The Bone Tree

Having read "Natchez Burning" the first book in the trilogy, the second is equal if not better. Greg Iles' ability to weave multiple plots with strategically placed back story while expanding the main characters is extraordinary. Building momentum gradually, he adds a piece of the missing Kennedy assassination puzzle, and historical insights that broaden the scope. Additionally, he paints a vivid picture of the inhumane behavior of former Klansman, most of them frightening. As with any best selling author, the plot twists and quickening pace as the climax nears are executed with precision, the emotional elements bringing tears. He leaves the reader hanging, eager for the third book, "Mississippi Blood" Highly recommended for those who show more enjoy a suspenseful thriller with historic elements. show less

If you had read the previous books, you know what to expect. If you had not - please stop now, go read them first (especially "Natchez Burning") and then come back and read this one.

"The Bone Tree" is the continuation of "Natchez Burning", starting exactly where the first book finished. Deep in the South, masterly done and executed. If you expected the murder mystery that was at the backbone of the previous book to be resolved, you will be disappointed - this is left for the last book in the trilogy. But a lot happens in this book (and with so many of the main characters older than 70, you will be surprised just how action filled the book actually is). If previous books just hinted at the connection to the Kennedy assassination, this show more one goes full throttle and play the "what if". The scary part is that the what if sounds like something that might have been (nope, I am not buying all the crazy theories out there).

By the end of the book we loose good people, we loose bad ones, Penn gets himself in more messes than you would expect and the stage for the final is set.

It is Iles at his best. Highly recommended (after you read the previous books). show less

Picking up at exactly the same place that Natchez Burning left off, Greg Iles continues the second book of his trilogy. We heard about the The Bone Tree in the first book and we somehow knew it was to be a big part in what was to come. And it is. But there is so much more in this story playing out over a series of days that feels like lifetimes to us as readers. How long can we hold our breath? How many characters to we need to be concerned for? How many do we continue to loathe? And how many times do we need to put the book down and just walk away for awhile to assimilate and to regain control of our emotions before we go forward?
The book is compelling. The detail so complete that I begin to think in this brutal retelling of events in show more the Deep South and in the country, in the sixties, the author could be rewriting parts of our nations' history. I am looking forward to the final book in the trilogy. Questions are yet to be answered. I just need a little time to decompress from this one.
Thank you LibraryThing and Wm Morrow for the ARC. show less

I did not realize when I picked up this book that it was book two in a series. I have not read Natchez Burning, book one. Having not reading book one, I did suffer a little reading book two. It jumped right into the story a little while after the first book. This was not such the problem for me as I was able to quickly piece together a good idea of what transpired in the first book and who the major key players were from both the good and bad sides. In fact, I had no issues that I got all the way to page 276 before I took a break. This is something as this book is a whopping tome at 816 pages long! My issue was that I could not gain an instant connection with the characters. It took me a while to get this connection. However once I did, show more I was all in.

This is not just a book but a whole production. Mr. Iles knows how to spin a good story. Although if you do not like graphic gore or crude language than take this as your warning. show less

"The Bone Tree" is the second novel in author Greg Iles' "Natchez Burning" trilogy. It picks up where the first book, "Natchez Burning", ended, in and around Natchez, Mississippi and adjacent areas of Louisiana. The time is December of 2005 and the story is advancing at a fast clip filled with violence and desperate action. Roughly a day passes with each 200 pages and the point of view switches back and forth from the protagonist, Mayor Penn Cage of Natchez, speaking in the first person, to the omniscient narrator who tells us what the other characters are doing and thinking. The level of suspense is intense and the conflict between the forces of law, justice and truth on one side and terror, depravity and the denial of history on the show more other is presented on an epic scale.

Greg Iles and Penn Cage are educated Southern white men. They love the South and choose to live with their families in Natchez. And they, both the novelist and the fictional mayor, former assistant DA and novelist he has created, are keenly, painfully, aware of the legacy of horror in which they live. The nightmare of slavery, the awful truth of the American Civil War, fought to preserve the evil of slavery, the tragedy of Reconstruction, which saw the birth of the first Klan and the mythology of the "Lost Cause", the triumph of white supremacy in the Jim Crow era, the white backlash against the Civil Rights movement and the advent of the modern South, just as racist and reactionary as ever, just more discreet about displaying its dedication to white supremacy.

