Thrillers & Suspense
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The Boys from Biloxi: A Legal Thriller
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Two families. One courtroom showdown. • John Grisham's most gripping thriller yet. • "A legal literary legend." -USA Today
John Grisham returns to Mississippi with the riveting story of two sons of immigrant families who grow up as friends, but ultimately find themselves on opposite sides of the law. Grisham's 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 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.
Life itself hangs in the balance in The Boys from Biloxi, a sweeping saga rich with history and with a large cast of unforgettable characters.
Don't miss John Grisham's new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM, coming soon!
John Grisham returns to Mississippi with the riveting story of two sons of immigrant families who grow up as friends, but ultimately find themselves on opposite sides of the law. Grisham's 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 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.
Life itself hangs in the balance in The Boys from Biloxi, a sweeping saga rich with history and with a large cast of unforgettable characters.
Don't miss John Grisham's new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM, coming soon!
Editorial Reviews
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
"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
Readers Top Reviews
mikeBillCarol nev
A man who was on the Gulf Coast as a young lawyer during the time covered by the heart of this story said I needed to read The Boys of Biloxi. There is almost too much story; Grisham had a lot he felt he needed to say. Sometimes I think Mississippi is a 350-mile deep small town. There were so many people I felt I had known. Three of the characters are dead former governors of the state that I have met, including one who went to the same high school I did. Grisham certainly captures the mystique of the Biloxi area that one has to be more than a passing tourist to capture. Even before the big Casinos came in the Gulf coast of Mississippi is a world apart from the rest of the state where for instance Catholics, especially Dalmatian Catholics, are not an oddity like in the bulk of the state. One thing that is hard is that for the bulk of the book one feels like it is written in a non-fictional narrative style, in part because the realistic people, I can remember a now long dead lawman telling me about an Alabama hitman who shows up in the book, and that State Line Gang that got drive South allegedly by Buford Pusser provide a female villain. The sad part to me is he doesn't really get me under the skin of most of the characters, especially the father and son protagonists, until finding at the end of the book the son is obviously modeled on former Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore and then his personality takes a shape of familiar flesh. But like so many of my favorite Grisham's the author does one thing that is a trademark ( that almost reminds me of John D. McDonald at his best) getting even. His style in this book gave me the feeling of reading a long letter catching me up on three decades of Biloxi gossip.
Mabry Edwards, Jr
Nice flow of events as each one builds off of a previous one. Lots of twists and turns coupled with a surprise or two. Very good but not as great as some other Grisham favorites. Well written.
MickeyMabry Edwar
The book grabs your attention immediately, reads well, and presents an articulate picture of the growth of mafia and crime in the coastal region of Mississippi. One of my favorite Grisham novels.
David M. SnyderMi
A good easy read. Maybe not as much of a thriller as some of his work, but worth the time.
Southern SherryDa
There have only been a couple Grisham books I did not really enjoy though I finished reading them as its a point of honor for me to finish any book I start but especially so if I had to purchase it! This was not one of those books. This one held my attention and even surprised me at the end! Of course the protagonist has your allegiance, who would possibly feel indifferent to a young man who loses their father in such a horrific way? Even more so for a son whose hero worship of a man marks him so strongly that he wants to emulate him in his choice of career, the town he chooses to remain in and even after passing the law bar it seems that his studies remain the focus of his life with the father replacing the teacher and instead of paying for his education, he now gets paid for the continuing education. However, he apparently has even bigger ambitions than his father but seems ashamed to admit the fact he has already set his bar higher than his father. He clearly feels that he could not find a better teacher but it feels like he doesn't feel as worthy of reaching his goals and I wondered often, while reading, if he would have succeeded if not forced into actually practicing law after his father is murdered. Before his father's death, he seems to merely be observing what practicing law is and then he is literally pushed into practicing his trade. Oh sure, he does do some work on his own but mainly he just sits back and is just an observer and frankly he was just a footnote in the story. I was concerned when Jesse died that the son could carry this story. In the death of the father the son becomes more interesting to the reader. Prior to Jesse's death he was a one dimensional character. Even now that I've finished the book, and enjoyed it, I still am having problems remembering the son's name. I can remember his wife's name (Ainsley) and she really isn't part of the story. Having said all that, my review wouldn't make me want to read the book but I did read it and recommend it. You would know this is a Grisham book even if his name was not on the cover! He definitely has a writing personality that is distinctly his own!! B The
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter 1
A hundred years ago, Biloxi was a bustling resort and fishing community on the Gulf Coast. Some of its 12,000 people worked in shipbuilding, some in the hotels and restaurants, but for the majority their livelihoods came from the ocean and its bountiful supply of seafood. The workers were immigrants from Eastern Europe, most from Croatia where their ancestors had fished for centuries in the Adriatic Sea. The men worked the schooners and trawlers harvesting seafood in the Gulf while the women and children shucked oysters and packed shrimp for ten cents an hour. There were forty canneries side by side in an area known as the Back Bay. In 1925, Biloxi shipped twenty million tons of seafood to the rest of the country. Demand was so great, and the supply so plentiful, that by then the city could boast of being the "Seafood Capital of the World."
