Other editions of book Turning Angel: A Novel

Turning Angel marks the long-awaited return of Penn Cage, the lawyer hero of The Quiet Game, and introduces Drew Elliott, the highly respected doctor who saved Penn's life in a hiking accident when they were boys. As two of the most prominent citizens of Natchez, Drew and Penn sit on the school board of their alma mater, St. Stephen's Prep. When the nude body of a young female student is found near the Mississippi River, the entire community is shocked - but no one more than Penn, who discovers that his best friend was entangled in a passionate relationship with the girl and may be accused of her murder. On the surface, Kate Townsend seems the most unlikely murder victim imaginable. A star student and athlete, she'd been accepted to Harvard and carried the hope and pride of the town on her shoulders. But like her school and her town, Kate also had a secret life - one about which her adult lover knew little. When Drew begs Penn to defend him, Penn allows his sense of obligation to override his instinct and agrees. Yet before he can begin, both men are drawn into a dangerous web of blackmail and violence. Penn finds himself doubting his friend's motives and searching for a path out of harm's way. More dangerous yet is Shad Johnson, the black district attorney whose dream is to send a rich white man to death row in Mississippi. At Shad's order, Drew is jailed, the police cease hunting Kate's killer, and Penn realizes that only by finding Kate's murderer himself can he save his friend's life. With his daughter's babysitter as his guide, Penn penetrates the secret world of St. Stephen's, a place that parents never see, where reality veers so radically from appearance that Penn risks losing his own moral compass. St. Stephen's is a dark mirror of the adult world, one populated by steroid-crazed jocks, girls desperate for attention, and jaded teens flirting with nihilism. And hidden among them all is one true psychopath.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mississippi Blood, Greg Iles, keeps the secrets of the South alive in this vibrant novel of infatuation, murder, and sexual intrigue set in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi.Turning Angel marks the long-awaited return of Penn Cage, the lawyer hero of The Quiet Game, and introduces Drew Elliott, the highly respected doctor who saved Penn’s life in a hiking accident when they were boys. As two of the most prominent citizens of Natchez, Drew and Penn sit on the school board of their alma mater, St. Stephen’s Prep. When the nude body of a young female student is found near the Mississippi River, the entire community is shocked—but no one more than Penn, who discovers that his best friend was entangled in a passionate relationship with the girl and may be accused of her murder. On the surface, Kate Townsend seems the most unlikely murder victim imaginable. A star student and athlete, she’d been accepted to Harvard and carried the hope and pride of the town on her shoulders. But like her school and her town, Kate also had a secret life—one about which her adult lover knew little. When Drew begs Penn to defend him, Penn allows his sense of obligation to override his instinct and agrees. Yet before he can begin, both men are drawn into a dangerous web of blackmail and violence. Drew reacts like anything but an innocent man, and Penn finds himself doubting his friend’s motives and searching for a path out of harm’s way. More dangerous yet is Shad Johnson, the black district attorney whose dream is to send a rich white man to death row in Mississippi. At Shad’s order, Drew is jailed, the police cease hunting Kate’s killer, and Penn realizes that only by finding Kate’s murderer himself can he save his friend’s life. With his daughter’s babysitter as his guide, Penn penetrates the secret world of St. Stephen’s, a place that parents never see, where reality veers so radically from appearance that Penn risks losing his own moral compass. St. Stephen’s is a dark mirror of the adult world, one populated by steroid-crazed jocks, girls desperate for attention, jaded teens flirting with nihilism, and hidden among them all—one true psychopath. It is Penn’s journey into the heart of his alma mater that gives Turning Angel its hypnotic power, for on that journey he finds that the intersection of the adult and nearly adult worlds is a dangerous place indeed. By the time Penn arrives at the shattering truth behind Kate Townsend’s death, his quiet Southern town will never be the same.

