Rating: 
Summary: Better ways to spend your reading time . . .
Review: Enjoying the book hinges on your ability to suspend belief. The reader needs to believe that a law professor would not consider putting cash into bank safe deposit boxes (better to leave it in trash bags in a trunk!); and that his brother, who never demonstrated self-control in his life, would suddenly acquire incredible self-control even when he's drunk. Oh, and then you have to like weak characters and mediocre writing.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad
Review: Compared to the past novels by Grisham I was a bit disapointed in the way the ending played out. It seemed a bit weaker then it could have been. Overall it was a great story and intrigued me the whole way through, yet another good book by Grisham.
Rating:
Summary: Better than some
Review: Probably those who find this good are southerners! I enjoyed the nicely depicted southern towns in Mississippi and Memphis. I found myself getting tired of this tale by 3/4 through. Usual for Grisham, as well as abrupt endings. I have read all of Grisham's lawyer stories. This story does the same thing. Since it's better than Patternson's stupid Violets thing, I rated Grisham 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: good, not great
Review: Ths was an easy read, very entertaining, and it got better as it went along. The ending was a bit of a suprise, but logical.
I like Grisham, and this is one that although it lacked "depth" it was very worthwhile.
Rating: 
Summary: Did not really go anywhere
Review: I am a long time fan of Grisham. The Summons lacked the character development of his previous works and the ending left a lot to be desired. The book seemed to be always promising more then it just ended. I am a bit disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Come On John!
Review: I am an avid Grisham fan and have been waiting anxiously for him to return to the legal thriller genre. However, I just finished the book (two days to read) and am more than a little disappointed with this effort. The protagonist, Ray Atlee is a law professor who is summoned, along with his brother, to their estranged, dying father's house in Mississippi to discuss his estate prior to his impending death. What is discovered only by Ray (you think) is that the old man had more than $3 million hidden in his house. Where did the money come from? Who else knew about the money? This is the set-up and Ray's quest to hide the money while trying to find out its origin really did hold my attention throughout the book. But, it was the last 30 pages that hacked me off. Mr. Grisham cut things way short here. The relationship between the brothers was in serious lack of development given the ridiculous ending that he throws at you. Beware, this book will leave you asking, "What was Mr. Grisham thinking when he hit the 'print' button on his latest work?"
Rating:
Summary: Such a thin plot!
Review: I bought this book for a plane trip and was so disappointed in it! I didn't care about the characters and the total plot could be condensed in 1 sentence. It was really dull. It just didn't have any intrigue and if I were John Grisham, I would be embarrassed to have my name on this book.
Rating:
Summary: Not a worthy effort
Review: I have been very disappointed by some authors of late and John Grisham has now joined the list. This book along with Skipping Christmas should be skipped altogether. While the scenery is great the story is very weak and and it does not have the page turner qualities of his earlier works. I loved The Pelican Brief, The Firm and Runaway Jury to name a few. I hated the Chamber for too many reasons to get into and found The Painted House tolerable.
I read this book in two days hoping upon hope it would get better and never did. Buy some of his earlier works, skip this one.
Rating:
Summary: Better than most reads, but below average for Grisham
Review: The Summons, by most standards, is a well written book with a interesting plot line. My disappointment can only come from my high expectations from Grisham. I feel the narrative of the book is strong, though it is lacking some of his usual action. The ending was a surprise but not as thoroughly enjoying as I hoped.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite as engaging as previous writings, however..
Review: This reads as more of a short story than a novel, and despite his obvious experience in the field, it presents itself as an almost amateur work, with one exception. The story itself is cleverly woven, as per usual. It unfolds in a simple, casual way, it is still quite interesting to delve into the characters he's created here. Much like "The Testament", what we have here is a toned down version of the ambitious text he's thrown to us in the past. It would seem he has become very comfortable in his story telling abilities, so much so that this particular story loses a little of the suspense, perhaps even some of the feeling, that avid Grisham fans are accustomed to. To a point, this is a different style of writing. This was not a book that I couldn't put down, there were many points at which it seemed an adequate time to take pause, at least for a while. If you are a Grisham fan you will most probably find that this does not quite live up to your expectations of the amazing author who has put forth so much into the literary world. If you've never read Grisham, it is quite possible you will find this far better than a lot of the tripe floating around these days. Either way, it is definitely worth a read (a relatively quick one, at that).
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