Southern Man by Greg Iles

This novel was in many ways difficult to read.  Not because it wasn’t well written or throat-grabbing but because of so many of its themes.  Possibly I had difficulty because I couldn’t accept the inevitability of race war.  The fact that some of the closest relationships crossed racial lines seems to run contrary to the theme of White anger.  The book postulates the potential of a psychopathic closet-Nazi running for president. Bobby White feels that the end justifies the mean, any means. 

Penn Cage, once again, finds himself amid near-anarchy.  No longer the robust, arm-waving, gun-toting firebrand he was in previous books in this setting.  He faces the reality of his age and infirmity with ill humor and a wealth of denial.

The characters in Iles’ books are magnificent.   He paints with a wide robust brush and then fills all the details with a fine point.  The theme of this book was taken right off the pages of current polarization and political bad behavior.  It is so current that the Hamas attack on Israel is referenced. Considering the radicalization of the current two-party political system and the friction between races in the cities, this book as fiction may not be far from fact.

I highly recommend it, get friends to read it so you can argue about it.

 

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