thestarkening 's review for:

The Bone Tree by Greg Iles

4.0

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In the second installment to the Penn Cage trilogy, Greg Iles again weaves an intricate and detailed story for all of his compelling characters. As a huge Greg Iles fan, I loved this book, however there were some moments where it dragged and I found myself struggling with the intense volley of dialogue between the characters over a decades old conspiracy theory. It's possible that this book could have survived without that detail, however, I want to reserve too much judgement until I see what the third installment has in store. With the kind of stories Iles tells, I imagine that his next book will resolve a few more loose ends and blow the various plots wide open in his trademark style of writing. I feel that the way you start to feel about Penn Cage is done purposely. He turns into a tired and disillusioned man who sounds like a whiney and petulant child, but how could he not given his circumstances? Some folks complained because they felt 'manipulated' by Iles or that in some of his more extreme scenes, he was unbelievable. To that I say, this is fiction after all. A little far fetched? Perhaps. Completely enthralling? Most definitely.

I give this four stars because the rehashed dialogue was at times hard to get through and took up a large chunk of the book. Overall, I love these books so far and I am looking forward to the next.