Greg Iles, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mississippi Blood, keeps the secrets of the South alive in this “powerful…heartfelt…entirely gripping” (The Washington Post) novel of infatuation, murder, and sexual intrigue set in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi.After winning the most dangerous case of his career, prosecutor Penn Cage decides to remain in his Southern hometown to raise his young daughter in a safe haven. But nowhere is truly safe—not from long-buried secrets, or murder… When the nude body of prep school student Kate Townsend is found near the Mississippi River, Penn’s best friend, Drew Elliott, is desperate for his counsel. An esteemed family physician, Drew makes a shocking confession that could put him on death row. Penn will do all he can to exonerate Drew, but in a town where the gaze of a landmark cemetery statue—the Turning Angel—never looks away, Penn finds himself caught on the jagged edge of blackmail, betrayal, and deadly violence. Exploring a surreal world of adolescent sex, drugs, apathy, and violence, Penn is forced to reevaluate his view of his old high school, his best friend, his hometown, and even himself. Foremost in his mind is one question: Could my best friend have murdered a seventeen-year-old girl? Penn’s heart tells him Drew is innocent of murder, but his gut tells him Drew is lying about something else. By the time Penn arrives at the shattering truth, this quiet Southern town will never be the same. “Turning Angel will have you wondering where Greg Iles has been all your life” (USA TODAY).

When the body of Kate Townsend turns up near the Mississippi River and his close friend, physician Drew Elliott, admits to a love affair with the murdered girl, attorney Penn Cage once again tangles with the dark side of his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, to investigate the secret world of an elite nearby high school, teenage sex, drugs, and violence. 250,000 first printing.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mississippi Blood, Greg Iles, keeps the secrets of the South alive in this vibrant novel of infatuation, murder, and sexual intrigue set in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi.After winning the most dangerous case of his career, prosecutor Penn Cage decides to remain in his Southern hometown to raise his young daughter in a safe haven. But nowhere is truly safe -- not from long-buried secrets, or murder....When the nude body of prep school student Kate Townsend is found near the Mississippi River, Penn's best friend, Drew Elliott, is desperate for his counsel. An esteemed family physician, Drew makes a shocking confession that could put him on death row. Penn will do all he can to exonerate Drew, but in a town where the gaze of a landmark cemetery statue -- the Turning Angel -- never looks away, Penn finds himself caught on the jagged edge of blackmail, betrayal, and deadly violence.

“Greg Iles’s storytelling blazes like a supernova” (BookPage) in this ingeniously twisting and atmospheric New York Times bestseller.After winning the most dangerous case of his career, prosecutor Penn Cage decides to remain in his Southern hometown to raise his young daughter in a safe haven. But nowhere is truly safe—not from long-buried secrets, or murder.… When the nude body of prep school student Kate Townsend is found near the Mississippi River, Penn’s best friend, Drew Elliott, is desperate for his counsel. An esteemed family physician, Drew makes a shocking confession that could put him on death row. Penn will do all he can to exonerate Drew, but in a town where the gaze of a landmark cemetery statue—the Turning Angel—never looks away, Penn finds himself caught on the jagged edge of blackmail, betrayal, and deadly violence.“Turning Angel will have you wondering where Greg Iles has been all your life.” —USA Today

“Greg Iles’s storytelling blazes like a supernova” (BookPage) in this ingeniously twisting and atmospheric New York Times bestseller.After winning the most dangerous case of his career, prosecutor Penn Cage decides to remain in his Southern hometown to raise his young daughter in a safe haven. But nowhere is truly safe—not from long-buried secrets, or murder.… When the nude body of prep school student Kate Townsend is found near the Mississippi River, Penn’s best friend, Drew Elliott, is desperate for his counsel. An esteemed family physician, Drew makes a shocking confession that could put him on death row. Penn will do all he can to exonerate Drew, but in a town where the gaze of a landmark cemetery statue—the Turning Angel—never looks away, Penn finds himself caught on the jagged edge of blackmail, betrayal, and deadly violence.“Turning Angel will have you wondering where Greg Iles has been all your life.” —USA Today

"Greg Iles's storytelling blazes like a supernova" (BookPage) in this ingeniously twisting and atmospheric New York Times bestseller.After winning the most dangerous case of his career, prosecutor Penn Cage decides to remain in his Southern hometown to raise his young daughter in a safe haven. But nowhere is truly safe—not from long-buried secrets, or murder…. When the nude body of prep school student Kate Townsend is found near the Mississippi River, Penn’s best friend, Drew Elliott, is desperate for his counsel. An esteemed family physician, Drew makes a shocking confession that could put him on death row. Penn will do all he can to exonerate Drew, but in a town where the gaze of a landmark cemetery statue—the Turning Angel—never looks away, Penn finds himself caught on the jagged edge of blackmail, betrayal, and deadly violence."Turning Angel will have you wondering where Greg Iles has been all your life." —USA Today