Cemetery Road Book Summary

In 'Cemetery Road,' a gripping thriller set in the heart of Mississippi, journalist Pendergast returns to his hometown only to uncover a dark conspiracy linked to his childhood. As secrets unravel and danger looms, he's drawn into a web of corruption and betrayal that threatens everything he loves. With haunting prose and a richly atmospheric setting, Iles immerses readers in a world where the past refuses to stay buried. Can Pendergast navigate the treacherous road ahead and expose the truth before it's too late? This tantalizing tale promises unexpected twists and a profound exploration of loyalty and loss.

By Greg Iles

Published: 2019

"In the shadows of our past, the truth lies waiting to be discovered, a haunting melody calling us to confront the echoes of choices long forgotten."

Book Review of 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.

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In the shadows of our past, the truth lies waiting to be discovered, a haunting melody calling us to confront the echoes of choices long forgotten.

Cemetery Road

By Greg Iles