Rating: 
Summary: Still a page-turner
Review: Newest in his series of lawyer adventures, THE SUMMONS is replete with the usual twists, turns, and shadowy characters of his earlier novels. The occasional interesting intrigues, suspense, and eventful encounters will keep a reader quickly flipping pages. What this one lacks, however, is a satisfying conclusion.
In THE PARTNER, Grisham's main character, Patrick, lost everything--but somehow the girlfriend,Eva, seemed deserving as he had used her as a gofer, sex object, and particepts criminis for many years. Ray Atlee, in THE SUMMONS, is cheated, tricked and (ab)used by such a lessser antagonist that the reader is disappointed, rather than refreshed, by the ending.
I will still buy the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: A Big Dud
Review: I love reading Grisham and was anticipating a wonderful read. The book starts out exciting and before long Grisham has put in the hook. I was really enjoying the book! It was like watching someone getting ready to shoot a cannon and when the cannon ball is finally shot it lands under the nose of the barrel with a thud. When I finished the book I just sat there,somehow feeling cheated. My favorite Grisham books are The Rainmaker,The Client and The Painted House -- in fact, all of them but this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not his best
Review: I love John Grisham...I've read all of his "law" books & found them all wonderful in their own fascinating way. I got The Summons as part of my Valentine's (not real romantic, but I like books) & finished it that weekend. I felt that I had to sugarcoat my reaction of the book to my boyfriend, so he'd think I loved it. It wasn't terrible, but certainly not the best. It started out really interesting & I kept reading & couldn't put it down. However, the ending disappointed me greatly. I always thought he had pretty good endings, my fav being The Partner. This one reminded me of when I'd write papers in high school & was tired of writing, so I'd just rush the ending & end it. To me, that's all this was...a rushed, bad ending. I just kind of sat & stared at it & thought, "That can't be it." Unfortunately, it was. I was just upset because I was so excited about this book coming out & then the ending just really let me down.
Rating:
Summary: BORING
Review: Boring! And not what I had hoped for. I was thrilled when I thought Grisham was back to his legal thrillers. I guess I was wanting another A TIME TO KILL. I had to force myself to finish THE SUMMONS. I thought it was filled with a lot of useless fillers and no "meat." I hope that the next "legal thriller" by Grisham actually has some action and suspense. Because if that is what you are looking for, do not waste your time on this!Definately NOT worth the hardback price. If you feel like you must read THE SUMMONS...wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: The Summons
Review: I don't know why others gave such a bad review. I happen to love it.
Rating: 
Summary: Grisham forgot the law
Review: In his best works, including The Firm, he made good use of the law so the stories were plausable and held together. Here, everything seemed based around losing 50% of the estate to estate taxes. There was a $650,000 federal estate tax exemption, and, I don't know Mississippi law, but there is no way it would have approached the 50% mark. So the whole premise didn't make sense The hype let me down. I thought Grisham was back; he isn't. Too bad.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasant read but not a legal "thriller"
Review: I was anxiously awaiting this novel, having been teased by the hype of "pre-order yours now". I got this book on a Sunday afternoon at 3pm and was finiahed by 10pm. My experience was an interesting one, having been drawn in by Grisham's good scene setting in Charlottesville, Va and various locations in Mississippi and believable characters. Ray Atlee, a law professor at the University of Va, is a likable character and we can also understand his dread at being summoned by his dying, hardnosed judge-father to discuss his estate. His no-good brother Forrest, an alcoholic and drug addict who has never been clean for more than 6 months is a believable and sad character. When money is unexpectedly found at the father's house, along with his father's dead body, a chase begins with Ray trying to outrun whoever knows he took the money. In my analyses of the plot development, I think there is too much time moving the money and watching the money and repetitive break-ins and near misses with finding the bad guys. Ray does find out where the money came from and that is interesting...The ending comes all at once and could have been developed in a more satisfying way. The point is that I was interested enough to want to find out what happened and I was entertained along the way. This would make a pleasant airport read. I did not read any of the reviews here before I read the book--if I had I probably wouldn't have read it and that would have been too bad. I have read all of the Grisham novels with the exception of the Painted House and the Christmas novel. I have been a little disappointed with his last few books like the Brethren. I do admit my preference for his novels like the Firm and Pelican Brief... Just be aware that as he progresses as a writer, Grisham is deviating from his earlier successes with tightly plotted legal thrillers. This is more of a suspenseful story that takes place in the South.
Rating: 
Summary: John is Back
Review: John is back with us. The summons is a summon to all of us to buy the book. He has returned to his great style of writing. I hated the PAINT book, loved Skipping Christmas, and finished the Summons in one night. I could not put it down. The old man died, he ask his sons to return. Little did we know what awaited them. It was genious. Welcome back John.
Rating:
Summary: worth the read
Review: Not exactly his best work, but a very good ending to it makes up for the first half of the book..
Rating:
Summary: I Enjoyed The Summons by John Grishman/Read by Mr. Beck
Review: I must admit I gave the book an extra star because of Michael Beck. (I'm a huge fan of audiobooks and will only purchase Grisham's audiobooks if they are read by Mr. Beck) I loved The Summons. Mr. Grisham has not lost his flair for interesting, heart-thumping, twists and turns stories. I am suprised many of Grisham's fans were disappointed. This novel surpassed my expectation. It takes an exceptional author to consistently give his fans their money worth and Mr. Grishman is such an author. If you are a true fan of Grisham and you live in the real world you will understand not all of Mr Grisham books will live up to everyone's expectations. Every author goes through GREAT novels and good novels periods. Mr. Grisham has not disappointed me yet.
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