Well, I have been reading, but I decided to pick up an 800 page book, which took me some time. Now, I don't often pick up a book that is 800+, so I do have high expectations of the story. It's got to be good...my word it's 800 pages...must have lots of twist and turns and flips and flops...and I must say, Natchez Burning by Greg Iles does contain all these "requirements."
From Amazon:
Growing up in the rural Southern hamlet of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn
Cage learned everything he knows about honor and duty from his father,
Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor and pillar of the community
is accused of murdering Viola Turner, the beautiful nurse with whom he
worked in the dark days of the early 1960s. A fighter who has always
stood for justice, Penn is determined to save his father, even though
Tom, stubbornly evoking doctor-patient privilege, refuses to speak up in
his own defense.
The quest for answers sends Penn deep into the
past—into the heart of a conspiracy of greed and murder involving the
Double Eagles, a vicious KKK crew headed by one of the wealthiest and
most powerful men in the state. With the aid of a local friend and
reporter privy to some of Natchez's oldest and deadliest secrets, Penn
follows a bloody trail that stretches back forty years, to one
undeniable fact: no one—black or white, young or old, brave or not—is
ever truly safe.
With everything on the line, including his own
life, Penn must decide how far he will go to protect those he loves . . .
and see justice done, once and for all.
When I first started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. It was that good. About half way through, I started to think this book could be just as good with less pages. Some scenes just go on and on and on! But I stuck with it, because I wanted to know how this one was going to play out. In the last "big" scene in the book, I looked at Jason and said, "My word. I just wish someone would get killed and get on with this story!" I then finished it about 30 minutes later and wanted to take it out to our fire pit and burn it. THERE WAS NO ENDING! THERE WAS NO WRAP UP!
Now, I have read books that have squeals and trilogies, but each book has wrapped up the story, but you know they could have a second or third book. But, you are left with an ending. Not here! One character is walking up a hill with a gun on two other characters...and that's it! UGH!!
So I immediately got on line and found out I wasn't the only one that felt the same...the book is just so long and could have had 200-300 pages cut out and still be an amazing story. Then I realized it was the first book in a trilogy. Oh. Hmmm...STILL DOESN'T"T MEAN YOU CAN"T WRAP UP THE FIRST BOOK!!!
Will I read the second book? I would love to, but if it 800 pages and has no ending, than no thank you!
The last time I felt this strongly disappointed about a book, was when I read A Song in Ordinary Times, an Oprah book club choice. It had NO ENDING!! I actually threw this book away.
So, I am off to read a new book, which takes me about 2-3 days to decide what I am going to read next.
I will let you know how my next book goes...is it s keeper or a burner!!
