I was so disappointed in the latest John Grisham novel. I have typically loved all of his books ... some more than others. But this one did not appeal to me. I could not stay focused and my mind would wander. I ended up constantly rereading sentences, paragraphs, pages! way too many characters and it was hard to keep track of them. However, I am evidently in the minority. So I recommend you read the book and decide for yourself if it is one you enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

It's been quite a while since i've read a John Grisham novel so i was excited to get this arc. HIs books are always straight forward. It was nice to have a Grisham book on my kindle! Thank you netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Corruption never stays in a box. It spreads because greedy men see easy money and there is an endless demand for gratification and the promise of a quick buck.”

If you enjoy reading Wikipedia, you’ll really love this book because that’s the writing style of it. If I had to make a completely arbitrary guess I would say that only 10% of the book is dialogue and most of it was in the last couple chapters.

It feels like a narration, reporting, or documenting of everything that happened. We get a few ‘he thought this’ or ‘he felt this’ statements but overall I don’t think we really feel anything about the characters. We’re just walking through a museum listening as the headphones tells us everything we need to know about the events we pass by.

I enjoy Grisham books. I’m not a superfan, but I’ve read several (before I started reviewing) and this didn’t feel like his ‘typical’ writing.

There was some courtroom drama towards the end but it wasn’t very intense. There were no surprises or climaxes. It felt like one long continuous straight line.


Goodreads says this book is a ‘sweeping saga’ of two families whose trajectories lead them to a showdown in the courtroom.

Sweeping and saga are the right words. It’s a long book and it spans from 1948 to 1986.

We get chapters with background on Biloxi, Mississippi and all the corruption that settled into town. We get chapters that detail baseball games and tournaments. Some that detail boxing matches and cockfights. Chapters detailing the litigation involved in the insurance claims after Hurricane Camille. Chapters on a string of jewelry shop thefts.

It’s a very broad telling.


Really, I think a better title for this book would be ‘Biloxi Vice: Will the Corruption Ever End?’

It’s actually a pretty depressing read because most of the book we’re just privy to all the gambling, drunkenness, fighting, drugs, prostitution, stripping, bribes, etc that are rampant in the town of Biloxi and how the police chief and the DA are all corrupt and elections are rigged so there’s no hope for change.

“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.’”

This may be the story of good vs evil but it seems like evil has the upper hand for most of it.


The basic premise is this: Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grow up together playing baseball, but Hugh follows in his dad’s footsteps and the father/son pair become the mafia in town. Keith follows in his dad’s footsteps and the father/son pair become lawyers— the beacon of justice and hope for change. They become enemies. Can the Rudy’s take down the Malco’s? And if they can… at what cost?

The book is divided into four parts:

The Boys

This part gives a ton of family context and background. Both from immigrant families and how they came to be where they are.

Keith “was a left-handed pitcher who threw hard but wild, and frightened batters with his lack of control.”

Hugh “was a right-handed pitcher who threw even harder and with more accuracy.”

It would be an interesting thing to ponder if these descriptions of their pitching style played out in other ways throughout their lives or if they are contradictory to their future personalities.

The Crusader

This is the part where Keith’s dad becomes the DA and goes on a mission to clean up the Coast.

“Jesse Rudy had an iron will and a strong moral compass and he played to win. he would battle the crooks to the bitter end, all the way to the ballot box. And his family would be at his side.”

But the mafia is not worried…

“‘You boys look worried. Need I remind you that the graveyard is full of politicians who promised to clean up the Coast?’”

The Prisoners

and

The Row

These last two parts are about putting key players in prison, some of the aftermath and the death row journey blah blah.



Death Row and Capital Punishment

Speaking of death row. While I’m still trying to figure out what the main moral of the story is, I can tell you that part of it has to do with capital punishment. Based on an interview Grisham had with someone he said he used to be pro-capital punishment but has since changed his mind. I think a lot of his books expose the failings of the criminal justice system and for him, this topic is one of them.

I would guess he is attempting to make the reader ponder their own views of capital punishment. There are currently 24 states with the death penalty.

I was going to write my thoughts about capital punishment but it got long-winded real fast.

There is a ton of things I don’t know about how the criminal justice system works. I know there are a lot of failings and that people have been mistreated in a lot of ways. Alabama, I’m looking at you. Having read Just Mercy, I was exposed to more. I’m guessing Mississippi is probably similar to Alabama.

