Natchez Burning / Greg Iles / 791 pages (1389 LP) / American Historical Fiction / 700+ page book

The Double Eagle Group was founded in 1964, an ultra secret splinter cell of the White Knights of the KKK.  Reporter Henry Sexton believes them to be the deadliest domestic terror cell in American history.  Natchez mayor, Penn Cage is "a crusading lawyer with a savior complex and a part-time novelist.  Deep down he's just a boy who wants to save his own town."  He's also trying to save his father, respected Dr. Thomas Jefferson Cage, by solving a murder mystery linked to decades old civil rights murders, drug running, and corrupt politicians, police officers, and a wealthy bank owner.  This gripping epic is a must read.  Although the length is gargantuan, the plot never bogs down.  Stephen King said Natchez Burning is "extraordinarily entertaining and fiendishly suspenseful. I defy you to start it and find a way to put it down."  An interesting sidebar...Author Greg Iles thanks "The Rock Bottom Remainders for forcing [him] to have fun regardless of what life throws at us," in the Afterward.  Rock Bottom Remainders is a band comprised of well-known authors such as Stephen King.  Not only does Natchez Burning provide insights into the underbelly of America, it illustrates modern day heroes and heroines struggling to live up to the ideals and integrity of a moral America.