1537. The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham

The Boys from Biloxi is the 8^th novel by John Grisham that has been reviewed in Men Reading Books, although it was Grisham’s 49^th book. However, I should point out that he had already published 23 books by the time the blog was started in 2009. He is a master at legal drama, and he’s at his best in this book. This is a multigenerational story of two families of immigrants who find their way to the Mississippi coast. The families are quite poor and struggle for existence until the prohibition days. The liquor business was protected by the local sheriff’s office, and as those businesses began to thrive, corruption grew. Gambling and prostitution became part of the life in Biloxi. For decades, no one seemed willing to challenge that way of life. People, those in power and regular citizens, turned their heads with regard to such goings on.

 

The two families, who had been close for decades, headed in a different direction in the 50’s and 60’s. While one family owned and developed the underworld businesses, the other developed lawyers. By the 50’s, as the fathers were headed in their different directions, they still lived in the same neighborhood, the first sons of both family grew up together and played childhood sports together in the 60’s. However, each boy learned to idolize his own father, and as the boys hit the end of high school, their worlds diverged. One father ran the largest crime syndicate on the coast and the other became the District Attorney who was determined to shut down the abundant crime in Biloxi. The struggles of the fathers with one another, and the increased struggle between the sons was the meat of this legal thriller. This book gets a 5-star rating from me.