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Summary: It's about time, John!
Review: It's about time, John!I hope John Grisham's finally gotten whatever made him write the previous two books out of his system. It certainly seems that he has with The Summons. Welcome back to small-town Southern lawyering, combined with a mystery (a couple million my$tery, at that). When Professor Ray Atlee, summoned by his father to discuss his will, finds him DOA, the first question I asked myself was, "Why wasn't this a short story?" When Ray found boxes of cash in the study, I changed my question to, "Who, why, what the....?" And then the fun started. This book is worth a read. It's not as tense as The Firm, but it is as quirky, and the ending, although you sort of expect it, has a bit of the old "Grisham twist" to it. Don't read ahead; that's cheating.
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Summary: Ever Hear of A Swiss Bank Account???
Review: That is as much as I am going to give away as far as this book goes. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen. Nothing ever did. Wait, someone threw a brick through a window. How thrilling. Huge disappointment, although very well written. The storyline had a lot of potential, but this seemed more like a first draft than a published novel.
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Summary: By far, not his best ---
Review: I have read all of Grisham's books, and I was sorely disappointed in this one. Not his best by any means. It lacked his usual depth and mystery. It did not hold my attention like his past works and failed to hold up to its billing. John -- try again.
Rating: 
Summary: WEAK WEAK WEAK . . . and did I say WEAK
Review: OK, so the story moves along and for awhile I was pretty engrossed. Then I started to get bored. Then I started to get frustrated. We are led to believe that Ray Atlee, an Antitrust professor at one of the most prestigious law schools in the country, can't figure out how to safely hide some cash? Give me a break. The main character's idiocy alone made me want to throw the book through a window. Another small point, John: How can you assume that your readers are so stupid that they don't understand the basics of estate taxes? One of the early premises of the story is that Ray wants to hide $90,000 from the govt. so that he wouldn't have to pay 50% in estate taxes . . . and his attorney agrees with Ray's concerns. Hello, anyone with the intellectual capacity to read your books knows that there are no estate taxes on estates valued under a certain ceiling (I believe $700,000 these days). At least get the law right if you are going to print this drivel of a story.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reading
Review: I really enjoyed this book, probably more because of the reading than the story itself. Story was much better than The Painted House but not as good as Grisham's earlier works. If you're a Grisham fan you will probably enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A poor outing
Review: Without giving away the "plot," the book lacked twists and turns, as well as characters. I also found Grisham's diatribe about plaintiffs' lawyers to be boring.
Rating:
Summary: The Summons - Mediocre Grisham
Review: I'm an avid fan of all of John Grisham's books so far. I eat them up like candy. The Summons is only fair in comparison with the rest of his works. The characters and plot are developed superficially at best. And the rushed ending leads me to believe that Grisham simply 'mailed it in' on this book. As the author has made it known that he's unhappy with his contract to write a couple of more law thrillers over the next few years, as a big fan I certainly hope he puts more effort into the succeeding books than this one.
Rating:
Summary: A very good book.
Review: I'll admit it wasn't ideal but I thouroughly enjoyed the book. I had picked out the bad guy very early and was very surprised to find that I was WRONG. This book does Mr. Grisham proud. And having grown up in Mississippi, I know a lot of those characters. I'll be ready for his next book.
Rating:
Summary: Getting worse
Review: My expectation may be higher than it should be. I read all his books, but I have to say that his work is getting worse. Although the basic concept of this book is interesting, he couldn't develop it well enough to entertain us. It's way too long to climax...actually, where is the climax? The ending is also very disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A BIG disappointment!
Review: My review title says it all.
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