By: John Grisham
ISBN: 978-0385548922
Publisher: Doubleday
Narrator Audio: Michael Beck
Publication Date: 10/18/3022
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
#1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham returns to Mississippi in his most gripping thriller yet. Grisham takes his powerful storytelling to the next level, his trademark twists and turns will keep you tearing through the pages until the stunning conclusion.
For most of the last hundred years, Biloxi was known for its beaches, resorts, and seafood industry. But it had a darker side. It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor, and drugs to contract killings. The vice was controlled by a small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumored to be members of the Dixie Mafia.
Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the sixties and were childhood friends, as well as Little League all-stars. But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith’s father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to “clean up the Coast.” Hugh’s father became the “Boss” of Biloxi’s criminal underground. Keith went to law school and followed in his father’s footsteps. Hugh preferred the nightlife and worked in his father’s clubs. The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom.
Rich with history and with a large cast of unforgettable characters, The Boys from Biloxi is a sweeping saga of two sons of immigrant families who grow up as friends but ultimately find themselves on opposite sides of the law. Life itself hangs in the balance.
My Review
John Grisham's THE BOYS FROM BILOXI is a highly entertaining, superbly written legal/political thriller with riveting courtroom drama, Biloxi history, and a multi-generational emotional family drama with two families on both sides of the law.
From the stunning front cover to the characters, history, and plot, a gripping story of good versus evil. I am a huge Grisham fan and have read all his legal thrillers, and I think fans will devour this one!
Grisham returns to Mississippi! From a hundred years ago, we learn the history of Biloxi, the Seafood Capital of the World, its beaches and resorts. There were also many immigrants. Years ago, the Gulf Coast became known as the poor man's Riviera.
However, there is a darker side, and Grisham explores the city's underbelly. From police corruption, prostitution, gangs, bootlegging, brothels, drugs, mafia, mob bosses, mobsters, and strip clubs. The Dixie Mafia settled in Biloxi to establish their turf in the late 1950s.
The biggest obstacle facing attempts at reform was the longtime corruption of the police and elected officials. Some could not understand (including local journalists) how a religiously conservative state could openly accept such illegal activity.
An emotional multi-generational story of two immigrant families—each winding up on different paths.
Hugh Malco and Keith Rudy grew up in Biloxi in the sixties and were childhood friends, bonding over Little League baseball. Baseball was their world.
The rivalry began as a friendship between two boys with much in common. Both were third-generation grandsons of Croatian immigrants and were born and raised on "the Point," as Point Cadet was known.
Their parents and grandparents knew each other, and they went to the same Catholic church and school, played on the same streets and beaches, and fished with their fathers. Born only one month apart in 1948, both sons of young war veterans married the sweethearts and started families.
But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions, following their father's footsteps.
Keith's father (Jesse Rudy) became a legendary prosecutor, determined to clean up the Coast. Later he became the district attorney.
Hugh's father, (Lance Malco) became the "Boss" of Biloxi's criminal underground.
One father sends the other to prison, and then there is war.
Keith went to law school and followed in his father's footsteps from lawyer to district attorney. Hugh preferred the nightlife and worked in his father's nightclubs and strip clubs.
The two families are headed for a dangerous showdown that will wind up in a courtroom and beyond. Leading to MURDER. In addition, many other topics are addressed, such as the death penalty, politics, elections, cop procedures, and more.
Greed, vengeance, and dark secrets are driving factors in this fascinating tale! Readers who enjoy Southern history, multi-generational family sagas, legal thrillers, intense courtroom dramas, and politics will find a lot to like.
Grisham fans, as well as Greg Iles' fans, will gobble up THE BOYS FROM BILOXI!
Ladies: There are no leading female characters. We only get to know them as secondary characters, the wives of the guys, and the girls who work at the strip clubs and bars. This is a good ole-boy network, and Grisham portrays them perfectly.
THE BOYS FROM BILOXI is enthralling and will keep you guessing to the final explosive conclusion. Rich in history, place, time, and character, expertly written with lots of action and emotion. Highly recommend!
Thank you, #Doubleday and #NetGalley for a gifted e-ARC copy. I also pre-ordered the hardcover and the audiobook. I would not miss an audiobook narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Michael Beck!
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Oct 18, 2022
My Rating: 5/5 STARS + ✨✨✨✨✨
“I seriously doubt I would ever have written the first story had I not been a lawyer. I never dreamed of being a writer. I wrote only after witnessing a trial.” — JOHN GRISHAM
Praise for John Grisham:
“A legal literary legend.”
—USA Today
“John Grisham is about as good a storyteller as we’ve got in the United States these days.”
—The New York Times Book Review
"Grisham’s work — always superior entertainment — is evolving into something more serious, more powerful, more worthy of his exceptional talent."
—The Washington Post
About the Author
John Grisham is the author of forty-seven consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Judge's List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.
Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.
When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.
John lives on a farm in central Virginia. WEBSITE