The immigrants lived in either barracks or shotgun houses on Point Cadet, a peninsula on the eastern edge of Biloxi, around the corner from the beaches of the Gulf. Their parents and grandparents were Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, as well as Croatians, and they had been quick to assimilate into the ways of their new country. The children learned English, taught it to their parents, and rarely spoke the mother tongues at home. Most of their surnames had been unpronounceable to customs officials and had been modified and Americanized at the Port of New Orleans and Ellis Island. In Biloxi cemeteries, there were tombstones with names like Jurkovich, Horvat, Conovich, Kasich, Rodak, Babbich, and Peranich. They were scattered about and mixed with those of Smith, Brown, O'Keefe, Mattina, and Bellande. The immigrants were naturally clannish and self-protective, but by the second generation they were intermarrying with the early French families and all manner of Anglos.
Prohibition was still the law, and throughout the Deep South most Baptists and Methodists righteously pursued the dry life. Along the Coast, though, those of European descent and Catholic persuasion took a dimmer view of abstinence. In fact, Biloxi was never dry, regardless of the Eighteenth Amendment. When Prohibition swept the country in 1920 Biloxi hardly noticed. Its bars, dives, honky-tonks, neighborhood pubs, and upscale clubs not only remained open but thrived. Speakeasies were not necessary because booze was so prevalent and no one, especially the police, cared. Biloxi became a popular destination for parched Southerners. Add the allure of the beaches, delicious seafood, a temperate climate, and nice hotels, and tourism flourished. A hundred years ago the Gulf Coast became known as "the poor man's Riviera."
As always, unchecked vice proved contagious. Gambling joined drinking as the more popular illegal activities. Makeshift casinos sprang up in bars and clubs. Poker, blackjack, and dice games were in plain view and could be found everywhere. In the lobbies of the fashionable hotels there were rows of slot machines operating in blatant disregard for the law.
Brothels had been around forever but kept undercover. Not so in Biloxi. They were plentiful and serviced not only their faithful johns but police and politicians as well. Many were in the same buildings as bars and gambling tables so that a young man looking for pleasure need only one stop.
Though not flaunted as widely as sex and booze, drugs like marijuana and heroin were easy to find, especially in the music halls and lounges.
Journalists often found it difficult to believe that such illegal activity was so openly accepted in a state so religiously conservative. They wrote articles about the wild and freewheeling ways in Biloxi, but nothing changed. No one with authority seemed to care. The prevailing mood was simply: "That's just the Biloxi." Crusading politicians railed against the crime and preachers thundered from the pulpits, but there was never a serious effort to "clean up the Coast."
The biggest obstacle facing any attempts at reform was the longtime corruption of the police and elected officials. The cops and deputies worked for meager salaries and were more than willing to take the cash and look the other way. The local politicians were easily bought off and prospered nicely. Everyone was making money, everyone was having fun, why ruin a good thing? No one forced the drinkers and gamblers to venture into Biloxi. If they didn't like the vice there, they could stay home or go to New Orleans. But if they chose to spend their money in Biloxi, they knew they would not be bothered by the police.