In "The Bone Tree", the title refers to a giant, ancient cypress deep in the Lusahatcha Swamp of southwestern Mississippi, a place used since antebellum times to punish runaway slaves, to terrorize, torture and murder opponents of the Jim Crow regime in the years after the war. To most people, it is only a mythic place, a dark invention told to frighten potentional "trouble-makers". But the Double Eagles, an ultra-fanatical branch of the KKK, know it as a very real site of their most hideous crimes.
Its reality is also known to journalists Henry Sexton and Caitlin Masters who are dedicated to finding the Bone Tree and revealing its terrible secrets.

John Kaiser of the FBI, who has been investigating the Double Eagles for years, is more interested in their possible connection to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. His wife, famed photojournalist Jordan Glass, who is an inspiration to Caitlin Masters, interviews Fidel Castro and hears his opinion/belief on who was responsible for the murder of JFK.

The JFK subplot involves Dr. Tom Cage, Penn's father, who is on the run from the law for allegedly murdering Viola Turner, his former nurse and lover. This leads to the Cage family being at war against the Knox family, a powerful and corrupt clan entrenched in law enforcement, organized crime and politics. Each family has allies and, on the Knox side, sycophants and henchmen. "The Bone Tree" is one of those powerful tales in which the novelist makes the readers feel the hurts of the good and innocent and yearn for a righteous fate to befall the despicable villains. show less

This book is a continuation of the Penn Cage series. I was introduced to this series, and to the author, with his last book Natchez Burning, the fourth in the series.

In The Bone Tree, former attorney and current mayor of Natchez Penn Cage continues his battle for justice, and struggles to keep his family safe while going head-to-head with the Double Eagles, an off-shoot of the KKK. Penn and his fiance Caitlin know things about the Double Eagles-- crimes they have committed over the decades, including rape, kidnapping, torture and murder-- and the Double Eagles will go to any extreme to prevent them from bringing their deeds to light.

I became a fan of the author with his last book, and nothing has changed this time around. His writing is show more so effortless, his characters well developed. His transitions between characters flows easily. There is action and drama to keep you reading.

My final word: After Natchez Burning, and now The Bone Tree, I'll read anything by Greg Iles! He holds my interest every moment-- and that isn't an easy thing to do! He is one of the few authors who can make me eager to read an 800 page novel! If you like crime dramas, historical fiction centered around the civil rights era, and books about the deep south, dive into this one with both feet. Greg Iles knows how to weave a great yarn! show less

The Bone Tree by author Greg Iles is the second in a trilogy and picks up where the first book, Natchez Burning ended. Penn Cage’s father, Dr Tom Cage is still on the run for the suspected murder of Viola Turner and now that of a state trooper. Penn and his fiancée had only recently escaped from an almost certain death at the hands of Brody Royal, the multi-millionaire backer of the Double Eagles, a violent but powerful splinter group of the KKK. FBI Agent John Kaiser is convinced that Frank Knox, the founder of the Double Eagles, was the real shooter in the JFK assassination and is determined to find the evidence. It has been rumoured for decades that this evidence as well as the bodies of many of the mostly black victims of the show more Eagles are hidden inside a huge cypress tree in the Lusahatcha Swamp known as the Bone Tree but so far, no one outside of the Eagles or their many supporters has been able to locate it. Despite every effort by Penn and Kaiser to find the truth, the Eagles, now led by Forrest Knox, seem to be one step ahead of them.

Coming in at just over 800 pages (just slightly longer than Natchez Burning), The Bone Tree is definitely not a sleepy afternoon’s pleasure but it is well worth the read. Although the story is set in the modern south, it combines historical details and figures of the Civil Rights-era south with many of the conspiracy theories related to the assassination of President Kennedy to produce a tale that is at once compelling and emotionally charged. Its portrait of the racially motivated killings of the old south and the people who committed them is chilling and more so because Iles gives it a real sense of authenticity. That he then puts these same people in positions of power in the present only makes the tale more gripping as the power struggle between these old-line racists and the few who oppose them ramps up. Iles really knows how to build tension and keep the reader completely engaged and invested in the outcome, not just wanting but needing to know the fate of the many characters. The story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger so now we have to wait a bit longer to know the end of the story – probably a good thing because after this roller coaster of a ride, the reader may feel like they need to lie down for a bit. show less