Penn Cage's father, Dr. Tom Cage, stands accused of murder, and each effort to defend him unearths new, shocking secrets, leaving Penn to question whether he ever really knew his father at all. At issue is the murder of Tom's former nurse, Viola Turner. The district attorney is quick to point the finger at Tom, citing his decades-old relationship with Viola. When Tom is taken into custody, Penn must explore the dangerous territory of Tom and Viola's...

"The first in a trilogy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Greg Iles that weaves crimes past and present into a mesmerizing thriller featuring southern mayor and former prosecutor Penn Cage. Raised in Natchez,Mississippi,Penn Cage learned all he knows from his father,Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor has been accused of murdering the African-American nurse with whom he worked in the 1960s. Now Penn is determined to save his father...

When a heart attack sends Penn's father, Tom Cage, to the ER, Tom begs that his son be brought to his side to hear a dying declaration. But when Penn arrives, Tom denies ever making the request - keeping his secrets for another day. The emergency hurls Penn back to a chilling case in Houston, where he worked in a DA's office known as the "death factory," which sent more killers to death row than any other in America. While Penn cares for his ailing...

Penn Cage, now mayor of Natchez, goes up against a mix of murder, racial tension, double-crosses, illicit sex...and all of the ensuing violent consequences in the kudzu-strangled, snake- rat- and armadillo-infested hole of the Devil's Punchbowl.