The Boys From Biloxi Plot Synopsis
Keith Rudy was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, in the early 1960s. He grew up poor and played baseball for the local team until he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1984. Keith’s rise to prominence as a player and manager has been meteoric, and he is now one of baseball’s most respected figures. Hugh Malco, on the other hand, was born in Biloxi in 1965. He grew up poor and played football for his high school before being drafted by the Baltimore Colts in 1984. Hugh’s rise to prominence as a player and manager has been even more meteoric – he is now one of football’s most respected figures. The two friends have always been at odds with each other, but their simmering anger boiled over into a full-blown battle over Biloxi’s future on July 4th this year.
Keith’s father, Jesse Rudy, believes in doing what is right and trying to rid the Strip of the gangsters that have made a lucrative profit through drugs, prostitution and illegal gambling. Hugh’s father, Lance Malco, oversees a good chunk of this criminal empire and is well-known as part of the Dixie Mafia - not to be messed with. Hugh soon finds himself enamored with the glory and intoxicated with the idea of making a quick buck, helped along by Lance’s right-hand man, Nevin Noll. ..
When Jesse Rudy promises to clean up the coast, Keith works his way through law school to follow in his father’s footsteps, and an inevitable showdown between the mafia and Rudy’s family ensues – one destined for the courtroom. ..
Who killed Jesse Rudy? And why?
Henry Taylor, a man who had set off a bomb at the courthouse, was injured in the blast and collapsed outside. ..
As the team works to piece together Henry’s role in the bombing, they come up with a few possible suspects. One is a man who has recently been released from prison, another is a man who has a history of mental illness, and finally, there is someone who may have had something to do with the bombing but has yet to be caught. As they continue their investigation, they come up with more and more evidence that points to one person as the bomber.
They dust for prints and bug his phones, eventually learning that Henry Taylor was paid $20k to kill Rudy. In order to catch him in the act, Lewius and his team hire Gross, a legit Private Investigator, to goad Taylor into a confession. Taylor falls for trhe trap, where he’s instructed to kill two fictitious targets at a condo resort with explosives. Taylor meets Nevin Noll and exchanges money for explosives. With evidence in the bag, both men are arrested. Hugh Malco is also arrested, along with Sergeant Eddie Morton, who had been stationed at Kessler for 9 years. An anonymous tip notified the FBI that he had been selling the explosives. He also has a gambling problem and agreed that, in exchange for getting rid of heavy debts to his name, he’d give Malco and his men military grade explosives.
What happens before the trials?
Judge Oliphant is declared unfit to be the presiding judge, as he has a series of mini strokes that force him into retirement. Abraham Roach comes out of retirement to help oversee proceedings. It doesn’t take long for Sgt Morton to be sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling explosives. However, he’s offered a plea deal by working with Keith.
Henry Taylor, the bomber, has agreed to cooperate and work against Noll and Malco. This means that Keith, the prosecutor who was very close to the case, steps aside and Chuck McClure is brought in. McClure is a revered prosecutor with a good record for putting away men facing the death penalty. This news shocks Noll who is unwilling to die in the gas chamber and gladly takes 30 years in prison in exchange for testifying against Malco. ..
Is Hugh found guilty? What happens to Fats Bowman?
Hugh is found guilty and the verdict is the death penalty. The jury has been tampered with and the Mafia has quite literally got away with murder, so there is no last minute twist.
With Hugh behind bars and facing death, Haley Stofer, the informant who worked with Jess Rudy years earlier, contacts Keith with big news regarding Fats Bowman. He has evidence linking him with drug trafficking and has a contact in New Orleans to confirm as much. Stofer’s words ring true when Jackson Lewis leads the charge, following Fats to one of his farms and arresting him after uncovering $30 million worth of cocaine.
Fats pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was given a weekend pass to say goodbye to his family, but instead cowardly headed off to his hunting lodge and committed suicide, shooting himself in the head. Haley Stofer meanwhile, made parole and ran, with a new identity and living in California without any hard feelings against Jesse Rudy or his family. ..
In the aftermath of all this, Keith runs for Attorney General and becomes the youngest AG in the state’s history and the youngest in the country. As news of this filters through, Lance prepares for his inevitable release. To show the Strip who’s boss, he has Henry Taylor killed in prison and eventually returns to… nothing. With Fats Bowman gone and his family gone, given his wife divorced him earlier on, Lance decides to scrounge together what money he can to help Hugh. With his empire gone and crumbled to ash, he puts $50k on Noll’s head, who enacts a prison escape of his own and runs, never to be seen again.
How does The Boys From Biloxi end?
With the State agreeing to the death penalty for Hugh Malco, following lengthy and drawn out debates about the morality and justification of this, Keith heads in to see his old buddy one more time. Hugh seems sincere and explains he never meant to kill Jesse. He just wanted to send him a message. Although Hugh seems sincere, we know he’s not from earlier chapters, where Grisham writes: “He harbors not single thought of being innocent,” while discussing his trial.
In a twist that left many readers wondering what happened, it was revealed that Keith left the scene of the crime before Hugh could kill him. This led to questions about whether or not the judicial system is fair and whether the death penalty is justified. In the end, Keith leaves and Hugh smiles knowingly, telling him he’ll see him on the other side.
The Boys from Biloxi is a powerful and moving book that tells the story of a group of boys who were taken from their families and forced to work on a Mississippi Gulf Coast oil rig. The boys are determined to find their way back home, but they face many challenges along the way.
