en
Greg Iles
de
- 4
Greg Iles was an American novelist best known for his epic thrillers set in the Deep South, blending suspense with explorations of history, race, justice, and family.
Born in 1960 in Stuttgart, West Germany, where his father directed the U.S. Embassy Medical Clinic during the Cold War, Greg Iles grew up in Natchez, Mississippi. His mother had been raised on a subsistence farm in Louisiana, where she began picking cotton at age three.
After returning to the United States, Iles attended the University of Mississippi, graduating in 1983. During his time there, he lived in a cabin once frequented by William Faulkner and his brothers, who had listened to stories told by their nanny “Mammy Callie,” born into slavery.
Iles published his debut novel, Spandau Phoenix, in 1993, a thriller centred on Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess. The book launched a career that spanned more than three decades and produced seventeen New York Times bestsellers. His works, translated into over twenty languages and published in more than thirty-five countries, include stand-alone thrillers as well as the acclaimed Natchez Burning trilogy.
That series, along with The Quiet Game (1999), Turning Angel (2005), and The Devil’s Punchbowl (2009), introduced readers to Penn Cage, a recurring protagonist navigating both personal struggles and the turbulent racial history of Mississippi. The trilogy concluded with Mississippi Blood (2017), a #1 New York Times bestseller.
His most recent novel, Southern Man (2024), returned to Penn Cage against the backdrop of a polarised America and examined themes of race, power, and democracy. Iles described his inspiration as rooted in the nation’s dangerous political divides and his own discoveries about Civil War–era racial violence near his hometown.
Writing the novel was marked by personal struggle, as Iles battled multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer first diagnosed when he was 36. Despite undergoing years of treatment, he pressed forward, revising drafts until the book met his vision. “Every writer must be honest about their talent,” he advised. “Be ready when you get your chance. Give them a book no sane editor would reject.”
In addition to writing, Iles was a member of the literary rock band The Rock Bottom Remainders, alongside Stephen King, Amy Tan, and other authors. After a near-fatal car accident in 2011, he returned to the stage with the group and helped produce their 2020 pandemic-era video DON’T Stand By Me! with his son Mark. A memoir by the band, Hard Listening (2018), celebrated their unlikely creative collaboration.
Greg Iles passed away on August 15, 2025, after a 29-year battle with multiple myeloma. He was 65.
Photo credit: www.gregiles.com
Born in 1960 in Stuttgart, West Germany, where his father directed the U.S. Embassy Medical Clinic during the Cold War, Greg Iles grew up in Natchez, Mississippi. His mother had been raised on a subsistence farm in Louisiana, where she began picking cotton at age three.
After returning to the United States, Iles attended the University of Mississippi, graduating in 1983. During his time there, he lived in a cabin once frequented by William Faulkner and his brothers, who had listened to stories told by their nanny “Mammy Callie,” born into slavery.
Iles published his debut novel, Spandau Phoenix, in 1993, a thriller centred on Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess. The book launched a career that spanned more than three decades and produced seventeen New York Times bestsellers. His works, translated into over twenty languages and published in more than thirty-five countries, include stand-alone thrillers as well as the acclaimed Natchez Burning trilogy.
That series, along with The Quiet Game (1999), Turning Angel (2005), and The Devil’s Punchbowl (2009), introduced readers to Penn Cage, a recurring protagonist navigating both personal struggles and the turbulent racial history of Mississippi. The trilogy concluded with Mississippi Blood (2017), a #1 New York Times bestseller.
His most recent novel, Southern Man (2024), returned to Penn Cage against the backdrop of a polarised America and examined themes of race, power, and democracy. Iles described his inspiration as rooted in the nation’s dangerous political divides and his own discoveries about Civil War–era racial violence near his hometown.
Writing the novel was marked by personal struggle, as Iles battled multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer first diagnosed when he was 36. Despite undergoing years of treatment, he pressed forward, revising drafts until the book met his vision. “Every writer must be honest about their talent,” he advised. “Be ready when you get your chance. Give them a book no sane editor would reject.”
In addition to writing, Iles was a member of the literary rock band The Rock Bottom Remainders, alongside Stephen King, Amy Tan, and other authors. After a near-fatal car accident in 2011, he returned to the stage with the group and helped produce their 2020 pandemic-era video DON’T Stand By Me! with his son Mark. A memoir by the band, Hard Listening (2018), celebrated their unlikely creative collaboration.
Greg Iles passed away on August 15, 2025, after a 29-year battle with multiple myeloma. He was 65.
Photo credit: www.gregiles.com
years of life: 8 April 1960 – 15 August 2025
Books
- unavailable
- unavailable
- unavailable
Audiobooks
- unavailable
- unavailable
- unavailable
fb2epub
Drag & drop your files
(not more than 5 at once)