Nelson > Recent Status Updates

Everything is about the investigation of Jesse Rudy’s murder - Keith was appointed DA for the rest of his father’s term. FBI and state police were running the investigation of the bombing. Their top suspect, Henry Taylor, is struggling with his broken leg and lack of money due to not being able to work. FBI is tracking him, but nothing major has come from it. They are keeping Keith in the dark about the suspect.

Holy shit!

A bomb was delivered to Jesse Rudy’s office - he didn’t stand a chance.

Ok so maybe I was wrong with my prediction for the rest of this book.. now things shifted to an old murder, a contract killing. The man that was the go-between for the killer got cancer and on his deathbed told the cops everything he knew. The cops can’t verify the stories (19 murders in all), but the police told Jesse Rudy about one of the killings that involved Lance Malco and Nevin Noll.

So I think I figured out what the rest of the book is about - Keith political career

Jesse and Keith went to the governor’s mansion and the governor first tried to convince Jesse about running for statewide office, but Jesse wasn’t interested. Then the governor turned to Keith and mentioned the same for him - The timing isn’t right now, but he does want to be living in the governor’s mansion someday

Jesse Rudy got The Boss. Jesse went to Malco’s lawyer and showed him the FBI sketch that looked a lot like Hugh Malco and used that to essentially blackmail Lance to plead guilty so that his son doesn’t go to prison for the jewelry store robberies and murder.
Lance Malco was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Seems like everyowas building to this conviction, sooo what’s gonna happen over these last 200 pages??

End of Part I

Jesse Rudy is just dominating the trial. Lance Malco seems done. But that’s just the end of Part I so surely there’s a big victory coming for The Boss

Things are a changing in Biloxi. Jesse Rudy’s conviction of the club was affirmed by the Supreme Court and was shutdown, but eventually The Boss reopened it. Jesse indicted Lance Malco, 3 floor managers and 13 girls. The Boss is worried and things seem to be falling apart around him. Everything seems to be going well for the prosecution (except informant had to flee) - Strippers and floor managers are taking deals

Jesse Rudy is schooling the club owners in the courtroom - specifically going after The Carousel, but the others have taken notice. Gambling and prostitution are temporarily done. Even The Boss Lance Malco senses “change is in the air.”

Jesse Rudy won his DA election

Jesse is beating the insurance company in court - Chapter 19 is a cool episode of Jesse in the courtroom.

Jesse Rudy taking the insurance company to court!

Hurricane Camille ripped through the Gulf Coast. Category 5 that destroyed most buildings (including the clubs on The Strip) - but Biloxi will rebuild, and Lance Malco is going to rebuild his illegal empire even grander.

*this storm really happened* 2nd most intense hurricane to hit the USA - The name Camille was retired after this storm 1969 - Love that this book has references to actual US events/history

Dirty politics won the election - but Jesse Judy will run again. After the election, The Boss wins a gang war… which leads to Jesse Rudy then becoming DA in the next election

Part 2 Chapter 14
Keith’s dad’s campaign was in full swing. He’s running on an anti-corruption campaign. Doesn’t seem like he’ll win. His opponent (backed by the club owners and mobsters) hit him with a very effective mailer to all the voters. The Rudy’s countered with taking out a loan and sending out mailers of their own.. seems too little too late.

End of Part 1 - I’m hooked.
The boys are getting older. Keith going to Southern Miss and trying to pitch, while Hugh is going into the family business on The Strip.
Keith’s dad is going to run for district attorney and his campaign will be to clean up Biloxi. A crusade against The Strip and all that comes with it.
And Keith knows that it’s going to kill their friend group, especially between him and Hugh

Chapter 11 - a classic mob trial. Disappearing witnesses, fake alibis, and a smooth defense attorney. Nevin was found not guilty of murder

Hugh is boxing now (awesome chapter about his first 2 matches)
A club owner on the Strip cheated The Boss out of $10k and skipped town (went to Hot Springs for the races and it’s really cool that the author knows about the history of Hot Springs/Oaklawn) - Nevin killed the club owner’s #2 and got arrested. Seems like he’s going to prison, but The Boss got a renowned lawyer for his defense so we’ll see..

A new gang is coming into town. The State Line Mob bought a club and got the attention of The Boss - police don’t care as long as they get paid and nobody dies. Looks like a war is coming.
Jesse Rudy (Keith’s dad) started his own law practice. Sounds like he’s going to run for district attorney, but can he “clean up the coast” or will it be business as usual.

Lance Malco = “The Boss”
Competition tried to undercut his prices on booze and girls. Lance found a guy named Nevin Noll, who was discharged from the military base (dude is a beast and loves to fight). Nevin handled the rival club owner and now business is booming.
As for the boys - Keith Rudy was still a good athlete, but Hugh Malco peaked in middle school. Hugh is gearing up for joining the family business

Chapter 4 - The Rudy’s family history: Keith Rudy’s father fought in WWII. He got back and went to school to be a teacher, but a college friend got him intrigued in becoming a lawyer. He worked his butt off doing night classes and became the first lawyer from The Pointe.
Seems clear that the Rudy family are the “good guys” and the Malco family isn’t (I don’t want to call them “bad guys” just yet)

Chapter 3 - Hugh Malco’s family history. Grandfather was a hard-worker Croatian immigrant. He worked blue collar jobs until a back injury. He started working at a grocery store; eventually buying the store and opened a bar. His bar (though illegal because of prohibition) wasn’t shady - no gambling or prostitution. Then only came along after Hugh’s grandfather passed and his dad took over the family business.

Biloxi is lawless. Seems like there were no rules back then (funny cause today it’s known for gambling kinda like Hot Springs) - the two main characters (Hugh & Keith) are studs at Little League Baseball

They got the eggs!

Met the Owen’s/Ethan’s former boss. Apparently he’s a terrible guy. Defense attorney for some terrible gang/mafia clients.. clearly still loves Bailey. Did Owen kidnap Bailey??