The Quiet Game

SUMMARY:
Is there space in the overcrowded courtroom for one more writer of sharp, very suspenseful legal thrillers? Yes--if that writer is Greg Iles, who has proven in such varied efforts as Black Cross, Mortal Fear, and Spandau Phoenix that he knows how to squeeze the last drop of suspense out of all sorts of situations. Iles immediately makes us feel both sympathy and empathy for his glossy hero, Penn Cage--a former ace Texas prosecutor turned suspense novelist whose sales are up there in the John Grisham Himalayan range. Trying to cope with the recent death of his wife, Cage takes his 5-year-old daughter to Florida's Disney World, where the child sadly sees visions of her mother everywhere in the fantasy-filled environment. Wouldn't a trip to his parents' stately home in Natchez be more soothing for all concerned? Wrong, as it turns out--and before Cage can catch his breath, he's deeply involved in several dangerous matters. His father, a dedicated doctor, is being blackmailed for a past mistake in judgment, and a powerful judge (who just happens to be the father of Penn's high school sweetheart) has a nasty personal agenda of his own. Then there's the unsolved 1968 murder case of a black man, which Cage insists on reopening with the help of an attractive, ambitious newspaper publisher. Iles does for Natchez what John Berendt did for Savannah in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, creating a gothic Southern landscape where elegance and depravity walk hand in hand. --Dick Adler

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

The Quiet Game

A Dutton Book / published by arrangement with the author

Copyright © 1999 by Greg Iles

This book may not be reproduced in whole or part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.

For information address:

The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

ISBN: 0-7865-0297-5

A DUTTON BOOK®

Dutton Books first published by The Dutton Publishing Group, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

DUTTON and the “D” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.

First edition (electronic): July 2001

Also by Greg Iles:

Mortal Fear

Black Cross

Spandau Phoenix

For
Madeline and Mark
Who will always be my best work.

And
Anna Flowers
Who taught me about class in every sense.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Aaron Priest, for taking me to the next level.

Phyllis Grann, for faith and vision.

David Highfill, for a wonderful editorial experience.

Clare Ferraro, Rich Hasselberger, and the gang at Dutton for first-rate work.

Courtney Aldridge, the best buddy a writer could have.