Greg Iles, a bestselling American novelist raised in Mississippi, first gained notice for his smart, what-if storylines based on World War II scenarios. But his career took off when he began to write suspenseful, modern stories of blood and race set in the American South. Many of the books are centered around the Southern lawyer Penn Cage, who made his debut in The Quiet Game, and is now the center of a new trilogy, which includes Natchez Burning and The Bone Tree.