Rating: 
Summary: Readable, but not Grisham's best
Review: The Summons was enjoyable, but it was flawed compared to the author's other novels. I particularly felt the ending was unresolved and unsatisfactory. Certain characters were introduced only to disappear from the novel. In past novels, Grisham has featured some characters who really grow and change. That's not the case here, and the plot wasn't riveting enough to make up for the lack of character development.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining and Fast Read - Perhaps too fast?
Review: I enjoy John Grisham's novels. I've read every one, and I am rarely disappointed. His most recent, The Summons, is very entertaining, but, while by no means a letdown, left me feeling a little empty.The Summons is a tale revolving around the son of an old judge who dies, naming him as executor of his estate. While looking through his father's house, he stumbles across boxes containing a very large amount of money. He doesn't know what to do with it - if he declares it part of the estate, half will go to taxes and he will have to share half with his brother, a drug addict, who will likely put his new wealth directly up his nose. Also, he does not know where the money came from and his house is broken into several times by someone looking for the loot. While the plot of The Summons moves quite quickly, I found that I wanted more character development and a slighly more involving plot. The book is not long, at only about 340 pages, and when I got through the first 200 pages, I felt as if I had only finished an introduction. The book only took me two and a half hours to read. While this is partially due to Grisham's skill as a writer and his ability to pen swiftly moving and involving stories, I believe the book could have used a bit more depth. If you are looking to read a novel that you can finish in one sitting, this is definetly for you. I also recommend Brad Melzer for other legal-type thrillers, especially The First Council.
Rating:
Summary: The Midwifes Apprentice
Review: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to grow up in the Middle Ages? I the book The Midwifes Apprentice, Karen Cushman explains what this is like. The young girl in the book starts out as a nothing but gradually grows into something. The girl's name is Alyce. She helps the midwife deliver babies and does everyday chores just to get a little food. She helps a few people in her adventure to become a young lady. Many people will enjoy this hilarious book.
The Midwifes Apprentice would fall under the age group of young adults. The main story is fairly easy to follow, without any confusing details. The book is organized and flows very easily. There are no baffling flashbacks or sidestories, just a nice smooth story.
The Midwifes Apprentice is a historical fiction book that is lighthearted. There are a few serious moments but mostly just funny little incidents. Alyce goes on many trips during the story, which are fun and interesting. She meets people she likes, despises, and some she just isn't sure about.
Even though the book is fiction it does give you a taste of what life was like during the Middle Ages. It describes what men, women, and children had to do each day in a simple fashion. Weather you were a poor young farm girl or a noble knight, the book explains what each lifestyle was like.
Readers will enjoy The Midwifes Apprentice. It gives the reader many laughs during the whole story. So if you are looking for a humorous fictional book, this is the one for you!
Rating: 
Summary: not what i'd hoped for
Review: wait for the paperback, if you buy this one at all. story somewhat reminescent of "a simple plan", but no where near as interesting or dramatic. this one is not up to par: thin characters, weak plot, minimal suspense. obvious ending. i've enjoyed mr. grisham's books very much and hope he is in a brief slump and not out of gas.
Rating:
Summary: One of his best in years!
Review: John Grisham's writing style continues to build, and this book is one of his better in years!
Rating:
Summary: A nicely paced legal thriller
Review: Judge Atlee, a retired and highly respected official, has reached the terminal phase of his battle against a scourging cancer. Seemingly to arrange what must happen when he dies, he summons his two sons to return home to Clantons and discuss the details of the estate. But when Ray Atlee, the son who became professor of law at the University of Virginia, arrives it is too late: his father has died.
While cleaning out the estate, Ray stumbles upon a few cardboard boxes filled with money, over $3 million in cash. Not knowing what to do with it he decides to hide it until the source of this fortune is clear. The younger brother, Forrest, is kept in the dark because sharing the money would clearly become his death, knowing his history as a drug addict. Ray thinks that no one knows the secret, but this is about to change dramatically.
What starts of as a "what if?" story in which a man discovered a fortune without knowing the source, quickly changes into an exploration into the past of an old judge. The red line throughout the story is to discover why that money was stashed away so secretly. Grisham exploits this element very craftily and works consistently towards an exciting denouement. Sadly enough the return of Grisham to the genre of the legal thriller could have been a little bit more spectacular. In The Summons no loophole of the law is being investigated, no major ethical theme is addressed and above all no complex conspiracy is revealed. Nevertheless the pace of the narrative is fast and the reader will find enough clues to want to continue reading throughout the night.
Rating:
Summary: Lawyers and there family always have secrets
Review: The Summons was a very well written book. I liked the descriptions that John Grisham put in for Ray's home town. The flow of the book was perfect planning. Well the death and how it took place. But it was pretty predictable that his brother was hiding something through out the entire book. I wish that it was less predicting. Also I thought that his book was going to be more about cases and then the investigation of it. I baisically told you everything what was going to happen up front. I do like for books to be exciting from the beginning but also through out the book, I pretty much just wanted to skip the middle section and read the ending and get through it. But other than the whole prediction part the book was good and the way it flowed was good as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Big Snore!
Review: Well I had promised myself I was not going to read any more of John Grisham novels... but I got suckered in to reading this one by a friend who highly recommended it (they are now off my highly recommend list...). The back cover had great promise but I discovered what we had was not John Grisham's latest novel but his latest novel length film treatment. YAWN! This will make a fun movie as a book it was boring and slow moving. You didn't come to care at all for any of the characters. In Grisham's other books you cared... CHEERED ON... Darby Shaw, Mitch McDeere, and Jake Brigance in this book there was no hero character for you to care about. It's a shame but they will fix it (maybe) when they make the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: Not the best book I've ever read. But it was still entertaining. I thought the ending was good as well. I give it anout 3.8 stars.
When I finishes I wasnt thinking that was a damn good book. But I wasnt dissapointed either.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't pack a punch...
Review: Retired Judge Atlee lives in Clanton, Mississippi. He has been a widower for many years, reveres his Confederate ancestors and the Confederate cause, and lives in an antebellum mansion that hasn't seen paint or repairs in decades. Dying of cancer, the judge summons his sons home to Clanton to discuss his estate. Nathan "Ray" Atlee is a law professor at the University of Virginia. Forrest has struggled with a lifetime drug addiction and lives in Memphis. The judge was not a particularly good father, and both sons dread being summoned back home and go very reluctantly.
The story starts moving when Ray arrives home to find the judge already dead. Things seem neat and tidy (a will on the desk, $6000 in the bank, etc.). But they take a bizarre turn when Ray finds $3.1 million stacked in boxes in a cabinet behind the couch in the judge's study. His questions are endless: Where did the money come from? Is it dirty? Is it counterfit? Should he include it in the estate? Should he tell Forrest? Ray starts on a trek to discover the answers to his many questions. He quickly sees that his life is in danger because of it as someone else has knowledge of the money. He also comes to realize that the fact that this money will become his is very appealing to him.
Ray eventually finds the answers to most of his questions, but the ending is a little rushed and a bit open-ended. I figured out fairly quickly who the villain was (not something I usually do). The Summons just doesn't pack the punch of his earlier novels. I will continue to read Grisham, but will not purchase these novels in hardback.
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