The Devil’s Punchbowl

The Devil’s Punchbowl
Greg Iles

The shocking new thriller from the king of southern gothic.When he was a prosecuting attorney Penn Cage sent hardened killers to death row. But it is as mayor of his hometown - Natchez, Mississippi - that Penn will face his most dangerous threat.Urged by old friends to restore the town to its former glory, Penn has ridden into office on a tide of support for change. But in its quest for new jobs and fresh money, Natchez has turned to casino gambling. Five fantastical steamboats float on the river beside the old slave market like props from Gone With the Wind. But one boat isn't like the others. Rumour has it that the Magnolia Queen has found a way to pull the big players from Las Vegas. And with them comes an unquenchable taste for one thing: blood sport, and the dark vices that go with it.When a childhood friend of Penn's who brings him evidence of these crimes is brutally murdered, the full weight of Penn's failure to protect this city hits home. So begins his quest to find the men responsible. But it's a hunt he begins alone, for the local authorities have been corrupted by the money and power of his hidden enemy. With his family's life at stake, Penn realizes his only allies in his one-man war are those bound to him by blood or honour.

GREG ILES

The Devil’s Punchbowl

Copyright (#u8f61f8db-ead2-51f5-a1e8-e41749f04d5d)

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Harper An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Copyright © Greg Iles 2009

Cover layout design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2014

Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com (http://Shutterstock.com)

Greg Iles asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Ebook Edition © 2009 ISBN: 9780007317486

Version: 2018-07-16

ForMadeline and MarkWho pay the highest price for my writing life. Thank you.

No man in the wrong can stand up against a fellow that’s in the right and keeps on a comin’.

— Captain Bill McDonald, Texas Ranger

‘You’re an animal.’

‘No, worse. Human.’

— Runaway Train

Contents

Title Page (#u13df6807-69d5-56ea-a113-af18475bba4c)

Copyright (#u13df6807-69d5-56ea-a113-af18475bba4c)

Epigraph (#ub5ebfe44-c349-566e-9663-5cfa383ee1b3)

Chapter 1 (#ua50d73db-047b-5f2c-850c-8405467550ac)

Chapter 2 (#u4673e8dd-317c-5f3b-af02-47a1f13117f8)

Chapter 3 (#u21d659f0-e5e3-5f1d-a104-0a8e2f377d30)

Chapter 4 (#u59f5f6fd-fe4f-5515-bd63-b9f6e144ee58)

Chapter 5 (#u47d24576-bb88-5889-8412-59e47bff0a45)

Chapter 6 (#ub2eabc13-1ecf-5077-8c8a-46475b7990c7)

Chapter 7 (#ud3a8051d-53b9-5399-ae34-e50e514b86ca)

Chapter 8 (#u9cb56e44-b94f-5928-8027-e607e7b9a2b8)

Chapter 9 (#u322ca7da-c1c8-523a-b70a-e28ba2460143)

Chapter 10 (#u413ef908-bf78-5ec6-a50d-2097ee285102)

Chapter 11 (#u332148fb-4ef2-5f5c-b1d6-fa3cdb095690)

Chapter 12 (#u3d9e03e7-ac4a-519f-a679-b7d95e3c0c8f)

Chapter 13 (#u27196eee-a194-5a8e-8be1-ec480f1142b7)

Chapter 14 (#u15de08e1-4295-51c9-8a55-824cd46aa156)

Chapter 15 (#uf60f5b3d-59f6-5f43-8693-40fa92805fc3)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)