Southern Man

Southern Man by Greg Iles

976 pages; 5/28/24

HarperCollins

Penn Cage Series #7

Southern Man by Greg Iles is a very intense, dense novel that, at 976 pages, requires quite the commitment to read, however, Greg Iles is one of my favorite go-to authors who has never let me down and I was excited to start reading Southern Man, the 7th Penn Cage novel. The writing is as sharp and detailed as I expected. There are heartbreaking events, political scheming, and social commentary all tied into contemporary topics. The plot follows two timelines in a society bitterly divided.  

It breaks my heart but it became clear that the novel was going to become too political for me during these turbulent times. I read for pleasure, escapism, and entertainment. If I read nonfiction, I want to choose the topics. For the last several years because of the current division in the country and after the lockdowns, I have held the authors of review books I accept to read to a fluid rule that they need to keep their editorializing on personal social/political views on contemporary topics to themselves and out of books as it diminishes and dates the novel. This was a "did not finish" novel, which is very unusual for me. I may revisit Southern Man in the future.