The Bone Tree by Greg Iles

The Bone Tree by Greg Iles
Published April 2015 by HarperCollins Publishers
Source: copy courtesy of the publisher and TLC Book Tours

Publisher's Summary:
Former prosecutor Penn Cage and his fiancée, reporter and publisher Caitlin Masters, have barely escaped with their lives after being attacked by wealthy businessman Brody Royal and his Double Eagles, a KKK sect with ties to some of Mississippi’s most powerful men. But the real danger has only begun as FBI Special Agent John Kaiser warns Penn that Brody wasn’t the true leader of the Double Eagles. The puppeteer who actually controls the terrorist group is a man far more fearsome: the chief of the state police’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, Forrest Knox.

The only way Penn can save his father, Dr. Tom Cage—who is fleeing a murder charge as well as corrupt cops bent on killing him—is either to make a devil’s bargain with Knox or destroy him. While Penn desperately pursues both options, Caitlin uncovers the real story behind a series of unsolved civil rights murders that may hold the key to the Double Eagles’ downfall. The trail leads her deep into the past, into the black backwaters of the Mississippi River, to a secret killing ground used by slave owners and the Klan for over two hundred years . . . a place of terrifying evil known only as “the bone tree.”

My Thoughts:
I actually have three copies of this book - the copy the publisher sent for this review, an ARC copy the publisher sent review last May, AND, because I needed to "read" this big boy in a hurry, an audiobook "copy."

Iles did not write The Bone Tree to be read right after finishing Natchez Burning. In fact, one could, conceivably, skip Natchez Burning altogether and jump straight into The Bone Tree because Iles spends a lot of print catching readers up in this book. Those who have read Natchez Burning probably don't need as much background as there is here; those who haven't should before they read this one. Because, why would you start a trilogy on the second book for one thing? And because you may be up to speed on who is who and, to some extent, what has happened. But you have no depth and you need the depth. You need to understand the loyalties, the deep seeded hatred, the intricacies of alliances.

Because in The Bone Tree, beyond bringing readers up to speed Iles doesn't add a lot of deep to the story of Tom Cage's plight, Penn Cage's attempt to save him, Caitlyn Master's search for the big story, or John Kaiser's quest for the holy grail. This one's all about driving the action forward. And there is a lot of action. And a lot of death. Not all of which you will see coming and much of which is very violent.

When this book came out in 2015, my mom reviewed it here.  She and my dad are big fans of Iles and they both liked this book a lot. As I was reading this book, particularly when I was listening to it, I a couple of things bothered me about it. When I went back and reread my mom's review after finishing the book, I realized that, despite enjoying the book, the same things had bothered her, too. Iles includes a lot of detail in the book, much of which didn't feel necessary. Cutting out that unnecessary detail, and what I felt like was a lot of repetition, would have helped cut down on a very long book (just over 800 pages). Up to a point, I was willing to try to suspend disbelief but Iles pushed things a bit too far for me to do it at the end of the book. My mom also felt the ending of the book stretched credulity.

All that being said, I'm now chomping at the bit for the final book in the trilogy to be released in March. I need to know who will finally survive the blood bath that's been the past week (yep, 1600 pages = 1 week in these two books) and I need to know that the surviving bad guys are going to get theirs. But mostly, I need to know how Penn and Tom will resolve the chasm that has opened between them. Because, damn it, I need to know that something good comes from all of those deaths!

Thanks to the ladies of TLC Book Tours for including me on this tour. For other opinions about The Bone Tree, check out the full tour.

Greg Iles spent most of his youth in Natchez, Mississippi. His first novel, Spandau Phoenix, was the first of thirteen New York Times bestsellers, and his new trilogy continues the story of Penn Cage, protagonist of The Quiet Game, Turning Angel, and #1 New York Times bestseller The Devil’s Punchbowl. Iles’s novels have been made into films and published in more than thirty-five countries. He lives in Natchez with his wife and has two children. Find out more about Greg at his website, follow him on Twitter, and connect with him on Facebook.

Classics Club Spin

The Classics Club Spin is something members have been using as an incentive for a long time to get to through the 50 classic books they put on their lists. I haven't participated before, partly because it didn't always work for me timing wise and partly because I didn't want the spin to land on a book I wasn't ready to read. Well, time is ticking on my five year mark and I've only read 25 classics so far. Clearly time to get that kick in the butt.

Here are the rules for this spin:

Go to your blog.
Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.
Try to challenge yourself: list five you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, rereads, ancients — whatever you choose.)
Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog by next Monday.
Monday morning, we’ll announce a number from 1-20. Go to the list of twenty books you posted, and select the book that corresponds to the number we announce.
The challenge is to read that book by December 1, even if it’s an icky one you dread reading! (No fair not listing any scary ones!)

Yeah, I'm not going to try to challenge myself because, frankly, at this point just getting one of these baby's knocked off seems to be a challenge. As an exception to that statement, however, I am going to lump all of my short story choices and all of my plays as one choice for each category since they are all so short.

1. Hamlet, A Doll's House, The Importance of Being Ernest
2. Rocking Horse Winner, The House of Usher, The Jumping Frog of Calavaras County
3. This Side of Paradise
4. The Railway Children
5. Frenchman's Creek
6. Candide
7. Treasure Island
8. Oliver Twist
9. Cranford
10. Moll Flanders
11. Frankenstein
12. Brideshead Revisited
13. Lady Chatterley's Lover
14. The Metamorphosis
15. My Antonia
16. Where The Redfern Grows
17. Sense and Sensibility
18. Miss Bishop
19. Daisy Miller
20. The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling

You may notice that I haven't included any of the chunksters I have on my list. I want to make sure I leave myself some time for R.I.P. and Fall Feasting reading and I'm planning on reading Little Dorrit (finally!) in December.

