As this is a DNF, I rated it 1/2 a star.

I tried.  I made it 70% of the way through this book before calling it a day.  I really wanted to like it.  I wasn't counting on another joyful find like the Armand Gamache books, but I was hoping to at least like the guy.  Sadly, it didn't happen.

I found this book to be filled with what I have come to understand as white man privilege, I guess.  All I know is that I found the tone of the book to be racist, both overtly and subtext as well as misogynistic.  For the latter, there is just too much what I might call Marty-Sueism having to do with the man in his 40s being beguiled, seduced, attracted to the sensual, not as innocent as she looks, 17 year old school girl.  Poor, helpless men.  *eyeroll*

And the portrayal of black people in this book?  SO very stereotypical in every way.  The only thing we're missing is the wise, loyal black housekeeper who basically brought up the children.  But then I checked some info on the first book in the series and it looks like she was murdered then.  These are attitudes I would expect to find in a book about the 1950s south and while things maybe haven't changed a lot down there since then - I don't expect the upright hero of the book to have those attitudes.

I just did not like the way this book was making me feel.  I found myself making that ... "Huh?  What?" face on more than one occasion.  It felt ugly.

I hate DNFing a book, it feels like a failure, but I have to remember, it's the book's failure, not mine.  I have book 3 in my e-TBR pile, but I don't know if I'll ever get to it. 

I am disappointed. 

Greg Iles should be ashamed of himself. I had shit to do yesterday. Important shit, I tell ya. But I spent all of yesterday (and yesternight, as my three-year-old son would say) devouring the last 250 pages of yonder book. Past a certain point, I couldn't stop reading. Iles wouldn't let me. I regret nothing.

Turning Angel is the second book I've read by Iles, and the second book in the Penn Cage series. I expected a similar setup and delivery as I received in the first Penn Cage novel, The Quiet Game, because, you know, if it ain't broke, why fix it, right? Well, Greg Iles likes to do things differently. At about the 450-page mark, the place where Iles dropped Cage into a courtroom in the first book, Iles flipped the script and took me in an entirely different direction. I said this next bit in my review of the previous installment in this series and I'll say it again: In a world filled to the brim with James Patterson and his clones, someone who respects the craft of writing enough to try something different in every book is refreshing.

The best parts of this book are not in the synopsis. That's how it should be. The blurb would have you believe that this is some average, run-of-the-mill mystery/thriller. That is not the case. Iles has skills. Not only can he write, but he can tell a story like nobody's business. His stuff is captivating and exciting. More than once, I found myself yelling at my paperback. His novels are gruesome and fun and emotional. But, most importantly, they make you think.

In The Quiet Game, Iles tackled race. That topic is prevalent in Turning Angel as well, but this time Iles ruminates on the age of consent and maturity. There is a strong theme and tone to this book, and you just don't see that these days outside of literary novels. The moral dilemmas touched upon herein will likely make you uncomfortable. But that's what good literature does. It challenges you. The decisions Penn has to make are career-killers. They are life-altering. And watching this man's struggle was utterly fascinating.

In summation: I have many more Iles books to get through and I plan to take my time. An author like this is rare: someone able to tell an engaging tale while retaining literary merit. Turning Angel is as good, if not better, than its predecessor. My highest possible recommendation.

Final Judgment: Black Pearl straight to the vein.

Series: Penn Cage #2

By Greg Iles

ISBN: B00FOOH9BA

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Publication Date:  12/12/2013

Format: Audio

My Rating:  3 Stars

Greg Iles, Turning Angel (Penn Cage series), third 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 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.