Rating: 
Summary: I am disappointed
Review: The last two Grisham books that I have read, The Brethren and The Summons, don't live up to my usual hype to get every Grisham book as soon as it is published. Either I am outgrowing it and am looking for more subtleties or the stories are becoming too plain.It took the book two thirds of the pages even to properly begin. All characters' behavior is so exaggerated so that I could not relate to a single one of them. The story seemed to be constructed and it did not flow at all: Ray Atlee finds his father dead in the study when he arrives at his father house. He finds money in the closet and is subsequently being haunted wondering what to do with it and whether to disclose the discovery. A drug-addicted brother and a shallow local lawyer complete the picture. Now, it is up to you to learn about tort cases on the surface, get obviously misled and enjoy flying lessons in Virginia - the story is just not fascinating at all
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as other Grisham books
Review: I was disappointed by this book. John Grisham is one of my favorite authors and I look forward to reading his books. This one was slow in the beginning and most of the way through. The ending was ok but not great, I felt it was incomplete. The Summons is not as good as his others. This one did not have much in the way of building the characters, the only interesting one was Harry Rex. It did not seem like such an interesting story. So Ray Atlee gets a summons from his dying father and when he gets there his father is already dead and he finds $3 million. He then spends most of the time trying to hide the money...
Rating: 
Summary: Misleading
Review: John Grisham is my favorite author and I rush to read any of his books. I enjoy 'law and order' books and his fill the bill. I expected that from this book but it was not to be. First of all, I found the title of the book to be misleading. It is not a summons to appear in court, which I thought, but rather a summons from a dying father to his sons. The next misleading thing was the cover of the book. It shows what looks like the ceiling of a court. Why was that put on the cover of this book which only briefly entered a court? The story was not up to the Grisham standard and lastly, the ending was very unsatisfying and confusing. All in all this is the worst book that Mr. Grisham has written, not worthy of even the one star I gave it.
Rating:
Summary: A Waste of Time
Review: You know the plot. You know the characters. This is simply a poorly constructed story of sibling rivalry, with lightweight characters, and shallow plot development. The ending wasn't a disappointment; it wasn't anything but predictable and inconclusive. I am a Grisham fan, however, if this had been the first book of his that I had read, I wouldn't bother again.
Rating:
Summary: Cain and Abel . . . at the Bar
Review: I've enjoyed some of Mr. Grisham's works. "The Firm" and "The Pelican Brief" for two, and ironically, they translated well into the movies, showcasing a still young Tom Cruise and an equally young Denzel Washington. I can guarantee you this will not happen with "The Summons." This is a story of the usual hard, cold-hearted father, married to his profession. Having sons but not really wanting them. Willing to put up with them as long as 'Mom' is around, who, darn it all, turns around and dies! Loving his sons (if at all) too little, too late and too silently. Ray Atlee, "the good son," described as "the Golden Boy" by the younger brother Forrest, whom we learn early on is (deservedly so) "the bad son," attempts to put his father's penniless estate in order and discovers more than 3 million dollars in boxes! Unaccounted for! Unclaimed! Unmarked! Unexplained! Does Ray turn the money over to the estate that he now has a fiduciary responsibility to protect? Does he share it with his little brother, coming to grips with the fact that while he is successful in appearance, they are both lonely middle-aged men? Will he and his brother, dysfunctional from birth by the same forces yet traveling in different directions, ever unite? Will Ray piece his life together with the fine Kaylie or the even finer ex-wife, Vicki? Will Ray ever get his FAA instrument rating? We know none of these things and we will never know any of these things because Mr. Grisham repeatedly takes us back and forth across rural America, again, and again. And again. The book ends, gratefully, and we come to the same concluusion we came to around the thirtieth page. So, wipe the road dust from your car, take it to the car wash, stretch the kinks out from many 15 hour one-way trips, and be grateful you bought this book in paperback or got it from the library.
Rating:
Summary: No real story here
Review: John Grisham is a gifted story teller and has proven it through his great works, like A Time To Kill and The Firm, but it seems as time passes by his stories have become weaker and predictable. Not once did I feel suspense or drama in The Summons. The characters were not developed to make me love them or hate them, I felt nothing for them. Just one simple plot, no real twists or turns, no subplots, just a dull straight forward plot. If you want a good Grisham book, I suggest you go back and read his first works and skip this one all together.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Grisham's best...
Review: Despite what the other reviews said, I went and bought the book. And believe me, it is without doubt one of John Grisham's best books. Though the book may seem boring for a few, but I enjoyed it a lot. It is different from other Grisham books, but it entertain, and thats the main point. It doesn't have to do much with courtroom battles or something, but its a nice, sweet and short story of this Law Professor Ray Atlee, who stumbles upon his father's secret. Its not the usual Grisham books, but I will recommend the book to those who like the simple, short, touching kind of a plot.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Character Sketches
Review: A Grisham you can skip! "The Summons" has some colorful character sketches, but that's about it. You will meet some of the finest law minds from the small town south. There is the mysterious gruff Judge Atlee who is trying to hold onto an idealized old south, and two sons taking different paths. The eldest son becomes a professor of law--where he finds his personal ethics not quite as clear cut as his fathers--and the younger brother who lost all sense of anything through years of addiction. In a Grisham style twist, the author throws in a few million bucks--just to see how the characters fare. Sudden wealth is a good way to clarify character, but the plot was unrealistic enough that I couldn't see any value in the conflicts. The only thing I could see in the book is that yes, most people probably hide some assets from the estate when a parent dies. I gave the book a three, but would recommend skipping this one and moving on to the "King of Torts" which handles the same sudden wealth dilemma with an interesting plot and brutal commentary on mass tort and class action suits.
Rating:
Summary: What If??
Review: This is definitely one of those "What would I do in his shoes?" stories. Ray Atlee is a fellow that takes a while to warm up to, for me, but then he is, at the beginning, so insulated from the rigors of life that there isn't a whole lot to him to identify with. As we travel back to his hometown with him and watch him deal with the death of his respected and unloved father, met his drop out brother, pick up the childhood acquaintances and pains, well, slowly Ray becomes a familiar. What he discovers in the house of his birth and about his own father carries us along a suspense driven journey that we are sure we could handle better than his fumbling attempts. I really thought I had it all figured out about two thirds through, but I was wrong and I much enjoyed the deception, a deception brought about by my own greed. Now if I had been Ray Atlee, I would have............
Rating:
Summary: Sad
Review: I have read all of Mr. Grisham's books and find this one to be among the most bland. Ray Atlee is sent a letter by his dying father to attend a meeting. Upon arrival, Ray finds his father dead in his study. It just so happens that Ray then stumbles upon over 3 million dollars in boxes hidden within the study. The absurd ways that this character tries to hide the money is ridiculous. All of the characters are hollow and the book leaves a lot of unanswered questions. I am a huge fan of John Grisham but it took me two separate checkouts at the library to get through this book.
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