Having previously read everything by Greg Iles, I knew exactly what I'd be getting. What I didn't realise was that this book would take over my holiday for a couple of days as I was completely unable to put it down whilst lounging around on the sun lounger.
Mr Iles is a wonderful story teller.
Sometimes books in excess of 600 pages feel as if they've been unnecessarily been padded out. Certainly not the case in this instance.
A masterful story
Loved it
Read It !

Fab book, full of action, interesting characters. One of the best books I’ve read in a while. Definitely one I’d recommend.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If Southern-noir was a thing Grey Iles would be its master. My expectations of Greg Iles' wonderful thrillers are always high, and with 'Cemetary Road' this natural-born storyteller has written another winner. This is a richly-textured, cerebral mystery, that simply oozes atmosphere and suspense. The very fact that is a monstrously long novel, compared with others of its type, confirms this author's unique ability to hook the reader from the get-go. Only Greg Iles could make me hunker down for an indeterminate amount of time to revel in his distinctive brand of Southern-noir. Iles has much to say in his latest epic, small town Southern thriller. There is murder, yes, the staple of all thrillers you would think, but 'Cemetery Road' is about much more than that. At the heart of Iles' novels are an unparalleled social realism that makes self-identification with both protagonists and plot somewhat inevitable. This multi-layered, evocative, character-driven novel is a powerful echo of the divisions and inequalities of contemporary America, with some personal animosities thrown in for good measure. The death of the American dream? Well, for some at least. This is certainly the case for some of the inhabitants of Bienville, Mississippi, where this novel is set. .This is Trump's America in microcosm; with its enduring divisions, latent prejudices (amongst some) and the pernicious influence of globalism, where the rich become richer and the poorer become poorer. Throw in a potted history of the American Civil War, and the tinder-box of small town animosity, with its seething resentments, and you have a tour de force of thriller, with a notable, cerebral edge. Utterly stunning in scope, and an engrossing read to boot. Absolutely enthralling.

A really good thriller with loads of twists right up to the end. There is a lot happening in this story. A lot of lies, pain, hurt and death. It all made for compelling reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Wow, Greg Iles has done it again, written a top notch novel. I loved Natchez Burning and recommended it, however, you can read Cemetery Road as a stand-alone novel and you won’t be disappointed.
A real page turner, I had to stop myself shouting out, “Don’t do it” as I swiftly turned pages. It was a novel which just kept giving. Corruption, moral dilemmas, love, betrayal, loss, torture and skilfully blending in with a rich tapestry of history.
I highly recommend Cemetery Road and Greg Iles.
I was given a copy of Cemetery Road and in return I have written an honest and unbiased review. Thank you NetGalley, Harper Collins and Greg Iles.

Oh I LOVE Greg Iles- he writes such superb and layered character drama wrapped up in the crime genre with a huge dose of Southern Noir. 

Cemetery Road is no exception- despite the lack of my favourite Iles character Penn Cage- because I had a whole new set of people and events to focus on and the whole thing was just superb. 

A death, a journalist, a cover up and multiple political machinations in a town that hides many secrets and is ruled by a small group who consider themselves elite. This is where this writer lives and breathes, developing those twisted relationships with authenticity and absolutely razor sharp prose.

Depth, perception and precision plotting will keep you hooked throughout. Another brilliant addition to the body of work.

Highly Recommended.

Amazing good read despite sort of overly complex ending involving narrator's past personal life, and weird goings on in small town under tension from upcoming upheavals .. will it be a UN protected region or a lucrative tourist spot? The local vigilante group want the millions ... murders happen, and our narrator, a renown journalist, inevitably tracks it down behind and either helped or impeded by old girl friends and occluding memories of a starry brother. . Utterly engrossing!!

Have you ever had that sinking feeling when you’ve turned the last page? The characters you’ve lived with for the past few days aren’t part of your life anymore? That’s how it is when you’ve read a really good book. Next follows a grieving process and a period of grace before you could ever pick up another.

If I could give Cemetery Road a six star rating, I would. More twists and turns than a rattler on hot coals. Some great musings on affairs and infidelity. Insights into the relationship between the self-serving coupling of the politico-media elite too. The morally questionable machinations of the Matheson family were strangely believable and even pragmatic. Quite a few stereotypical characters within the Poker Club but it didn’t detract.

It’s a lengthy novel but never once was it dull. Action packed and without technical short cuts or flaws, even the spy camera was human analogue! Every bit as good as Natchez Burning.

Stephen King recommended this and he was spot on! A dark and twisty story. I loved this story set in the south, one of my favourite settings. This is my first book by this author but I will be definitely checking out more of his work!

This is a good stand alone book from the author of the Natchez trilogy. I really enjoyed the gripping plot, which gathered layers as it went, but never became incomprehensible. The book is a classic tale of the little man fighting back against the old ways and the bad guys. The main characters are empathetic, I particularly liked Nadine. However, I have only given 4 stars, not 5, because some passages were too long, in my opinion, and the book would have been better if it had been edited down by about 20%. I will look out for future books by Greg Iles.

This is a standalone thriller from Greg Iles, set in a small southern town, Bienville, in Mississippi with all the elements for a riveting read set in Trump's US, and all that entails. No-one here is free from flaws in this story of murder and twisted intrigues, least of all the protagonist, Marshall McEwan, estranged from his father, a Pulitizer prize winning journalist in the 1960s for his coverage of the Civil Rights movement. After 26 years away, Marshall returns to run the struggling newspaper Watchman, with his father suffering from terminal cancer, not expected to live long. Marshall too is an acclaimed journalist winning the Pulitzer, although that award was based on lies. He has a tragic background that haunts him, his gifted older brother, Adam, who eclipsed him growing up died in an accident, he has a failed marriage behind him and his young son drowned in a pool. We are provided with the details of these events in the narrative, along with how his friend, Paul Matheson, saved his life in Iraq, and Marshall's relationship with his childhood love, Jet Turner, now a lawyer, who he has never been able to forget. A Jet that is now married to Paul.

After Marshall's relationship with his father deteriorated after the death of his brother, Buck Ferris provided much need support to a traumatised Marshall, filling the gaping hole in his life. Ferris, an archaeologist, is found dead in the river, and Marshall is certain it is murder. Bienville is run by the Poker Club, a powerful cabal of rich white men, men who stand to profit enormously from the billion dollar Chinese paper mill being developed in the town. Ferris's activities threatened this development, and as it becomes clear that his murder is going to be covered up, a griefstricken Marshall is determined the truth behind Buck's murder is made public. He has no idea how far the Poker Club will go to ensure that this will never happen. Marshall's tangled personal life carries with it additional dangers in this story of friendship, morality, integrity, betrayal, secrets, double dealing, greed, dysfunctional families and a town that desperately needs the economic advantages of the Chinese paper mill.

Greg Iles is an expert when it comes to atmospherically evoking the murky world of a small southern town, where everybody knows everyone, with it's pivotal history in the Civil War, the class divisions between the rich, who load the dice when it comes to ensuring their personal wealth increases, and the poor, scrabbling to just survive. This is overlaid with the contemporary repercussions of Trump, his policies and the pernicious culture that he has engendered such as the rise of 'fake'news. Iles immerses the reader in the lives of a host of diverse characters, and a world where pragmatism trumps idealism and doing the right thing, encapsulated perfectly in the dilemmas that Marshall finds himself in. This is a wonderfully entertaining and compulsive read, which fans of Iles and other crime fiction and thriller readers are likely to enjoy. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.