella Baker. Or James Baldwin in the intellectual sphere ... The current generation has produced no leaders of this type, much less of that caliber. I'm watching Barak Obama, but I'm not sure yet.
After reading those lines, I was curious to see when this book was written. It was copyright 2005, well before Barack Obama was a household name.
The story begins with the revelation that stunningly beautiful Kate Jennings, a 17-year-old Harvard-bound high school senior is found raped and murdered. Penn Cage's friend Dr. Elliott, a well respected 40-year-old physician, reveals that he has been involved in a secret love affair with this woman although he firmly states that he did not kill her. So who did? If the true killer is not found, a jury is soon to put Dr. Elliott behind bars for 30 years.
If you've never read a book by Iles before, I must admit that I liked Mortal Fear and The Quiet Game better. However, this story will give you an idea of how Greg Iles can twist the history, the setting, and the people of Natchez, Mississippi, into a captivating story.
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LibraryThing member Djupstrom
My new favorite author!! I was apprehensive about picking this book...I judged the book by the cover. I was sadly mistaken. Not religious at all. Great mystery/suspense/thriller!!
LibraryThing member Kathy89
Gritty and violent legal murder mystery page turner about teen sex, raves, drugs and morality in Mississippi. Didn't really like the subject matter but couldn't seem to put it down.
LibraryThing member jlcampbell05
Penn Cage—lawyer, author and protagonist of The Quiet Game—has just learned that his best friend, Dr. Andrew Elliott, was the secret lover of 17-year-old Kate Townsend, a high school senior found raped and murdered. "Drew was our golden boy, a paragon of everything small-town America holds to
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be noble, and by unwritten law the town will crucify him with a hatred equal to their betrayed love." Though Penn is furious with Drew for his relationship with Kate, he signs on to represent him in court and unearth the real murderer. Things look bleak for Drew as a DA with political aspirations comes up with plenty of evidence against him. When people start to die and the secret lives of the town's high school students are revealed, Penn begins to doubt not only Drew, but himself as well. This is a study of character and morality, but also of place, as Iles shows Natchez to be emblematic of racial, social and economic issues. The job of great fiction is to entertain, elucidate and educate while keeping readers nailed to their chairs; this does all of that brilliantly Show Less
LibraryThing member judithwines
Page turner a bit twadry but the plot kept me going, made me late for work. I want to read more iles.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
The death of a popular high school student triggers a lot of things, in this case it triggers more deaths. The prime suspect is an old friend of the narrator, Penn Cage, who has been having an affair with the teenager. Penn has to find out what's going on, both for himself and for his community. He
Interesting, and seeing as how it's set in the author's home town it does give a very good sense of space. The difference in attitudes of Penn's generation and the schoolkids is well drawn, but sometimes the terror turns a bit tedious.
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also has to make some choices about his future.Interesting, and seeing as how it's set in the author's home town it does give a very good sense of space. The difference in attitudes of Penn's generation and the schoolkids is well drawn, but sometimes the terror turns a bit tedious.
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LibraryThing member youthfulzombie
I usually enjoy Iles’ books and this one does start fast and hard and for the first few hundred pages you don’t want to put it down. Somehow Iles gets away from himself and decides to jump the shark by finding a highly improbable way of skipping over the whole trial - not that I wanted to read
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a couple hundred pages of a trial, but the way the trial happens without the reader experiencing it is more than slightly ridiculous. A great beginning, but in the long run Iles’ story takes the reader to a pretty trite ending. Show Less
LibraryThing member Togosmum
Murder mystery, lots of twist and turns never sure till the end "Who Done It".
LibraryThing member mephit
This book by Greg Iles was part of my self-imposed A-Z challenge, which is the sole reason I completed it. It wasn't hard work to read, but it was very flawed, I felt. Firstly the deaths just kept getting piled on, like Iles came to the end of a chapter and thought how can I pad this out a bit
The protagonist, Penn Cage, wasn't very likeable - he was supposed to be, I think, but he seemed such a hypocrite I couldn't believe in his moral compass. The reader was supposed to believe his motives were pure (for wanting to become mayor to save the town) while we're told the ambitions of other likely candidate Shad are all about money and power. There was a lot of telling not showing in this book, which is always a no-no for me. There were some difficult racial undercurrents to the story which made me feel uncomfortable: it seemed quite negative about black people despite 'our hero' supposedly being an ex-civil rights lawyer.
It seemed a theme of "young people aren't like we were in the good old days" ran throughout, while the accompanying "young women = evolutionary nirvana" left a bad taste. The (platonic) relationship between teenaged babysitter Mia and the 40-odd Penn was paralleled with the highly sexualised relationship between his lifelong friend Drew and Kate. Although lip-service was paid to the illicit nature of the latter alliance (Kate being Drew's patient as well as more than half his age and his child's babysitter), there was a lot of justification and empathising going on. As a murder victim, the character of Kate was slut-shamed endlessly & mercilessly.
