Rating: 
Summary: an entertaining if unremarkable Grisham effort
Review: The Testament is a surprisingly decent if somewhat prosaic novel by the ever-popular John Grisham. To his credit the author breaks away, if only slightly, from his proven yet over-exercised formula of legal dramas. The Testament branches out into areas of morality, religion and greed. On balance the author succeeeds in capturing the reader's attention. I liked the book despite myself.The beginning of the story starts off very well. The death of a multi-billionaire/monster is eagerly awaited by his completely dysfunctional children and ex-wifes. The rich geezer is looking go to the hereafter with his malicious streak intact. After his death a legal battle takes place, and the hunt for the man's illegitimate daughter ensues. The trail soon leads to the jungles of Brazil (think snakes, bugs, disease). Okay so far. But then one of the lawyers becomes wrapped up with this daughter's belief in God, her self-sacrificing existence, and within a matter of days his entire life, albeit a pretty miserable life, is reformed. Contrived? Yes. Does it ruin the book? No, not especially. But such life-transforming dramas are best left to more talented writers than Grisham. And the entire adventure in the wilds of Brazil was surprisingly well done. Perhaps Grisham should write adventure stories instead of going for the deep, human values stuff? Bottom line: an enjoyable if uneven novel. Grisham fans will not be impressed. All others should find it entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: The Emptiness of Wealth
Review: Book does an excellent job of portraying the emptiness of money. On one hand you have the spoiled heirs who have had every need met. Contrasted to the heirs is Rachel Lane, a missionary who lives in stone age conditions, but is happy. Nate O'Reilly moves between both worlds. One theme is, Rachel , the heir, has no interest in the money, the other disinheritied heirs are consumed by it, to their downfall. Good characterization, as expected form Grisham.
Rating: 
Summary: Grisham tries to outdo himself . . . and fails
Review: When John Grisham tries to rise to the level of serious literature, he misjudges his ability. He can render nasty people, in this case Troy Phelan and his heirs, very capably. He does middling well with his alcoholic attorney, but he cannot give character to a pure-hearted missionary. Furthermore, plausibility takes a nose-dive as the novel concludes. I was most interested in the description of the great Pantanal Swamp.
Rating: 
Summary: The best of Grisham
Review: The book was great. It is my favorite of Grisham's, and I have read them all. I read a sweet message between the lines.
Rating:
Summary: Good stuff once again from Grisham!
Review: Would your lawyer go to great lengths to make sure that your fortune is delivered? As he tries to find a woman who he had no clue even existed. If not you may want to look into talking to Josh Stafford, the lawyer and main character in Grisham's twisted tale about the man who has to travel deep into the jungle to find a woman that his client endowed a rather large fortune. Unexpected twists, turns, and deaths, make this book hard to put down until your finished. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys to read books with and actual meaning and perception to them.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed and gripping plot
Review: Billionare Troy Phelan's untimely death left a confidential will in the hands of his trusted lawyer Mr. Josh Stafford. Mr. Phelan's late family's grief was short lived after they assumed that they would get a portion of his fortune and estate. As irony would have it, old Troy left his entire fortune to an unknown Rachel Lane-his illegitimate daughter. In desperate attempts to contact Rachel and have her sign the contracts bestowing her the fortune, Josh sends his colleague Nate O'Riley-a formally successful lawyer before the alcoholism-to find her. Nate's legal trip takes him into the untamed Pantanal wetlands of Brazil where Rachel was serving as a missionary to native Indian tribes. Nate arrives in Corumba-a small city outside of the Pantanal- and is greeted by Valdir Ruiz, a Brazilian lawyer who finds him a guide to take him to the Indian tribes in hopes of finding Rachel. Nate's river boat guides are Jevy and Welly, two young men who have navigated the river most of their lives. Together, the three of them endure the treacherous rainstorms, alligators, and disease-carrying mosquitos that plague the Pantanal. Meanwhile, back in the states, Josh holds off the Phelan family lawyers, all of whom want a piece of the will for their greedy clients... As the plot the book progresses, the characters find themselves in life-and-death situations, entangled in the legal process, and fighting against others and their own wills. Will Nate ever find Rachel? And if so, what is she like? Will she accept Troy's fortune? Will the greedy Phelan family get to it first? The Testament has a detailed and gripping plot, threading the legal world to that of our own actions and resolve. John Grisham has written another best seller, one that everyone is sure to appreciate.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD SOLID READ
Review: This was my first grisham book, the first part of the book moved at a quick pace but it seemed to slow down in the rest but it was a real good book. This was not my favorite of the grisham books but i would recommend any of them
Rating:
Summary: Serious thot and a great plot.
Review: John Grisham does not have a reputation for being a great artist, but I thought he did well in this book in going beyond simple villainy and heroics. There are no real bad guys in The Testament -- just people like you and I, who are overcome by their passions. Resembling great writers in this respect at least, Grisham picks up a mirror and shows us ourselves, using the story to examine the nature of good and evil. This is a relief from a lot of modern story-telling, which would be embarrassed to admit any such bourgeois categories, or that heroism does not need a touch of the power of the Dark Side to be truly effective. Grisham's missionary hero in this book has been criticized as too good, but I recognized real female missionaries I have met in his portrait of Rachel (see The Inn of the Seventh Happiness, To a Different Drum, or Goforth of China, for real-life examples). Anyway, what is wrong with taking as your heroine a person who is not only strong (like Dirty Harry or Arnold Schwarzeneggar, who do not resemble anyone I have met) but also a really caring and virtuous person? But Grisham's stories are primarily driven by plot, (he hasn't turned into Dostoevsky, don't worry) and the plot here is a doozy. I planned to read a chapter or two a night, but scrapped that idea half way through the book. All in all, I enjoyed the book very much. (Perretti's slightly darker, and slightly more supernatural, Visitation is good, too.)
Rating:
Summary: A literary masterpiece
Review: Grisham knows how to write a good yarn and this is a hum-dinger of a yarn!! He spins an interesting tale about a rich old man who kicks the bucket, bot not the way u think. His rich heirs, vultures really, circle the dead man's carcass and before he's cold start to demand their fair share. The money, most of it, is left to a missionary in a south american country where a lawyer must venture to in order to relay the information. And it gets good. Grisham has literally before our eyes turned into a master storyteller. His characterizations are vivid in depth portrayals and his smooth plots go down like a shot of Jack Daniels on a hot summer afternoon. Two thumbs way way up!!
Rating:
Summary: diverse and gripping...
Review: Reading this book gave me an idea of the 'new Grishams'. Stepping outside the courtroom for more than half the pages is a welcome change in Grisham's books, and gives this book its alure. Exciting storylines are mixed with classic Grisham legal matters, resulting in a story taking you down a river not quite like the Mississippian locale of storytelling we have come to know of this author. The first chapter gives you insights you know the characters in the books can only guess after, which makes you laugh at these fantastically strange and brilliant people more than once: a recovering alcoholic, moneyhungry lawyers and a herd of greedy familymembers, all hovering over that one document, the testament. Reading it will give you a couple of hours of entertainment, but be advised: open it, and you will close it only after the last page has been read....
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