Rating: Summary: Not Grisham's Best Review: Finally returning to writing about the law, John Grisham serves up 'The Summons,' about Ray Atlee, a law prof who is called home by his ailing father. The Judge, Ray's father, dies before Ray arrives, and Ray is presented with the moral and legal dilemma of finding over 3 million dollars stashed away in his father's home, all of which is not included in the Judge's will/estate.After taking a break from writing about the law, it was refreshing to see Grisham back at it, but it was not as good as I expected it to be, especially after such a long absence. It seems as though Grisham's revealing the whodunit within the last few pages was an attempt to win back some of the readership he was no doubt losing to David Baldacci, who has a very similar writing style. However, because Baldacci doesn't make obvious who the wrongdoer is, the reader is kept in suspense until the very end. I guessed far before the last 2 pages who was to blame for the suspicious happenings, making me think that 'The Summons' was just a cheap imitation of any of Baldacci's writings. And this is coming from a devout Grisham reader, who still can't wait for the next one.
Rating: Summary: Thankful.....that I was loaned this book to read. Review: As a Grisham book, this is thin porridge, indeed. While most of the principal characters in this book, dead and alive, are lawyers, it is not necessary to the story. A son who is called to his father's bedside, arrives too late and finds a handwritten will naming him executor and boxes full of money totaling $3,000,000. His father, a retired (by the electorate) judge never made much money during his life and what he did make, he mostly gave to charity. We spend too much time watching the son figure out if the money is traceable or phoney and when he is staisfied that it is not, watching him move it around from place to place. He decides not to tell his black sheep younger brother about he money as he is a recovering from everything individual and not particularly trustworthy. However, someone knows he has the money and sends him cryptic messages about this knowledge. So the rest of the book is spent trying to find out where the money came from and who is after it. Both answers are kind of "ho hum". After the run this author has had it is not surprising to see that the well is a bit low and I am most pleased that I was loaned this book by a friend. If you want to read it, I hope you have a friend like I do.
Rating: Summary: Well, *I* like it, anyway. Review: It seems as though most folks seem to think as far as Grisham legal thrillers go, this is perhaps the slowest and weakest. This may be so. But it's still a good read. Maybe it's just me. I just couldn't resist the chance to go back to Clanton and visit old friends like Harry Rex again. I, for one, thought the book brought up some interesting questions and dealt with them in a satisfying manner. What would you do if you came across all that cash? Would you throw caution to the wind and just spend it? Would you hide it and try to figure out it's origins? Who would you tell? Who would you definately not tell and why? Having that much money and not knowing what to do with it can start to eat at a guy. As it does Ray. I enjoyed watching Ray deal with all this as he also had to deal with his father's death and unresolved, confused feelings for him as well his addict/drunk brother who wants to stay clean, but just can't keep sober. If you go in expecting the usual life or death type thriller like The Firm or The Client, you may be disappointed. This is more about a guy as he tries not to unravel due to the incredible situation he finds himself in. All told in Mr. Grisham's usual joy to read prose, this is actually a better book than some give it credit for.
Rating: Summary: Not my favorite Grisham Review: Though I enjoyed this book, I didn't find it nearly as intriguing as some of his earlier novels. The ending was fairly predictable, and the pace of the novel seemed fairly slow. Despite that, I found the story to be origional and interesting. It's the story of a man that is summoned home by his ill father. Upon his arrival, he finds his father deceased, and a boat load of money stashed away in a cabinent. He hides the money, and immediately, someone starts to tail him. He's chasing the origion of the money, and someone is chasing him...
Rating: Summary: Help!!! My book is missing the last chapter Review: I thought that this was one of the most suspenseful books that Grisham has written. However, he is still plagued by those horrible endings. On a positive note, I guess this wasn't his typical "Ride off into the Sunset" ending. I read the last paragraph (although I didn't know it was the last paragraph), and was surprised when I turned the page, and found out it was the last page. Did he procrastinate this book and was rushed at the end by his editor??? John - I am sorry to say I think I like the "Sunset" endings better.
Rating: Summary: Lackluster ending ruined it Review: I enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book, but the ending was rather unfulfilling. The plot runs somewhat along the lines of "A Simple Plan" by Scott Smith, but with a somewhat different angle. The characters were relatively well developed, and the plot was relatively interesting in the first 2/3 or 3/4 of the book. But then it seemed that Grisham changed gears and decided to wrap it up quickly (perhaps to meet a deadline?). The ending, while plausible, was very unfulfilling, and quite a letdown, IMO.
Rating: Summary: don't waste your money Grisham doesn't deserve it Review: I made the mistake of reading Amazon's review, and gave Grisham one more chance, after two straight disappointments. It was so shallow I thought he forgot to finish this book, as he had in his last supposed thriller. If you want to read a book similar to The Firm, read Brad Meltzer's The Millionaires. I think Grisham stole his sub plot from Meltzer, but didn't know how to finish it. Meltzer's keeps you guessing all the way through. I am finished with Grisham.
Rating: Summary: A big disappointment Review: The book started out great,got better up to the middle,then got boring half way thru,and then got ok but had a great ending.I have read all his books and will continue reading his books.It was a fast read because there were a lot of half pages and wide borders and only 341 pages. ...no one should be ashamed for giving an honest review as one reviewer said. He is the one who should be ashamed
Rating: Summary: Sympathy card Review: I am SO glad I didn't waste MY money on this book. I think I'll send a sympathy card to the friend I borrowed it from AND to John Grisham.
Rating: Summary: Slow and plodding! Review: After two books(which I did not read) where he apparently ventured into different genres, Grisham returns to familiar territory of the legal thriller with 'The Summons'. The summons are received by Ray, a law professor, from his father, an ex small-town judge. Going home, Ray finds his dad dead but also finds a huge amount of cash and tries to determine the source. While the idea in 'The Summons' might have made an interesting short story, it is too flimsy for a full-length novel and so is stretched too thin. The red herrings are painfully obvious as just that as Ray eliminates suspects who may know about the money and way too much time is spent on this process. Worse, the revelation of the source is anticlimactic and doesn't match the build up. And after taking a leisurely route for most of the novel, the final portions seem rushed with the twist at the end being expected.
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