I'm ready for that spin on Monday!

The Light Between Oceans - A Movie Review...of sorts

I don't do movie reviews here. I don't review them any where. Wait...that's starting to sound like a Dr. Seuss book. See, that's why I don't review movies. I have an even harder time putting into words why I liked a movie than I do why I liked a book.

I thought I'd turn to some reviews written by actual paid film reviewers to see if they could help me explain it. The problem is they had wildly differing opinions. David Edelstein, whom I generally agree with, found very little about the movie to like. What? How dare he?

Alright, alright. The film has some problems and I did have a couple of quibbles. But we'll get to those later.

First, let's get to what I loved about the film, David Edelstein be damned. 

Edelstein complained that the movie was both melodramatic and psychodramatic. I beg to differ. But then I've read the book and, I'd wager to say, he has not. It's an incredibly sad novel with some deep moral questions. It should pull at your heart. Perhaps women, particularly mothers and those who have miscarried or lost a child, will understand the conflict better than most men. But surely most men who have truly loved a woman will also be able to relate to the lengths a man might go to for the woman he loves.

The movie does a wonderful job of telling the story as Stedman wrote it. There are places, as there are in all book-to-movie adaptations, where those who have read the book just "get" it better than those who have not. For example, if you haven't read the book, you don't understand quite how desperate a young girl was to get away from a home that was filled with grief by the loss of both of her brothers in the war and her willingness to marry a man she hardly knew.

It is a beautifully filmed movie and the director does a fantastic job of conveying the isolation Tom and Isabel Sherbourne felt on the lighthouse island but also the beauty of being, literally, between oceans. The relentless pounding of the waves in the beginning sounds overwhelming but soon begins to feel soothing.

And the acting. Oh, my, the acting. I knew Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz would give terrific performances. I have never seen either of these Academy award winners give a bad performance (okay, may Weisz wasn't at her peak in The Mummy movies - but who could blame her). I have not yet seen "The Danish Girl," for which Alicia Vikander won an Academy award, so I was unfamiliar with her skills. She utterly disappears into Isabel; her emotional range was incredible. My heart broke for her; tears streamed down my face during more than one scene. 

Before I even went into the theater, I had a problem with Rachel Weisz playing the role of Hannah Roennfeldt. While she looks terrific for 46 years old, she's too old for the role.

Another problem I had with the movie also had to do with Weisz's costuming. The bulk of her action occurs in 1927 but her costumes (for the most part) and hair style don't feel right for that time period. Because the costumer continued to put Vikander in the same clothes throughout the movie, the two women appeared to be from entirely different eras. Maybe it was to play up the difference between the two but that's not the way it came off for me.

I couldn't remember the ending of the book but the ending of the movie didn't feel right to me. Turns out, it was mostly right after I looked it up. I suppose I wanted there to be some solution that didn't break Tom's and Isabel's hearts and the director didn't give it to me any more than Stedman had. And there were a couple filming spots right at the end that I didn't like.

All little things that momentarily put me off. But, as I said, these are small quibbles. Because, truly, the movie gave me exactly what I expected and, more importantly, exactly what I wanted. Those paid reviewers may want more from a movie but this girl is very happy with that outcome.

Life: It Goes On - September 25

It's officially fall and I'm finally getting into the spirit of it. The seashells and driftwood have been replaced with pumpkins and Indian corn and I seriously considered a pumpkin recipe yesterday.

I just hope fall understands that I really need a spectacular display of all leaves and I need it to stick around clear through November.

It's been a very quiet past nine days around here. I was not feeling 100% much of that time so I hardly left the house. Those who know me will know that I'm okay with that! It does account for the lack of pictures of fun things in this post!

This Week I'm:

Listening To: The Bone Tree - really loving being able to to a read/listen combination for this beastie. I'm enjoying the narrator except for his voice for the lead female character. Would you believe that I just today figured out how to run the audio at 1.5 times? Wish I had figured it out a week ago!

Watching: "Brunch At Bobby's" this morning. I'm fired up to bake some biscuits now! I'm not a huge fan of Flay's personality but his recipes generally make my mouth water and I feel like they are things I could replicate.

Reading: You'll see in my sidebar that I am supposed to be reading The Girl Who Fought Napoleon. I'm not. Because I can't figure out where I put the book. I know it arrived by mail a couple of weeks ago. On today's to-do list is to find that book!

Making: Goulash and pancakes. Not for the same meal. They might be the only two things I actually made this week, thanks to not feeling well.

Planning: I did some furniture rearranging this week, moving some furniture between the guest room and my office. It required some fairly significant reorganizing in my office which has me fired up to continue to do more in there. So that's the plan for this week.

Thinking About: A reorganization and cataloging of my books. I have books in my bedroom, books in my office, books in my family room and books in the basement. Up until I lost that book, I was fairly confident I at least knew what was where but now I'm not so sure.

Enjoying: Time with my parents yesterday. The Big Guy and I went in to help them with some stuff around the house and yard and were rewarded with yummy chicken and noodles, peach cobbler, and love. I wish we could have stayed longer so I could have finished a project I was working on - although my dad might be happy to have me out of his shop!

Feeling: Lighter, thanks to a hair cut this morning! Miss H's friend was in town so stopped in to make us beautiful.

Looking forward to: Another quiet week with the energy to actually accomplish something!

Question of the week: What is your favorite brunch food?