Rating: 
Summary: Like the Old and the New, The Testament leaves questions.
Review: One of the best beginnings - why not write in the first person of the VERY wealthy man who commits suicide, and then deal with the fallout of his controversial will? Yes, the ending leaves questions of the spiritual type - does Nate really get it? Will any of the Phelan children ever get it? A great read from beginning to end -and some questions to think about when it is over.
Rating: 
Summary: John Q. Lawyer's Daydream
Review: What would you suppose the contents of a typical lawyer's daydream to be? How about being a successful high-profile courtroom lawyer whose done it all including becoming an alcoholic, chasing women, ruining a couple of marriages and now drying out in a sanitarium somewhere in the mountains. Now your boss wants you to find an heiress worth 11 BILLION dollars. Nobody else at the law firm has time to find the world's richest unmarried woman except you (reality check - NO WAY!). This is a day dream so you'll probably end up being the Trustee for an 11-billion dollar Trust Fund. You'll control a large fortune that you never earned (Did I mention this is about a lawyer?). Sorry, but I just gave away the ending too. Along the way are some interesting character descriptions which give away a lot about how lawyers really feel about their clients and a short travellog about a region in Brazil that might have been an interesting story all by itself. If you like Grisham you might as well read this too. If you're like me, he'll never be a novelist, just an overpaid TV script writer. But as long as egotistic actors think lawyers are cool, John will keep making money as a hack.
Rating: 
Summary: An uplifting spiritual odyssey
Review: I believe this is the book that shows Grisham's true spiritual colors. The purity of the Rachel Lane character, and the salvation of a burnt-out, substance-abusing lawyer are set in sharp relief against a hideously corrupt, money-loving set of potential heirs. As a Christian, I appreciated the message, although even non-religious people I think can benefit. I disagree with those who think the ending is weak. I actually got choked up at the end, and I think many will do the same.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: It was an excellent book-- very enjoyable, and I would recommend it to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: Grisham does well, but surely not his best
Review: Dont get me wrong, I finished the book in a day and a half, and it was nearly impossible to put down, but Im sure a lot of people will agree with me that as usual, John leaves the ending up in the air. Either he does this on purpose, or, he's lousy at ending his books? Im not too sure, but I think that in The Testament, there were a lot of unanswered questions. I guess this added to the "allure" of the book, but it was a little dissapointing at the end. What becomes of Nate O'Reily? Does he stay in Brazil or head back to the U.S? What happens to the Phelan children? In any case, I still would recommend this book. It combines everything from adventure, to legal matters, to religion, and it succumbs the reader into a world of courts and Amazon rainforests. I would reccomend this, but I wouldnt expect anyone to expect this book to be such an intriguing book like The Firm or The Partner...let's wait for The Brethren though..! P.S. Does Grisham like Brazil or what? First the Partner, and now the Testament..hmmmmm
Rating:
Summary: Completely facinating
Review: The testament was hard to put down. i stayed up til two in the morning and was ready to fall asleep, but i still couldn't put it down. this is a great book, and if you want to be interested, read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Testament:Grisham is engrossing as usual
Review: As have all of Grisham's work, Testament kept me turning pages well into the night. But 'Testament' is not wholly typical of this fine author's work. This time, the courtroom drama takes a distant second to the excitement of the action taking place in the South American jungle, where our hero, a recovering addict and jaded lawyer, braves dark swamps, over-sized snakes and reptiles, as well as questionably friendly natives, and the temptation of the bottle, to seek out the reluctant heir to a billion-dollar fortune. While this book does not lack Grisham's typical hero's yearning to escape from the confining and miserable practise of law, it does lack the perfidious threats and violence of Grisham's view of greedy Corporate America. Nor do we get to meet organized crime figures. The bad guys in 'Testament' possess enough greed to go around, but fall short of his usual violence, which is left to the vagaries of the Peruvian jungle.
Rating: 
Summary: a fun read
Review: this book is hard to rate. for john grisham it's 4.5 stars. for a typical page turner it's 4 stars. for a novel it's 3 stars. this book is typical grisham. if you've read his other books and enjoyed them you will like this one. if you hate his other books then you'll probably not enjoy this one. his writing style has become a formula and quite predictable (like the ending) but The Testament is a nice read for a plane trip, beach or lazy afternoon. i felt the whole christian part of the book was a waste and should have been edited out a bit more.... like a bad writer he made his point way too obvious... his point should've and could've been much more subtle yet much more effective. the protagonist was very disappointing. he was extremely weak and pitiful. and it was so hard to believe that he would "find god" so quickly and easily. i was just hoping that in the end he would die in the jungle because i was so sick of him and his juvenile tendencies. while the characters are written well for the most part there is not likable or sympathetic one in the bunch. they were all so very disconnected and childish. but overall it was a nice read... nothing special.
Rating:
Summary: The Testament
Review: From the moment I began reading it, I was spellbound. I could not put it down. I usually turn in early, but for some reason I could stop reading. Th characters seemed so real. Nate was a gem. It was nice to see him really try be be a decent human being after all the pain he had caused. The book showed another example of how greed can turn some people in to monsters. The Testament is one of the best books I have read in ages.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but not up to his best
Review: I enjoyed this book overall, with probably the best parts Nate's trip into the Brazilian interior and his battle with drink. You never were quite sure when he'd fall off the edge again. But the fizzling relationship stakes with Rachel took the edge off for me and meant it wasn't up to Grisham's best past form, which I would rank as The Rainmaker, The Client, The Chamber and The Firm, pretty much in that order. However, I might have been spoilt by a recent read, 'Past Imperfect' by John Matthews, the best thriller I've read in years. What attracted me, amongst dazzling press and amazon reader reviews, was one which claimed it was reminiscent of Grisham and Crichton, but with better characterization and plot than both. I would concur. A definite 'don't miss' read. I'm not sure if it's available yet from American publishers, but it is in England through amazon.co.uk - which is where I saw the reviews.
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