The Testament

Rating:
Summary: don't pass this one up!
Review: I bought this book the old fashioned way (in a book store). I hesitated to buy it (for only a brief moment) based on the preview on the book jacket, but being an avid reader of Grisham, I couldn't pass it up. Wow! the book is so much better than the preview might lead one to believe! I'm impressed that Grisham can still come up with unique story lines in unique parts of the world. The ending pleasingly caught me off guard as well.

Rating:
Summary: It kept me turning pages all day long!!!!!
Review: I'm only 16 years old and my mother bought this book. So, one night I started reading it and I couldn't put it down. It seemed so real! "It kept me turning pages all day long!!!!!" I didn't wanna put it down. The first book I read by John Grisham was "A Time To Kill" and I liked it better than the movie. The movie brought better understanding but the book caught my attention. It set the scene for the whole story. If you ask me, John Grishman is one of the best authors alive today.

Rating:
Summary: It's OK, but nothing special
Review: This book had the potential to be great, but it lost me somewhere. I loved the dysfunctional family - Grisham showed some of that same quirky humor he showed in the Rainmaker. But when he started writing about the jungle, he began to bore me. If I wanted to read about the jungles of South America, I would have gone to the non-fiction section. It also seemed like Grisham rushed through the ending when he was writing it. This book is a good way to whittle away a lazy Sunday afternoon, but it is not up to Grisham's high bar of excellence.

Rating:
Summary: Great Start and Finish, the center is a little stretched.
Review: This book started off like no other. There was so much twisting in the first 2 chapters I was thinking "if this is the start, what will the rest of the book bring?" I was hoping for a lot more. I was dissapointed as some of the really predictable stuff was described as only Charles Dickens could have done. I am not sure how I managed through it. The book ends with a smile.

Rating:
Summary: good book
Review: this is my first john grisham novel. i know that is suprising since he has numerous best sellers. i liked "the testament." i found the characters interesting and i enjoyed the adventures in brazil. i especially enjoyed the phelan heirs. i also found that the book is a good parable of the emptiness of money and the fulfillment that spirtuality can bring. but the conversion of nate o'reilly was confusing. when did he become a christian? plus, after a prayer he immediately dropped his alcoholism. grisham left off alot of the details of his conversion and him changing his life. if grisham was trying to give a spiritual story i think he failed, but nonetheless i thought the book was pretty good. he addressed issues that our society needs to hear and he did it pretty well.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, but as good as Grisham's rest?
Review: I really love reading Grisham... and The Testament was another book I couldn't put down. And the ending was really realistic, and the only acceptable ending possible. But still, it didn't have the "something" that The Rainmaker, and The Runaway Jury had. Actually, every one of Grisham's books has been amazing, right upto Street Lawyer, and yes, even the Testament. The Testament is a very different book. Actually, kudos to Grisham for such a dramatic style change. And this book is a MUST READ, if you ever liked anything by Grisham. But be warned. This is a rahter predictable, feel-good-about-the-good-people-of-the-earth book. Predictable, because you don't expect Grisham to be stupidly unrealistic. All in all, a MUST READ, once again!

Rating:
Summary: Better than recent efforts.
Review: I have read all of Grisham's books and generally enjoy his style and content. Most of his fans will enjoy this book, but I don't think it was his best effort. The book was unevenly paced, cartoonish at times, and ended rather abruptly without bringing the story to an end. I would like to see Grisham fewer books, but go back to the things that made The Firm and A Time to Kill superior reads.

Rating:
Summary: A great story with a message that touched my heart.
Review: I believe that this is my favorite Grisham book to date, and I have read them all. As an attorney, who has had several ups and downs just as Nate,and who has searched for the real meaning in life, and my profession, I found so much truth in The Testament. The underlying theme in the book pulled at my heart and had a spiritual effect on me. The ending was very emotional. Thanks John. This time you touched my heart. Do it again.

Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly different
Review: I looked through some of the reviews and it seems as though die hard Grisham fans were a little let down by this book because it wasn't "compelling" like the others. I have been a Grisham fan from the beginning and my favorite book still stands as A Time to Kill. I have enjoyed his other books but they all seem to follow the same formula - a person in some sort of trouble, a twisting plot that raises the blood pressure, and they all make out in the end and go live on some paradise island somewhere with millions. I found The Testament refreshing because it was different. It was a slower paced book, weaving a story and spending more time on the passing details

Rating:
Summary: He has done it again.
Review: Having been an avid reader of all Grisham's novels, I was pleased to see that the author can still capture one's attention and hold on to it through the last sentence. _The Testament_ seems to have much more of the "heart" of John Grisham. It was refreshing to feel connected to the storyline which encouraged a fast reading pace. After all these years, Grisham still has it. Please place my pre-order for the next one.