Pondering what you think about capital punishment is an important thing. I’ll just say that I think my view is heavily influenced by Wayne Grudem’s Christian Ethics book and the verses Romans 13:1-6 and Genesis 9:6.


The Real Victims

One thing that bothered me about this book was the way women were or weren’t incorporated into this book. This book is very male-centric. Which I get— the main characters are men. The criminals are men. The lawyers are men.

But there are women in this story. And they’re lost in it. We don’t even get to know most of their real names. We only know their hooker names. None of them are significant characters. We never know what led them to that life or the mistreatment they endure.

I know they’re not all completely innocent, but in this story it just felt like there were all these women who were part of this stripping and prostitution segment as if it was normal or expected. They were expendable. They were just hookers, whores, skin. Used.

And there was no redemption or hope for them in this story.

I’ve gotten on my soapbox about sex-work and pornography before, so I won’t go deep into it here. I just think if we’re going to talk about the objectification of women, this is a pretty obvious starting point. You can learn more about that by reading: Taking Down Backpage or The Porn Problem.


Historical Pieces

This story’s plot and characters are completely fictional. However some of the events or places are historical. Here were a few that I found interesting.

The Dixie Mafia is a vague ‘character’ in the book. Though the people Grisham wrote were fictional, the group as a whole was real.

“Its members— the FBI was never certain who was a member, who was not, and how many claimed to be— were a loose assortment of bad boys and misfits who preferred crime over honest work. There was no established organization or hierarchy.”

According to Wikipedia, the ‘unofficial’ kingpin of The Dixie Mafia was a man named Mike Gillich Jr., who was from Croatian descent, grew up on Cadet Point, and became an entrepreneur of all matters of illegal stuff, making a name for himself on The Strip. It is clear that Grisham’s character Lance Malco is loosely based off of this man.


Hurricane Camille made landfall in August of 1969 and is one of only four Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall on the contiguous United States.

“Her damage was so unbelievable that the National Weather Service retired her name.”

Second in intensity only to The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, the damage in Mississippi caused by Camille was estimated at $950 million. In comparison Hurricane Katrina caused $30 billion.

Camille hit 20 miles east of where Katrina hit. Although Katrina wasn’t as intense as Camille, because the same area was more populated 36 years later, the damage was more.

In the book, of course, “Vice was perhaps the first industry to fully recover after the storm.”


Parchman jail seemed like a pretty bad prison so I looked up a little bit more about it. It is the only maximum security prison for men in Mississippi and the state’s oldest prison. It was the basis for the prison farm on the movie ‘O Brother Where Art Thou?’. It is true that for many years the prisoners were essentially slaves again, working the fields.

Over the years some changes have been made, but sounds like there has always been a need for reform at that prison for conditions for the prisoners. Recently they finally installed A/C and updated some other things.



Recommendation

If you enjoy a really good Wikipedia rabbit hole about Biloxi and all its trappings, I would definitely recommend this book.

If you are looking for a heart-felt story of a decades-long friendship and its ups and downs, you won’t find that here. If you’re looking for a legal thriller with a couple twists and surprises, you won’t find that here.

It seems this book has garnered a lot of mixed reactions from Grisham fans and I think for good reason.

Personally, I didn’t find it super compelling and I felt so disconnected from the characters. We rarely heard their thoughts or even their voice. We weren’t down in the trenches, we were at a bird’s eye view.

Even when the ‘hero’ of the book died, it felt too matter-of-fact and I didn’t feel much emotion from any of the characters. The content was so broad and documentative.

At the same time, it’s a long book and I read it fast so in a weird way I must have enjoyed it to some degree or I think it would have taken me longer to get through. It could be that because of all the corruption I had to keep reading so I could get some sort of justice and see good win over evil.

All in all, if I hadn’t read this book, I don’t think I would have missed much. I think some people will still enjoy it, but just because you enjoy Grisham books, doesn’t mean you’ll like this one.



[Content Advisory: no f-words, 8 s-words; many instances of violence, sex, drugs, prostitution- no descriptions of sexual things]


**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

True Grisham form - by the end of the book you feel like you are 1) part of the Coast underworld 2) part of the Rudy family and 3) have had enough legal education to be the next DA in the city of Biloxi. His writing draws you in and keeps you turning the pages.

