The Boys from Biloxi

Best-seller Grisham (The Judge’s List) returns with another character-driven thriller. Grisham begins his novel with a fascinating history of Eastern European immigrants, mostly Croatian, who settled in Biloxi, MS. Lance Malco, a second-generation immigrant, opens a string of clubs on a strip that offers illegal gambling, prostitution, and watered-down liquor, while his friend Jesse Rudy becomes a lawyer. Lance and Jesse’s sons Hugh and Keith become inseparable friends and admired stars of the Biloxi high school baseball team, although their paths diverge after graduation. Hugh ends up working for his father’s illegal gambling and prostitution syndicate, while Keith becomes a lawyer like his father. When Jesse is elected as Biloxi’s district attorney and is tasked with cleaning up Lance’s illegal clubs, the two families’ paths collide in a devastating way. Narrator Michael Beck’s spot-on pacing keeps the narrative moving through the courtroom drama that follows as well as when describing the tensions between family and friends. Listeners will appreciate Beck’s Southern accent, which adds to the atmosphere of this gripping story.