Southern Man: A Political Thriller from the Natchez Burning Series, Penn Cage Book 7 BY Greg Iles

Southern Man by Greg Iles, an instant New York Times Bestseller, is a gripping political thriller that plunges readers into a landscape fraught with chaos and conflict. Fifteen years after the events of the Natchez Burning trilogy, former prosecutor Penn Cage is in self-imposed exile, haunted by loss and a secret that isolates him from the world. His seclusion is shattered when a violent incident at a Mississippi rap festival puts his daughter Annie in peril, sparking a series of devastating attacks across the region.

The towns of Natchez and Bienville are engulfed in turmoil as historical plantation homes are set ablaze, and a Black radical group claims responsibility, framing the violence as acts of justice. This unrest triggers a broader panic that threatens to ignite a racial conflict and escalate into a full-blown race war.

Amidst this upheaval, Robert E. Lee White, a Southern war hero with a charismatic presence, emerges as a formidable third-party presidential candidate. Known as "the Tik-Tok Man" and supported by a wealthy Mississippi billionaire, White's campaign is drawing national attention, paralleling historic political insurgencies like H. Ross Perot’s. As White’s influence grows, Penn Cage, alongside his daughter—a civil rights lawyer—and a former Black Panther, confronts the candidate’s radical ambitions. Together, they seek to unveil White's true motivations and avert a potential second Civil War.

Southern Man combines Iles' trademark historic depth and narrative intensity, propelling the story into a contemporary setting where the very fabric of American democracy hangs in the balance.