Further on, the scorned wife who attacks Kate and thinks she killed her - well, her noble [cheating, lying] husband, Drew, is willing to protect her by going to jail in her stead. But we're reminded, it was all her fault from the start for being a drug-addict. Not his at all for going over the side with a patient and also sending that patient into danger by having her buy drugs for his wife to protect his career. He's such a nice [scuzzy] bloke!
Also, just when you think the wife's actually innocent as the real killer is established - it turns out the injury she did cause the victim would have killed her anyway (if someone else hadn't come along and raped & killed her for sure afterwards) so there! Gotcha! So she's still a murdering shrew.
The message I got from this book was that while the middle class white men were just doing man-things that they could only be expected to do, bless their cotton socks, the *real* guilty parties seemed to be women/people of colour/immigrants.
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more? Let's kill some more off!The protagonist, Penn Cage, wasn't very likeable - he was supposed to be, I think, but he seemed such a hypocrite I couldn't believe in his moral compass. The reader was supposed to believe his motives were pure (for wanting to become mayor to save the town) while we're told the ambitions of other likely candidate Shad are all about money and power. There was a lot of telling not showing in this book, which is always a no-no for me. There were some difficult racial undercurrents to the story which made me feel uncomfortable: it seemed quite negative about black people despite 'our hero' supposedly being an ex-civil rights lawyer.
It seemed a theme of "young people aren't like we were in the good old days" ran throughout, while the accompanying "young women = evolutionary nirvana" left a bad taste. The (platonic) relationship between teenaged babysitter Mia and the 40-odd Penn was paralleled with the highly sexualised relationship between his lifelong friend Drew and Kate. Although lip-service was paid to the illicit nature of the latter alliance (Kate being Drew's patient as well as more than half his age and his child's babysitter), there was a lot of justification and empathising going on. As a murder victim, the character of Kate was slut-shamed endlessly & mercilessly.
Further on, the scorned wife who attacks Kate and thinks she killed her - well, her noble [cheating, lying] husband, Drew, is willing to protect her by going to jail in her stead. But we're reminded, it was all her fault from the start for being a drug-addict. Not his at all for going over the side with a patient and also sending that patient into danger by having her buy drugs for his wife to protect his career. He's such a nice [scuzzy] bloke!
Also, just when you think the wife's actually innocent as the real killer is established - it turns out the injury she did cause the victim would have killed her anyway (if someone else hadn't come along and raped & killed her for sure afterwards) so there! Gotcha! So she's still a murdering shrew.
The message I got from this book was that while the middle class white men were just doing man-things that they could only be expected to do, bless their cotton socks, the *real* guilty parties seemed to be women/people of colour/immigrants.
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LibraryThing member dfullmer
Good thriller, kept moving. About small town Mississippi and what goes on behind closed doors.
LibraryThing member siggy99
The murder of a high school student, the town's doctor who is accused of her murder, the small town politics that go on behind the scenes, and a man who is trying to clear his friend's name, for better or worse. Great characters, great pacing. Although, I wish Iles would've gone more into the trial
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other than basically skimming over it. Overall, though, a recommended read. Show Less
LibraryThing member bigorangemichael
There's been a lot of buzz for Greg Iles' latest novel "Turning Angel" and after reading it, all I can say is that it deserves every bit of it.
Dr Drew Elliot seems to have it all--he's the trusted doctor in the small town of Nachez, Mississippi. He's successful professionally, he's married with a
Elliot asks his good friend (whose life he saved), Penn Cage for help in representing him and finding the real killer.
But what could have been a simple who-done-it thriller becomes something more. Iles not only documents the mystery of who killed the girl but rips off the innocent veneer of the town of Nachez. We come to understand how Elliott could fall for the girl, carry on an affair with her and even plan to give up his life to be with her. There are no heroes or villians here, just real, breathing characters painted in shades of gray.
The case is pushed through by oportunistic politicians, one of whom wants to use the case as a springboard to the mayor's office and beyond. Along the way, we find out about the underbelly of a small town and the frightening implications of the death of one girl.
Iles pulls no punches in his harsh, frank examination of the murder and the consequences and fallout from it. The book is close to 500 pages but it feels shorter than that becuase Iles prose is compelling and his characters fascinating. This is an absolute must read and it's made me into a huge fan of Greg Iles.
Dr Drew Elliot seems to have it all--he's the trusted doctor in the small town of Nachez, Mississippi. He's successful professionally, he's married with a
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family, he's got the big house and all the trappings. But he has a dark secret--he's been carrying on an affair with a 17-year old cheerleader and tennis phenom, who is bound for Harvard. When the girl's body turns up in the river, Elliott's love for her comes to light and he's the prime suspect in the killing. Elliot asks his good friend (whose life he saved), Penn Cage for help in representing him and finding the real killer.