I'm a huge John Grisham fan and read (or try to read) anything he puts out. While I liked The Boys from Biloxi, I feel like it wasn't his best work. The Boys from Biloxi is a book about big city mob crime from the 40s to the 80s, following two families - good vs. evil. The beginning of the story dragged on and on - and while I understand it was to help develop characters, establish timelines, explain what was happening during the time period - I wish some of that could have been left out. The meat of the story is probably the last third of the book - where it really picks up pace and I couldn't put it down. Patience pays off when reading this book - the end is worth the slow beginning.

I love John Grisham, but I am sorry to say I just could not get interested in this book. It is quite different from his usual legal thrillers. Set on the Gulf coast, Grisham tells a story of two immigrant families through recollections and reminiscences but sadly I just didn't grow to care about any of the characters. I gave it seventy-five pages before I had to stop. Maybe a disservice on my part, but life is too short to struggle through bad books.

I thought I'd try another John Gresham again as started reading everything he ever wrote for a few years and hadn't read his works in awhile. This one does not disappoint. It takes me back to sometimes getting lost in the story and having too much angst over the happenings. I suppose that would make it an excellent book as it evokes so much emotion. The cover gives an adequate description so I will not give spoilers are details. Suffice to say it does have twists and turns that will keep you reading long into the night. Read and enjoy. I was provided an advanced reader copy at my request. The opinions expressed are my own. Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

It was an intriguing story told like a 'true crime' story. Lots of research went into the book so although it was fiction, Biloxi had more than its share of characters - good and bad. The focus of the book is two boys who are close growing up but who end up taking divergent paths as young adults/adults. Their different values become the center of the story - and I won't say anymore about it because I hate putting spoilers in a review. Suffice it to say, I really really enjoyed the book.

Biloxi has its hands full with these boys! John Grisham weaves an epic slow burning tale that hooked me from the first page. There are a lot of characters in this book and we get to know them all, including family histories and a lot of back and side stories told mostly from a narrator's perspective. I found it all fascinating and I bonded easily to the characters, finding favorites in both the good boys and the bad boys. This is a long book and I started to feel like a member of the Biloxi community, cheering on the actions of Jesse Rudy and his court room appearances. I was impressed how Grisham managed to bring all the small stories we learned along the way into the conclusion of the book. The ending of the book is quite appropriate, as one never knows how they would behave in the same situation until they get there. Someone please make this book into a movie!

Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday Books, Doubleday for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Boys from Biloxi is a remember-when novel with the voice of the narrator telling readers what happened when the characters were high school athletes before they got involved in the gambling industry and law. The novel could benefit from more showing and less telling. Recommended for readers who are fans of Biloxi and enjoy long descriptive passages with little active dialogue.

John Grisham is one of the best writers of our time, no doubt about it. Not only is his legal mind impressive, but his ability to create such moving and dramatic stories that anyone can follow with that knowledge is a true gift. This story is no exception - he weaves an impressive web of intrigue with twists and turns the reader cannot anticipate but which add to the complexity of the story. The character development of Keith and Hugh is tremendous: you truly find yourself pulling for the characters despite their flaws. And the choices they are faced with are impossible but realistic. I loved this story and would highly recommend. Can't wait to see the movie as I am sure it will be forthcoming with such a tale.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham.
I am a longtime fan of John Grisham, and this book did not disappoint. It is the story of a small town plagued by crime, prostitution, and drugs. The story of two families whose lives go in different directions; one seeking justice, and one running the mob. Full of fast-paced action and suspense that Grisham is known for, with the addition of factual information about a corrupt town.

A new John Grisham - sign me up please!
I really enjoyed this new location for this book.
Set in the casinos instead of in the courtroom was fun.
I liked the good/bad childhood friends and the conflicts that continued throughout their lives.
I would like to read more about the main character left standing at the end. I hope it becomes a series.
Fans of Grisham's legal thrillers will find lots to cheer about in this book.

