Cemetery Road

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.

"[A] compulsively readable thriller... Iles once again delivers a sweeping tale of family dysfunction, sexually charged secrets, and the power of wealth, with an overlay of violence and Southern sensibility." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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 Turner, 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.

Editorial Reviews

*01/21/2019

Marshall McEwan, the star of this compulsively readable thriller from bestseller Iles (Mississippi Blood), returns to his hometown of Bienville, Miss., for two good reasons: his father's getting old and rickety, and the woman he loves still lives there. McEwan, who spent years as a top-flight investigative journalist in Washington, D.C., takes the helm of his family's failing 150-year-old newspaper, The Watchman, and is soon immersed in the biggest news in town: the impending arrival of a Chinese-financed paper mill that will supposedly get Bienville back on its feet. Meanwhile, rumors of corruption, back-dealing, and murder swirl around the project and won't go away. Lurking in the background is the Poker Club, a cabal of businessmen who have run the town from behind the scenes since the Civil War. And the slinky Jet Matheson, the love of McEwan's youth, keeps putting off divorcing her husband, Poker Club heir-in-waiting Paul Matheson, though she's perfectly willing to see McEwan on the side. Iles once again delivers a sweeping tale of family dysfunction, sexually charged secrets, and the power of wealth, with an overlay of violence and Southern sensibility. Despite the novel's length, it all goes by in a flash. Author tour. Agents: Dan Conaway and Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Mar.) - Publishers Weekly

This beautifully written novel represents some of the author's finest work...we eagerly await volume two. - Booklist on Natchez Burning

Absolutely compelling.... A beautifully constructed story [and] some extremely fine writing. - Booklist on The Bone Tree

Flat-out terrific.... It brings to mind Thomas Wolfe and William Faulkner, even while its cagey plot and restless energy keeps you flying through the pages. Greg Iles is back and truly better than ever. - Scott Turow on Natchez Burning

Obliterates the artificial distinction between genre and literary fiction with passion, grace and considerable style. This is Greg Iles at his formidable best. It's good to have him back. - Washington Post on Natchez Burning

It is rare when a book as impactful and daring as Natchez Burning appears... Its intriguing plot demands to be read from beginning to end... It is compelling reading that awes [and] entertains at the same time. - Huffington Post on Natchez Burning

This beautifully written novel represents some of the author's finest work...we eagerly await volume two. - Booklist (starred review) on Natchez Burning

Natchez Burning excels as a contemporary thriller.... Utterly-and chillingly-believable. Epic. - Clarion-Ledger (Jackson

Iles's most ambitious novel to date... Iles has told a deeply personal and moving tale with Natchez Burning and opened some old wounds. Readers will be spellbound... [A] can't-miss saga. - Bookreporter.com

Simply put, this is Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County for the "Breaking Bad" generation: life's rich pageant, delivered unharnessed and uncensored by a writer at the peak of his powers who is mad as hell, and just as heartbroken. - BookPage on Natchez Burning

If you only read one thriller this year, make it Greg Iles' Natchez Burning. A barnburner of a book... a sure-to-be bestseller [that] is southern suspense at its finest. - Madison County Herald

A whopping tale, filled with enough cliff-hanging crises for an old summer-long movie-serial. Yet there are still enough unresolved matters at the end of Natchez Burning for two already-promised sequels. - Wall Street Journal

Imagine William Faulkner and Stieg Larsson had a love child. Natchez Burning combines the pace of Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo with a Faulkneresque, bone-deep knowledge of Mississippi in all its beauty and racial torment. - AARP Magazine

Terrific... Often seen as a John Grisham imitator, Iles clearly outperforms the master of the Deep South thriller in this angry yet engrossing novel. Compared to Grisham's recent, thematically similar Sycamore Row, Natchez Burning is far richer in characterization and less reliant on stagey revelations. - Sunday Times (London)

