Preview
  • Southern Man

  • A Novel
  • By: Greg Iles
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 45 hrs and 43 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (602 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Southern Man

By: Greg Iles
Narrated by: Scott Brick
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $35.09

Buy for $35.09

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

"A first-rate political thriller."–John Grisham, #1 New York Times bestselling author

The hugely anticipated new Penn Cage novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Natchez Burning trilogy and Cemetery Road, about a man—and a town—rocked by anarchy and tragedy, but unbowed in the fight to save those they love

Fifteen years after the events of the Natchez Burning trilogy, Penn Cage is alone. Nearly all his loved ones are dead, his old allies gone, and he carries a mortal secret that separates him from the world. But Penn’s exile comes to an end when a brawl at a Mississippi rap festival triggers a bloody mass shooting—one that nearly takes the life of his daughter Annie.

As the stunned cities of Natchez and Bienville reel, antebellum plantation homes continue to burn and the deadly attacks are claimed by a Black radical group as historic acts of justice. Panic sweeps through the tourist communities, driving them inexorably toward a race war.

But what might have been only a regional sideshow of the 2024 Presidential election explodes into national prominence, thanks to the stunning ascent of Robert E. Lee White, a Southern war hero who seizes the public imagination as a third-party candidate. Dubbed “the Tik-Tok Man,” and funded by an eccentric Mississippi billionaire, Bobby White rides the glory of his Special Forces record to an unprecedented run at the White House—one unseen since the campaign of H. Ross Perot.

To triumph over the national party machines, Bobby evolves a plan of unimaginable daring. One fateful autumn weekend, with White set to declare his candidacy in all fifty states, the forces polarizing America line up against one another: Black vs. white, states vs. the federal government, democracy vs. Fascism. Teaming with his fearless daughter (now a civil rights lawyer) and a former Black Panther who spent most of his life in Parchman Prison, Penn tears into Bobby White’s pursuit of the Presidency and ultimately risks a second Civil War to try to expose its motivation to the world, before the America of our Constitution slides into the abyss.

In Southern Man, Greg Iles returns to the riveting style and historic depth that made the Natchez Burning trilogy a searing masterpiece and hurls the narrative fifteen years forward into our current moment—where America itself teeters on the brink of anarchy.

©2022 Greg Iles (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Southern Man

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    345
  • 4 Stars
    78
  • 3 Stars
    53
  • 2 Stars
    34
  • 1 Stars
    92
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    377
  • 4 Stars
    72
  • 3 Stars
    49
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    47
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    319
  • 4 Stars
    74
  • 3 Stars
    38
  • 2 Stars
    36
  • 1 Stars
    97

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

I could have done without all of the anti-Trump/MAGA rhetoric.

The story was good, but I could have done without all of the anti-Trump/MAGA rhetoric. I’m disappointed that I preordered and anticipated the release of this book for so long. I will be moving on from this author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Good story, TDS

If you like watching the TDS spew on MSNBC and CNN you will love this book! The story is engaging, and would be good without the Limousine Liberal rantings of the author. I have read a lot of Greg Iles books but I am done.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

excellent and exciting story

Iles is an incredible story teller! I like the way he weaves history into the drama. I, myself, am from the South and my family and it's roots have been affected by all these things. While I may view many political aspects differently than some of the characters in this book, I do appreciate having an open window to understand and consider the inside workings and thoughts of different points of view. Bottom Line: this was an extremely thought provoking and entertaining story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

progressive liberalism

If you hate Trump and love progressive liberalism, you will love this book. I do not....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

will the slavery story ever end............

WOW, Greg Iles had a story he wanted to tell and tell he did, 45 hours of it!

I read an interview with the author explaining how he came to write this book. In writing the Penn Cage series, he came to realize over time that like most southern, white authors he was writing the books mainly from a white perspective. He felt he was giving short shrift to the black side of the story, and he set out to change it. In the trilogy he wrote just prior to this book he said that it was only in the third book of the trilogy that he started incorporating more of the story from the black perspective, not entirely giving up the white perspective but doing more justice to the back side.

The author is suffering from cancer himself and he wasn't sure he could be able to finish this book before meeting his end. So, he wrote 15-20 hours a day to get everything he wanted in it. He didn't set out to write a super long book but that's how it turned out. The author is currently still alive and waiting from a stem cell transplant that will, hopefully, give him more time of life and time to write.

For the story itself, the author sets out to tie the history of slavery and the civil war into the effect it is still having in current day, much of it stemming from that time all those years. ago. He discusses lots of things in this book and the action just keeps coming at you.

In my mind, slavery is the worst thing the British brought to the colonies. I believe it will still take centuries to put it into its proper place. It will remain a work in progress for a long time.

One final thought, the author stated in the interview that he understood that many of his readers, his fans, wouldn't like him writing so much from the black point of view. But he felt he had to do it, if for no other reason than his own peace of mind. In an effort to keep his fan base happy, he tried to incorporate this new style in the guise of a thriller. And a thriller it is.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Length

OMG ! It is such a huge book! This must be a scrip for a tv series😂

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

WAY too long.

Love Greg Iles. Was so excited to listen to the newest book. Story was SLOW and it was ridiculously long. Really boring in some spots. Was so glad it was finally over.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

stuck 150 years in the past

Too much anti south and politics. I have to say this is the only Iles novel I have not liked, I have read all of them. this was a miss.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Worth the wait!!

Loved it!! A great finale? Or possibly a prequel to a new series with new/old developing characters. Get well soon Greg Iles

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A complete soapbox opportunity for the author

I’m so disappointed in this long awaited book by such a talented author. The story was lost in the background to rant after rant spewing his own opinions over and over… we read to escape the current environment, especially the political one. This book highlighted, underlined, and bold printed each and every “woke” agenda item there ever was.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!