But what could have been a simple who-done-it thriller becomes something more. Iles not only documents the mystery of who killed the girl but rips off the innocent veneer of the town of Nachez. We come to understand how Elliott could fall for the girl, carry on an affair with her and even plan to give up his life to be with her. There are no heroes or villians here, just real, breathing characters painted in shades of gray.
The case is pushed through by oportunistic politicians, one of whom wants to use the case as a springboard to the mayor's office and beyond. Along the way, we find out about the underbelly of a small town and the frightening implications of the death of one girl.
Iles pulls no punches in his harsh, frank examination of the murder and the consequences and fallout from it. The book is close to 500 pages but it feels shorter than that becuase Iles prose is compelling and his characters fascinating. This is an absolute must read and it's made me into a huge fan of Greg Iles.
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LibraryThing member urduha
Pge turner, and very entertaining, but ultimately, why did I bother? The turning angel did not even show up until the last quarter of the book, so as a symbol it was not great. Too many chases and gun-fighting, not enough analysis and mystery solving. Not enough care went in to writing how
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Southerners speak. Show Less
LibraryThing member miyurose
This book is kind of a sequel to The Quiet Game, which I'm not sure I've read. If I have, I need to read it again, because I didn't remember any of it. Anyway, this was great, and it wasn't necessary to have read the first book to enjoy it.
LibraryThing member kateiyzie
Very fast-paced story. A teen with an older, married lover dies. Small town intrigue.
LibraryThing member chuffman
Gripping mystery, abundant drug use and underage sex
LibraryThing member JeanneMarkert
Natchez prosector, Penn Cage decides to remain in his hometown. A nude body of a hi school student is found by the river & Penn's friend Drew Elliott. Greg Iles has written again a good book. Not for the squemish.
LibraryThing member bookwormteri
A great premise, but I just felt that the book was FAR too long for the plot.
LibraryThing member christinelstanley
This second Penn Cage thriller is excellent. Disturbing, intriging, brutal and absolutely page turning. Likable characters. This book established Greg Iles as one of my favourite authors
LibraryThing member la_librarian
First book I've read by this author and I really enjoyed it. Comparable to James Patterson.
LibraryThing member fbswss
Kind of creepy theme of a 40+ doctor having explicit and graphic sex of all types with a teenager.
LibraryThing member gogglemiss
Unputdownable. Engrossing and exciting, but harrowing towards the end. Will definitly will rea the third book.
LibraryThing member wandacreason
My favorite book by Greg Iles. I could not put it down read it in 2 days.
LibraryThing member zoomball
Could not tolerate much of this. Male fantasy gone bad? I thought the first of this series a passable read. Not this one.
LibraryThing member JudithDCollins
Greg Iles, Turning Angel (Penn Cage series), the second installment riveting suspense thriller, set in the Deep South, dives into the high school, when a popular high school girl is found dead in the river.
After winning a dangerous case, prosecutor Penn Cage chooses to remain in this Southern
This time long buried secrets and murder surface when the body of prep school Kate Townsend is found in the river, and Penn’s best friend and family physician, Drew needs his help. The house school girl’s murder points to the married man, having an affair with the killer. When Cage offers his assistance, he puts himself in the middle of blackmail, dark secrets, betray and risk and once again has to keep his family safe.
Love Penn Cage series and Greg Iles is an incredible writer for a satisfying and engaging read! Would recommend reading each of the books in series order (I fell in love with Natchez Burning and working my way backward to read them all). So looking forward to The Bone Tree (#5) and the Unwritten Laws (#6).
My only negative for this one was Dick Hill, narrator of the audiobook, (which I have mentioned in previous reviews), as would prefer David Ledoux, narrator from Natchez Burning.
After winning a dangerous case, prosecutor Penn Cage chooses to remain in this Southern
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hometown of Natchez, Mississippi in order to raise his young daughter. After The Quiet Game and as always, trouble is waiting around the corner as Cage has a way of bringing out the worst. This time long buried secrets and murder surface when the body of prep school Kate Townsend is found in the river, and Penn’s best friend and family physician, Drew needs his help. The house school girl’s murder points to the married man, having an affair with the killer. When Cage offers his assistance, he puts himself in the middle of blackmail, dark secrets, betray and risk and once again has to keep his family safe.
Love Penn Cage series and Greg Iles is an incredible writer for a satisfying and engaging read! Would recommend reading each of the books in series order (I fell in love with Natchez Burning and working my way backward to read them all). So looking forward to The Bone Tree (#5) and the Unwritten Laws (#6).
My only negative for this one was Dick Hill, narrator of the audiobook, (which I have mentioned in previous reviews), as would prefer David Ledoux, narrator from Natchez Burning.
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2005
Physical description
672 p.; 4.13 inches
ISBN
0743454162 / 9780743454162