The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles

The Devil's Punchbowl is a thriller that works too hard at trying to be literary as well. It's not impossible for genre books to have value beyond their genre limits (Raymond Chandler's hardboiled detective novels are Philip Marlowe are widely considered literary works portraying Los Angeles society at all levels as it was in the 1930s to 1950s.)However, this book is over seven hundred pages, and it's a rare writer who can sustain a high level of suspense for that long -- especially when they're also trying to portray modern life in the American South.It's especially true when the author seems more confused than the characters, and often loses credibility.The entire plot revolves around the main villain Sands and a distant Chinese crime syndicate or triad leader, even though he the villain is Irish. First of all, there are hints that his background is something tremendously evil, but we're never filled in on it.Near the end of the book the hero receives the background on the
Chinese triad leader, but he doesn't waste any of those seven hundred pages giving us any details. No, the main character's soul searching and social criticisms are more important.He winds up in China working for Po, and then hitches up with Po's niece, and yet somehow runs the local casino in the United States for Po, and yet at the end is supposedly going to turn Po in to the federal government. Why? Presumably he would not make such a deal unless they had the evidence to put him away, but that's never discussed.The hero's friend claims that Sands is the one running the dog fights and robbing Natchez of its share of the casino's profit and that is not being done by the casino company (owned by Po). This issue is never resolved.Yes, it's stated that Po is using the casino to launder money from his criminal activities, and that makes some sense... but why risk that with the dog fighting? Po likes dog fighting himself, but he's in China -- why put his money laundering operati
on at risk?And why was he coming to the United States? There are hints they were all going to watch the dogs fight a man, but we're never told who. All those details are forgotten.And the entire relationship with Po's niece, Jiao, is cloudy. Supposedly she is his girlfriend but lived in New Orleans until recently driven out by Katrina. Why did she live there instead of with her boyfriend? We're never told.Nor is it the least bit credible that she would work on board the casino as a prostitute. Nor that Sands would use her to "test" out the undercover retired Texas Ranger. I can believe a wealthy spoiled upper-class Chinese girl might run away with a romantic and exotic gwai lo. I don't believe she would work for him as a prostitute. Nor do I believe she would be surprised or angry to find out that he had been having sex with other women while she was in New Orleans.But of course, she also wore a kimono while on the casino. Why would a Chinese woman trying to pose as a prosti
tute on a casino in the United States wear a traditional Japanese dress that wouldn't even be worn by a Japanese prostitute at that level in Japan? Who knows? I can only conclude the author doesn't know what he's writing about.The main character is not as interesting or compelling as the author seems to believe. He takes himself far too seriously. So, I suspect, does the author.Oh, yes -- the book is written in the present tense. Although I quickly got used to it, I take it as the sign of a novelist striving too hard.

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