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by kate
Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “The boys from Biloxi” by John Grisham
Kate’s 2¢: “The boys from Biloxi” by John Grisham
“The boys from Biloxi” by John Grisham
It was obvious from the beginning that childhood friends, Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco, were going to end up on opposite sides of the struggle. The story is, non-the-less, intriguing and well worth the 17 hours, 25 minutes. Michael Beck did a good job of narrating this story for the National Library Service.
From the web: Wikipedia:
Grisham, the second of five children, was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to Wanda (née Skidmore) and John Ray Grisham.[6] His father was a construction worker and a cotton farmer, and his mother was a homemaker.[9] When Grisham was four years old, his family settled in Southaven, Mississippi, a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee.[6]
As a child, he wanted to be a baseball player.[8] As noted in the foreword to Calico Joe, Grisham gave up playing baseball at the age of 18, after a game in which a pitcher aimed a beanball at him, and narrowly missed, doing the young Grisham grave harm.
Although Grisham’s parents lacked formal education, his mother encouraged him to read and prepare for college.[1] He drew on his childhood experiences for his novel A Painted House.[6] Grisham started working for a plant nursery as a teenager, watering bushes for $1.00 an hour. He was soon promoted to a fence crew for $1.50 an hour. He wrote about the job: “there was no future in it”. At 16, Grisham took a job with a plumbing contractor but says he “never drew inspiration from that miserable work”.[10]
Through one of his father’s contacts, he managed to find work on a highway asphalt crew in Mississippi at age 17. It was during this time that an unfortunate incident got him “serious” about college. A fight with gunfire broke out among the crew, causing Grisham to run to a nearby restroom to find safety. He did not come out until after the police had detained the perpetrators. He hitchhiked home and started thinking about college. His next work was in retail, as a salesclerk in a department store men’s underwear section, which he described as “humiliating”. By this time, Grisham was halfway through college. Planning to become a tax lawyer, he was soon overcome by “the complexity and lunacy” of it, deciding instead to return to his hometown as a trial lawyer.[11]
He attended the Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, Mississippi and later attended Delta State University in Cleveland.[6] Grisham changed colleges three times before completing a degree.[1] He eventually graduated from Mississippi State University in 1977, receiving a B.S. degree in accounting. He later enrolled in the University of Mississippi School of Law to become a tax lawyer, but his interest shifted to general civil litigation. He graduated in 1981 with a J.D. degree.[6]
After leaving law school, he participated in some missionary work in Brazil, under the First Baptist Church of Oxford.[12]
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
The boys from Biloxi DB110627
Grisham, John; Beck, Michael. Reading time: 17 hours, 25 minutes.
Read by Michael Beck.
Suspense Fiction
Mystery and Detective Stories
Legal Fiction
“For most of the last hundred years, Biloxi was known for its beaches, resorts, and seafood industry. But it had a darker side. It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor, and drugs to contract killings. The vice was controlled by small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumored to be members of the Dixie Mafia. Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the sixties and were childhood friends, as well as Little League all-stars. But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith’s father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to “clean up the Coast.” Hugh’s father became the “Boss” of Biloxi’s criminal underground. Keith went to law school and followed in his father’s footsteps. Hugh preferred the nightlife and worked in his father’s clubs. The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom. Life itself hangs in the balance in The Boys from Biloxi, a sweeping saga rich
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by kate
Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “The Family Across The Street” by Nicole Trope
Kate’s 2¢: “The Family Across The Street” by Nicole Trope
“The Family Across The Street” by Nicole Trope
I liked this thriller; although, I couldn’t find much background information on the author. She is, apparently, a prolific author.
By alternating the pov, each character was developed as the narrative progressed. Yes, the ending was a surprise and took a bit to parse who was who, but it worked.
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
The family across the street DB110758
Trope, Nicole. Reading time: 7 hours, 47 minutes.
Read by Laura Hatch.
Suspense Fiction
Psychological Fiction
“Sometimes, the most perfect families are hiding the most terrible secrets. How well do you know the people next door? Everybody wants to live on Hogarth Street, the pretty, tree-lined avenue with its white houses. The new family, The Wests, are a perfect fit. Katherine and Josh seem so in love and their gorgeous five-year-old twins race screeching around their beautiful emerald-green lawn. But soon people start to notice: why don’t they join backyard barbecues? Why do they brush away offers to babysit? Why, when you knock at the door, do they shut you out, rather than inviting you in? Every family has secrets, and on the hottest day of the year, the truth is about to come out. As a tragedy unfolds behind closed doors, the dawn chorus is split by the wail of sirens. And one by one the families who tried so hard to welcome the Wests begin to realise: Hogarth Street will never be the same again.” — Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language.
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