Loved this book! What an interesting and complicated set of characters this was!
Two young boys growing up in Biloxi, one from a lawyer and mostly "normal" family, the other from a prominent fixture in the Dixie Mafia and owner of bars and strip clubs. They were teammates on baseball teams and often compared to each other in the early days.
Fast forward to young adulthood and the mayhem and carnage ensues.
Keith becomes a lawyer, just like his father. Hugh becomes embroiled in the seedy underside of his father's empire.
When Keith's father, Jesse, becomes the District Attorney vowing to clean up the coast of gambling, strip clubs and prostitution, the chaos begins.

I absolutely love John Grisham. He's one of my favorite authors! This was another winner that I will continue to recommend. I cannot wait to purchase and add this one to my library!

Exceptional

I loved the book. The characters were well thought through. There were twist and turns through out the book with surprises I didn't see coming. Every page was interesting to read and never boring. Another master piece. Your going to love it.

I have to hope the errors I’m about to mention were caught before the book went to print as I read an ARC, but there were such egregious errors that I had trouble overlooking them. Namely, using “flaunt” instead of “flout,” “mike” instead of “mic” and a reference to a dead character “never seeing another day of freedom” as though he was imprisoned… and not dead! There were consecutive paragraphs that began with similar sentences or phrasing that I found to be redundant and overwritten. Like I said, I hope these mistakes were fixed before publishing, but it left a really sour taste in my mouth.

The pacing is slow and the book takes about 100 pages to get into (keep in mind it’s over 400 pages long). The story takes place over generations, and years sometimes pass between paragraphs. I found that a bit jarring and disruptive. I kept feeling like I was missing information.

I also found the prose of this off putting. The entire thing reads like a long winded summation of a riveting story, but the bird’s-eye-view narration left me begging for more details, more dialogue, more action. Thrilling storylines are wrapped up in mere sentences and half explanations; I was left wanting. I don’t think I’ve read any Grisham before, so I can’t compare it to his classics, but I was underwhelmed by this one.

While the climax is in fact, climactic, the aftermath drags in a way that tempers some of the action. The characters are interesting, specifically the villains, but because there’s no mystery, it really is just a procedural with a rather abrupt end.

The best scene was the last scene, and my wish is that the rest of the book had been written with the same elegance and urgency as that last exchange. I could write entire think-pieces on the final pages alone!

It also felt like botched commentary on some controversial topics: with Egan (women in politics/court), nepotism (Jesse and Keith), the death penalty (the little speech at the end about killing being wrong), the futility of prisons (the escape attempts and murder of prisoners), vice (the Strip), the legacy of slavery in the South (the Black prisoners at Parchman)… I could go on, but the point is that I didn’t feel anything was actually SAID about these issues, rather just presented. What stance is the author taking? None, I believe. In which case, I finished the book asking myself “What is the point?” instead of “What are the nuances and complexities of these issues?”

I imagine this would make a great weekend movie, but I don’t think I’d recommend this one. Maybe someone can recommend me a better Grisham? I won’t give up on him, but I wasn’t gripped by this one, and it took me a month or more to finish… In fact, I started writing this review before I finished the book (which I’m not sure I’ve ever done) so I wouldn’t forget all the things about it that bothered me. I’d argue that I finished the book just to post the review.

Once again Grisham delivers a quick paced thriller. The story of 2 families along the gulf coast that take very different paths. The story was full of history as well as suspense. Grisham fans will thoroughly enjoy this book.

This was typical Grisham and I loved everything about it!! The character development was amazing. I felt like I knew Keith and Hugo.

John Grisham’s novels never disappoint! This latest story is set in Biloxi, on the gulf coast of Mississippi, and gives a history of how the darker side of Biloxi came to be in control—at least until Jesse Rudy got involved.

I loved how Grisham gave a history of the two main families, going back three generations to where they came from, what their fathers did for a living and their family life. Many similarities were to be found.

The Malco family and the Rudy family were thrown together when their boys went to school and played Little League baseball. Hugh Malco and Keith Rudy were close childhood friends, but as they grew up, their paths began to separate as it so often does with teenagers.

Hugh’s father owned some profitable night clubs with questionable activities. Keith’s father became a lawyer and eventually a prosector. By this time, the boys were into young adulthood and this is the point the story really heats up.

The ending was both shocking and predictable, but it touched my heart due to the fact that life is often similar for childhood friends when they end up on different paths. With all the bad blood between the Malco and Rudy family, the ending was one that came full circle for the two boys.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for allowing me to read and review this book. I am happy to recommend it and give an honest review.