The Testament

Rating:
Summary: Waiting for the movie!
Review: This book kept me on the edge! I wondered through the whole book how it was going to end, intrigued the whole way. I also appreciate how Grisham could portray a Christian character that seemed human. Maybe this will shed a little light on what Christianity was meant to be, as opposed to what the church has made it look like. I really hope they make a movie out of this one!

Rating:
Summary: Great Bathroom Reading
Review: This work will not make you think, but it is a decent source of mindless entertainment. The story is predictable enough and seems to read like a movie.

Rating:
Summary: A Grisham Masterpiece
Review: This has to be one of Grisham's finest. In short, it's about a billionaire who sticks it to his kids one last time before his death. A lawyer grabs his fragile sobriety and heads into the depths of Brazil to find the sole heir. It's an interesting story with a few unexpected twists, but not too much of the legal tedium displayed in some of his earlier works. The depth to which the characters are developed is uncanny...you almost feel the heat of their emotions. It is as much a story on the trappings and failings (and somewhat rare triumphs) of our American culture as it is a story about the distrubution of a billionaires' estate. A great read, I hated for it to end.

Rating:
Summary: Testament
Review: John Grisham has done it again. Written a book that keeps the reader turning the pages. I refer of course to the Testament.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Unforgettable
Review: What Grisham has managed to do with "The Testament", is masterfully combine an interesting legal plot within the streets of DC., and an emotionally involving one within the river ways in the Pantanal. In the same book, Lawyers and Clients engage in an intriguing courtroom battle, and a booze addict discovers what better life he can live under Christ through the teachings of a missionary deep within the Pantanal region in Brazil. I especially recommend this book to those religious at heart. The story is moving, however keeps the pages turning as the devious legal plot unfolds.

Rating:
Summary: So far, the best John Grisham novel
Review: This is certainly the best John Grisham novel so far. A self-made billionaire commits suicide. When his last will is discovered, it is mind-boggling to the supposed-to-be heirs. He leaves his vast fortune to one of his children, Rachel. But she's enstranged to her father, and has given her life to God as a missionary in the jungles of Brazil. Now, the lawyers have to find her, which is not an easy task. In the meanwhile, the supposed-to-be heirs are circling like vultures, trying to overturn the 'insane' will. The story is suspenseful, heart-warming, adventurous, and beautifully written. It's also a picture of human nature, and the story carries a rare genuine redemptive byline. Really a good book!

Rating:
Summary: Take the money and run!
Review: I could almost see hear Grisham's editor pleading for more pages...so drawn out and BORING were the endless descriptions of unimportant details. I must agree with an earlier review that the book starts out with promise, however the character of Nate seems hollow, generic, and I could never really buy any of the characters in this book. I happened to take it down to the Caribbean with me, and after plodding through all but the last five pages, we had a hurricane, and I had to leave the house. I looked at the book and decided not to take it--at that point I simply didn't care enough to find out how it ended! Sad.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring Read
Review: Grisham puts to words a story to remind us the depth of this world. This book was incredible.

Rating:
Summary: Grisham doesn't know how to end a good story
Review: Starting with "The Firm," continuing through "Pelican Brief" and "Client," Grisham's stories start wonderfully but end without imagination. After reading four of Grisham's books (I kept hoping they'd get better), I swore I wouldn't read another. Then a lawyer I know told me "Testament" was very good. I bought it and read it. The story starts with a very compelling idea -- a wealthy eccentric executes a handwritten will conveying his estate to a previously unknown illegitimate daughter who is on a mission deep in the jungles of South America, and the search is on. The tale of the search, and the character searching for her (Nate), are interesting and well developed. That's why I gave the book three stars. The end of the story, however, gives up. The story leads the reader to believe a hotly-contested will contest is imminent, and suddenly drops off an anti-climactic cliff. It's as if Grisham had five minutes to finish the book, grabbed a simple ending and rushed it off to the publisher. Hopefully some screenwriter will create a better ending if it's made into a film (the way they did in "The Firm"). Don't buy the book; wait for the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Big Disappointment
Review: This book started out great with the surprises about the will but once it started with the trek through the jungles it just dragged so much that I couldn't hardly stand to read it. I couldn't put it down because I kept expecting some kind of surprise or something of interest to happen but it didn't. That was the surprise!