The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles

 

Penn Cage is now mayor of his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi.  In the past, he has been a prosecutor in Texas and a successful author, but when he moved home after the death of his wife, he saw a need for reform and his friends convinced him that he would be the perfect man to take on that task.  He had hoped to land a car factory to bring in jobs but when that failed, he agreed and helped to bring riverboat gambling to town.

When a childhood friend asks to meet with him in secret, Penn reluctantly agrees.  The man is working on the largest riverboat and he tells Penn that the owners have brought a series of crimes to Natchez.  They are involved in money laundering, dogfighting, prostitution, and other crimes.  His friend is scared but wants to help Penn bring them to justice.  Penn agrees but his friend is killed before he can give him the evidence.

A crew of Irish men run the riverboat.  They are rough men, men that would kill at a moment's glance and have.  As Penn and his friends attempt to bring them down, more murders occur and Penn's love, Caitlin, is kidnapped.  But Penn has resources also.  There is a former Texas ranger and an elite commando who returns from Afghanistan to help.  There is a former army sniper who is now a deputy sheriff and Penn's own family and his friends.  Will they be enough to bring down this evil?

This is the third book in the Penn Cage series.  Penn is what used to be considered a Southern gentleman, a man with honor but who will do almost anything to protect those he loves.  Greg Iles is a master of the suspense genre and he has lived in Natchez most of his life so his depiction of the area and the people are written from that knowledge.  This book is recommended for suspense readers.