Eight years ago, Greg Iles embarked on a massive book tour to publicize the release of 'Mississippi Blood,' which was the final book in his 'Natchez Burning' trilogy. Iles was coming through Dayton on that tour. I tracked him down at his home in Mississippi on the day before the book was released.
It went on to debut in the top spot on the New York Times fiction bestseller list. Even his very first novel had been a bestseller. Over the course of his career, Iles sold more than 10 million books. This was also the sixth book to feature his protagonist Penn Cage. Over the course of seven books, including his final novel, 'Southern Man,' which came out last year, Iles had Penn Cage battling racism in the Natchez, Mississippi, area. Last year, when that last book was released, I tried to schedule another interview with the author — it would have been our third such book conversation — but he was already too ill with his final illness to participate.
To prepare for this interview, I had read the entire trilogy, more than 2,000 pages in all, so we could talk about all three books. These are powerful stories, and the fact that Iles was still around to write them verges on the miraculous. He had survived a horrific auto accident and described what had happened to him in that collision and how his survival, once he came out of a coma, made him decide to write much more than the one book he had initially planned, and how when he notified his publisher of his decision, they dropped him. Their mistake. Greg Iles was a brilliant man, so articulate, such a fighter for the causes in which he believed. He was also one heck of a musician. In this interview, he was still brimming with vitality, with life. He will be missed.
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The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public Library.