Every single page of Natchez Burning is a cliffhanger that will keep you devouring just one more chapter before you put it down to eat, work, or go to bed.... This ambitious, unique novel is the perfect marriage of a history lesson and a thriller. - Jodi Picoult

Natchez Burning is extraordinarily entertaining and fiendishly suspenseful. I defy you to start it and find a way to put it down; as long as it is, I wished it were longer.... This is an amazing work of popular fiction. - Stephen King

The first in a trilogy whose themes of race relations, Southern tradition, and the corrupting nature of power are expertly woven throughout a powerful story... Natchez Burning is perhaps the best thriller to come along in years. Memorable, intricate, and expertly crafted. - Memphis Commercial Appeal

The thriller of the year, of the decade even, is Natchez Burning... The first of a projected trilogy, Natchez Burning is Penn Cage's fourth outing. But you don't need to read its predecessors to be wholly consumed by this wonderful book. Buy, read, and marvel. - The Times (London)

Iles carries it off with style, intelligence and passion...The Bone Tree' is filled with menace, betrayal, [and] unexpected plot twists... [and] is a very American epic-in-progress that leaves us waiting, none too patiently, for whatever revelations are still to come. - Washington Post

Absolutely compelling.... A beautifully constructed story [and] some extremely fine writing. - Booklist (starred review) on The Bone Tree

It matches, or even outdoes, the first story in excitement and drama... Greg Iles has long been one of my favorite writers and he is certainly at his best with this series. - Huffington Post on The Bone Tree

Extraordinary.... ‘Great Expectations' transplanted to an American South laced with comparably gothic overtones.... The Bone Tree establishes Iles as this generation's William Faulkner. - Providence Journal

Prepare to be surprised. Iles has always been an exceptional storyteller, and he has invested these volumes with an energy and sense of personal urgency that rarely, if ever, falter. - Denver Post on Mississippi Blood

A superb entertainment that is a work of power, distinction and high seriousness... also (a) prime example of what the thriller--and other forms of so-called ‘genre' fiction--can accomplish when pushed beyond traditional limits. - Washington Post on Mississippi Blood

[The books] are page-turning entertainments with an edge of history and a deep understanding of race relations in the American South.... Mississippi Blood is packed with compelling characters.... Harrowing and spellbinding. - Pittsburg Post-Gazette

This trilogy is destined to become a classic of literary crime fiction. - Booklist (starred review)

There is a graphic beauty to Iles' writing. He uses measured words to express voluminous stories.... He is a masterful storyteller! - Huffington Post on Mississippi Blood

Iles draws his characters so well, and brings off scenes so deftly. - Houston Chronicle on Mississippi Blood

A fabulous story.... Love, betrayal, murder, sadness, racism, adultery, hatred and revenge, with a bit of history thrown in.... The conclusion to a phenomenal trilogy. - Biloxi Sun Herald on Mississippi Blood

In this dramatic conclusion to a stunning piece of work, Iles works suspense until the last second, making us question whether we'd be able to keep fighting if all the precious things in our lives were taken away. - Southern Living on Misissippi Blood

The Natchez trilogy is a sprawling plunge into some of the worst crimes of the civil-rights era. - Knoxville News-Sentinel on Mississippi Blood

This magnificent saga concludes in breathtaking fashion.... Tender and gripping. - RT Book Reviews on Mississippi Blood

Almost nobody works in crime fiction at this level-or this many levels-of psychological, social, and civic sharpness, and with this clarity as well as richness of style. And maintains fiendish levels of suspense. - Sullivan County Democrat on Mississippi Blood

Operatic in its reach, this is still essentially a tough crime procedural, with courtroom drama that is far more blistering than the John Grisham variety. - Financial Times on Mississippi Blood

Natchez Burning is possibly his best yet... This epic story is electrifying from beginning to end, un-put-downable, a gripping read. - Delta Magazine

With a paralyzing twist that will leave you speechless, Iles has created a completely original and unforgettable tale. - Iron Mountain Daily News