Greg Iles (born 1960) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

who lives in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. He has published seventeen novels and one novella, spanning a variety of genres.

Early life

Iles was born in 1960 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, where his physician father ran the US Embassy Medical Clinic. He was raised in

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...

, the setting of many of his novels. After attending Trinity Episcopal Day School, he graduated from the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

in 1983.

Career

Iles spent several years as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter in the band Frankly Scarlet. He quit the band after he was married and began working on his first novel, ''Spandau Phoenix'', a thriller about

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

war criminal

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician, Nuremberg trials, convicted war criminal and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer ( ...

. ''Spandau Phoenix'' was published in 1993. In 2002, Iles wrote the screenplay ''24 Hours'' from his novel of the same name. Rewritten by director Don Roos, it was renamed '' Trapped''. Iles then rewrote the script during the shoot, at the request of the producers and actors. In 2011, Iles was seriously injured in a traffic accident on U.S. Route 61 near Natchez. He sustained life-threatening injuries, including a ruptured aorta. He was put into an

induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...

for eight days, and lost his right leg below the knee. During his three-year recovery, he wrote three volumes of a trilogy set in Natchez, Mississippi, and featuring former prosecutor Penn Cage. Iles is a member of the literary musical group '' The Rock Bottom Remainders'', which includes or has included authors

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally Print syndication, syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has written numerous books of humor and parody, as we ...

Ridley Pearson Ridley Pearson (born March 13, 1953, in Glen Cove, New York) is an American author of suspense, thriller and adventure books. Several of his books have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. Literary career Pearson became the fir ...

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

Scott Turow Scott Frederick Turow (born April 12, 1949) is an American author and lawyer. Turow worked as a lawyer for a decade before writing full-time, and has written 13 fiction and three nonfiction books, which have been translated into more than 40 la ...

, Amy Tan, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount, Jr.,

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...

, and James McBride. In July 2013, he co-authored '' Hard Listening'' (2013) with the group. The ebook combines essays, fiction, musings, email exchanges and conversations, photographs, audio and video clips, and interactive quizzes to give readers a view into the private lives of the authors/musicians.

Works

Fiction

* ''Spandau Phoenix'' (1993) * ''Black Cross'' (1995) * ''Mortal Fear'' (1997) * '' The Quiet Game'' (1999) * '' 24 Hours'' (2000) * ''Dead Sleep'' (2001) * '' Sleep No More'' (2002) * '' The Footprints of God'' (2003) (also titled ''Dark Matter'') * ''Blood Memory'' (2005) * ''Turning Angel'' (2005) * ''True Evil'' (2006) * ''Third Degree'' (2007) * ''The Devil's Punchbowl'' (2009) * ''The Death Factory'' (2014) novella * ''Natchez Burning'' (2014) * ''The Bone Tree '' (2015) * ''Mississippi Blood'' (2017) * ''Cemetery Road'' (2019) * ''Southern Man'' (2024)

Nonfiction

* ''Hard Listening'' (2013), with Rock Bottom Remainders

References

External links

*
The Official Website of Greg Iles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iles, Greg 1960 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American thriller writers Novelists from Mississippi University of Mississippi alumni People from Natchez, Mississippi Writers from Stuttgart Rock Bottom Remainders members 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Barry Award winners