Rating: 
Summary: Watching info-mercials a better use of my time
Review: Home with the flu and so thankful to have a new JG book to read, imagine my crushing disappointment upon finishing his latest work. I kept reading and reading, waiting for the plot to pick up, the characters to get interesting, the protagonist to become someone I gave a hoot about...It never happened. I was happy returning to Clanton, hearing about Claude's and the old courthouse, but it seemed a much more faded version than in "A Time to Kill." Even the incorrigible Harry Rex was an older, paler shadow of his former self.I haven't written anything more than this review, certainly not 14 best sellers, so I hate to criticize a person's livlihood--But this one should have stayed on the hard drive, and not been published. Loyal Grisham fans deserved better.
Rating:
Summary: Very Dissapointing
Review: For someone who has been a huge Grisham fan for years, I was looking forward to reading another of his legal thrillers. This might be one of the most boring books ever. It never grips you, you reach the last few pages of the books and realize the story has not even begun to be interesting and the book is over. It is probably fifty levels below any of his other legal thrillers. I am not sure if this is even a book or just some ramblings that are the outline and backdrop for a story,
Rating: 
Summary: Quick, Fun Read
Review: I have read and enjoyed all of JG's books except The Brethen, which I couldn't get into. The Summons is more simplistic than his previous novels and more predictable. In spite of this, I enjoyed the characters, the information on money and casinos, and the clean, fast moving writing style.
Rating: 
Summary: Author Cashes in on Reputation
Review: J.G. certainly is counting on name recognition to sell this book. The plot is pedestrian, and typical to a sophomore high school Composition class assignment. There is no twist to show creativity. The character development is weak. The pace of the book is slow and keeps one waiting for that Grisham excitement to grab us and hold our interest. Alas, it never happens. The ending is absurd: "you lied to me!" and the response "well you lied to me too". Gee, how original,witty and special.
Rating:
Summary: A Time To Kill
Review: How disappointing. I didn't think Grisham was capable of writing anything worse than "Skipping Christmas." If this were his first book then I wouldn't be as critical but this just doesn't stack up to his other great works and wouldn't sell if his name weren't on it. I've read all of his books and even appreciated his departure from his legal writing in "Painted House;" but I can't recommend that anyone read "The Summons." Unfortunately, this may be the last Grisham book I read.
Rating:
Summary: READING EXCELLENT - BUT STORY DOES NOT ADD UP
Review: I listened to the audiotape unabridged version of this book. The reading was excellent but the story does not add up. It is a well-told story till the end (I will no spoil). But when a central question is answered and you think back on the story things just don't add up. You realize characters just have not acted in any kind of reasonable fashion. My guess is there will be some plot changes when the movie is made.
Rating: 
Summary: Follow the money!
Review: "Follow the money" was Deep Throat's advice to Woodward and Burnstein. In The Summons UVA law professor Ray Atlee first finds the money, over three million dollars, stuffed in shoe boxes at his ancestoral home following the death of his father, a Mississippi judge. His father was a paragon of virtue and honor. So where did the money come from and how did it get there? This is the great mystery as we follow the money backwards to its source. The money itself dominates the novel. Money is a commody, as everyone knows in South Florida, and disposing of large amounts of cash presents huge logistical problems. But there are other problems associated with it as well. Soon it appears that someone else wants the money, and that the professor's life in in danger. The corrupting power of this money is incredible. Everyone who touches it becomes tainted and diminished. Mystery becomes wrapped in the greatest tragedy of all, the lessening of good people.
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother...
Review: It seemed to me that John Grisham had a deadline to write a book for his publisher and scrambled to put something together. Unfortuntely, what he came up with is disappointing. The book is anorexic, there is no meat to this plot. It lacks substance and character development, and the plot is too simple. It ends abruptly, as if the required number of pages had been met. It pains me to say it, but don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER GRISHAM ROLLERCOASTER
Review: Although there are no courtroom dramas in 'The Summons', and the plot is slower-paced that some of his preceding legal thrillers, especially at the start of the novel, this is Grisham at his best. The prose is crisp and detailed, and the characters solidly drawn out and realistic. Although the plot is linear (not something that I was overly concerned about), there are many moral and complex layers in this story, which deal with jealousy, trust, family values, self-esteem, and loyalty. 'The Summons' is not so much a whodunit (which Grisham doesn't write anyway - he writes thrillers, not mysteries), but an analysis of human behavior when it comes to dealing with money, friends and family. Grisham is moving away from the David-vs-Goliath theme of his previous work (The Rainmaker, The Firm, The Pelican Brief) and has penned out a fine, original thriller that kept me reading for a whole day until I got to the last page. I enjoyed this book immensely and, for some obscure reason, must have found something in it that many readers have missed altogether. HIGHLY COMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately Grisham is getting worse
Review: Whatever happened to strong characters, interesting plots and adventurous happenings. Maybe the fans on John Grisham have been spoilt by his first few books such as The Firm, Pelican Brief, A Time to Kill and The Chamber, but his latest advenure, The Summons, is an abyssmal attempt. As a reader you want the main character to be strong and bold. Not someone who run's away when a brick is thrown through his deceased father's window. Looking back, the best thing would have been for the brick to hit the main character on the head. It would have put him and the readers out of their misery quicker!
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