The Boys from Biloxi

The Boys from Biloxi is a legal thriller written by John Grisham. Published in 2022, it tells the story of two men who are pitted against one another, as one runs a criminal enterprise and the other prosecutes crime as district attorney. An international best-selling author, Grisham worked as a lawyer for nearly a decade before becoming an author. His expertise informs the novel’s descriptions of legal processes and its thematic exploration of legality versus morality.

This study guide refers to the 2022 Doubleday hardcover edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The Boys from Biloxi and this study guide touch on emotionally challenging and possibly triggering topics, including violence (murder, assault, statutory rape, rape), sex work, gambling, and capital punishment.

Plot Summary

The Boys from Biloxi is primarily told by an omniscient third-person narrator and has four parts: “The Boys,” “The Crusader,” “The Prisoners,” and “The Row.” It tells the story of two immigrant families, both from Croatia, that settled along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast: the Malco family (originally Malokovic) and the Rudy family (originally Rudic). The families settle in Biloxi, a known hot spot for crime, including illegal alcohol (during prohibition), gambling, and sex work. The “boys” of the title are Hugh Malco and Keith Rudy, sons of Lance Malco and Jesse Rudy, respectively.

“The Boys” follows Hugh and Keith growing up together, attending the same school, going to the same church, and playing in the same baseball league. In their teens, they start down different paths. Keith plans to go to law school and follow in Jesse’s footsteps; Jesse is a lawyer who eventually becomes district attorney (DA) and plans to rid Biloxi of crime. Meanwhile, Hugh wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and plans to take over the family business, a string of nightclubs and bars in the seedy area of town known as The Strip, where illegal gambling and sex work run rampant.

Hugh and Keith both admire their fathers and are loyal to them. Each boy watches his father, an immigrant son, carve out a path to power and notoriety—albeit in very different realms. While Jesse is known as the “crusader,” Lance is “the boss.” Tension arises between Jesse and Lance when Jesse, as the DA, starts prosecuting club owners like Lance. Jesse starts by going after one of Lance’s competitors, Ginger Redfield. He successfully manages to close Ginger’s club and even brings a case against Ginger for knowingly running a bar where sex work is allowed (although Ginger walks free after jury tampering results in a mistrial).

Lance knows that if Jesse can put Ginger away, any of the crime bosses—including himself—may be next. Lance enlists the help of Biloxi’s corrupt Sheriff, Albert “Fats” Bowman, and Lance’s main henchman, Nevin Noll, to try to throw Jesse off. For example, they orchestrate an easy sting operation against one of Lance’s competitors, giving Jesse a quick “win” that they hope will satiate his appetite for fighting crime. It doesn’t work; Jesse remains determined to “clean up the Coast” (61). His efforts to do so are the focus of the novel’s second part of the book, “The Crusader.”

As Lance fears, Jesse ultimately does take him down—with help from undercover police officers of the state police (the Biloxi law enforcement is too corrupt to rely on) and an undercover informant who works at one of Lance’s bars. Even the FBI comes to Jesse’s aid, given that the corruption in the Coast’s police is so rampant that taking down the area’s criminals without outside muscle is impossible. Fats is the ultimate example, as he’s been taking payouts from Ginger, Lance, and the other crime bosses in the area for years. Fats even has a monthly dinner with Lance at a Biloxi seafood restaurant, Baricev’s, in public.

Jesse must resort to morally questionable tactics to put Lance in prison. Jesse learns from the FBI that they’re looking for Hugh, who was involved in a string of robberies in his early twenties. The FBI doesn’t know who they’re looking for; they have only a composite sketch of the criminal. Jesse recognizes Hugh from the sketch. Jesse shows Lance the sketch and offers him a plea deal that includes prison time—and in exchange, Jesse won’t tell the FBI about Hugh. If Lance doesn’t agree, Jesse will inform the FBI (and Hugh will go to prison). To protect his son, Lance takes the deal. Lance’s lawyer points out that Jesse’s “ruthless” actions amount to extortion, flagging how a “good guy” like Jesse isn’t all good.

While Lance is in prison, Hugh takes over his father’s criminal activities. Hugh, angry at Jesse for locking his dad away, pays a hitman to make a mail bomb and drop it off at Jesse’s office. Jesse dies immediately. Keith is then sworn in as DA and takes over for his father; his main aim is to catch the Malcos, whom he correctly assumes are responsible for Jesse’s death. With the FBI’s help, the people responsible for Jesse’s death—Hugh, Nevin, and the bomb maker—are captured. Their capture is the focus of the third part of the book, “The Prisoners.” Nevin and the bomb maker cut deals with the prosecution and turn on Hugh, testifying against him. For orchestrating the hit, Hugh is convicted of capital murder and is sentenced to death.

The book’s final part, “The Row,” returns the focus to “the boys,” Hugh and Keith. While Keith rises through the ranks of politics, graduating from DA to Attorney General (AG), Hugh awaits execution on death row. His lawyers appeal his conviction multiple times. Hugh’s final effort to avoid the death penalty occurs when he petitions the governor of Mississippi for clemency. However, the governor—now a connection of Keith’s—consults Keith about whether to issue clemency. Keith tells the governor, “I want him [Hugh] executed” (445), sealing Hugh’s fate. On the night of Hugh’s execution, Keith visits him in prison, and the men talk. Hugh tells Keith that the bomb wasn’t meant to kill Jesse; Keith believes him. Hugh has accepted his fate and shows Keith no ill will. Keith doesn’t stay to watch the execution. As he leaves, Hugh tells him: “So long, pal. I’ll see you on the other side” (454).