Criminal activity got a major boost in 1941 when the military built a large training base on land that was once the Biloxi Country Club. It was named Keesler Army Airfield, after a World War I hero from Mississippi, and the na...
A hundred years ago, Biloxi was a bustling resort and fishing community on the Gulf Coast. Some of its 12,000 people worked in shipbuilding, some in the hotels and restaurants, but for the majority their livelihoods came from the ocean and its bountiful supply of seafood. The workers were immigrants from Eastern Europe, most from Croatia where their ancestors had fished for centuries in the Adriatic Sea. The men worked the schooners and trawlers harvesting seafood in the Gulf while the women and children shucked oysters and packed shrimp for ten cents an hour. There were forty canneries side by side in an area known as the Back Bay. In 1925, Biloxi shipped twenty million tons of seafood to the rest of the country. Demand was so great, and the supply so plentiful, that by then the city could boast of being the "Seafood Capital of the World."
The immigrants lived in either barracks or shotgun houses on Point Cadet, a peninsula on the eastern edge of Biloxi, around the corner from the beaches of the Gulf. Their parents and grandparents were Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, as well as Croatians, and they had been quick to assimilate into the ways of their new country. The children learned English, taught it to their parents, and rarely spoke the mother tongues at home. Most of their surnames had been unpronounceable to customs officials and had been modified and Americanized at the Port of New Orleans and Ellis Island. In Biloxi cemeteries, there were tombstones with names like Jurkovich, Horvat, Conovich, Kasich, Rodak, Babbich, and Peranich. They were scattered about and mixed with those of Smith, Brown, O'Keefe, Mattina, and Bellande. The immigrants were naturally clannish and self-protective, but by the second generation they were intermarrying with the early French families and all manner of Anglos.
Prohibition was still the law, and throughout the Deep South most Baptists and Methodists righteously pursued the dry life. Along the Coast, though, those of European descent and Catholic persuasion took a dimmer view of abstinence. In fact, Biloxi was never dry, regardless of the Eighteenth Amendment. When Prohibition swept the country in 1920 Biloxi hardly noticed. Its bars, dives, honky-tonks, neighborhood pubs, and upscale clubs not only remained open but thrived. Speakeasies were not necessary because booze was so prevalent and no one, especially the police, cared. Biloxi became a popular destination for parched Southerners. Add the allure of the beaches, delicious seafood, a temperate climate, and nice hotels, and tourism flourished. A hundred years ago the Gulf Coast became known as "the poor man's Riviera."
As always, unchecked vice proved contagious. Gambling joined drinking as the more popular illegal activities. Makeshift casinos sprang up in bars and clubs. Poker, blackjack, and dice games were in plain view and could be found everywhere. In the lobbies of the fashionable hotels there were rows of slot machines operating in blatant disregard for the law.
Brothels had been around forever but kept undercover. Not so in Biloxi. They were plentiful and serviced not only their faithful johns but police and politicians as well. Many were in the same buildings as bars and gambling tables so that a young man looking for pleasure need only one stop.
Though not flaunted as widely as sex and booze, drugs like marijuana and heroin were easy to find, especially in the music halls and lounges.
Journalists often found it difficult to believe that such illegal activity was so openly accepted in a state so religiously conservative. They wrote articles about the wild and freewheeling ways in Biloxi, but nothing changed. No one with authority seemed to care. The prevailing mood was simply: "That's just the Biloxi." Crusading politicians railed against the crime and preachers thundered from the pulpits, but there was never a serious effort to "clean up the Coast."
The biggest obstacle facing any attempts at reform was the longtime corruption of the police and elected officials. The cops and deputies worked for meager salaries and were more than willing to take the cash and look the other way. The local politicians were easily bought off and prospered nicely. Everyone was making money, everyone was having fun, why ruin a good thing? No one forced the drinkers and gamblers to venture into Biloxi. If they didn't like the vice there, they could stay home or go to New Orleans. But if they chose to spend their money in Biloxi, they knew they would not be bothered by the police.
Criminal activity got a major boost in 1941 when the military built a large training base on land that was once the Biloxi Country Club. It was named Keesler Army Airfield, after a World War I hero from Mississippi, and the na...
