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: Dumb!
Review: Anyone calling this drivel a pleasent read should have never read anything decent in his life so that he is short of comparing. JG is not a good author; he is so mechanic-but his thrillers are occassionally good for passing time- but this is an insult to readers and the publishing industry at all. Skip it!
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Summary: Argubly the worst ending ever commited to paper
Review: Deus ex machina...anti-climactic...a let-down...all of the above. Although I often critize Grisham for ending his novels too similarly (riding off into the sunset, never to practise law again...), anything would have been preferable to the way this book ends. To make matters worse, the story is actually halfway decent until the ending. Now you're probably thinking, "Why James, surely you jest! It is preferable to have a decent book with a cruddy ending than a cruddy book through and through." I would actually have preferred the book to have been lousy through and through, because as it was it generated just enough tension for me to actually care about the answer to the question the book revolves around. Instead, Grisham picks the worst possible character, the worst possible reason, and the worst possible motives. Look elsewhere...please. 3.5/10
Rating: 
Summary: great story
Review: It centers around Ray Atlee, a law professor at the University of Virginia-Charlottesville. His troubled brother Forrest (named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a famous Civil War figure) and he receive a summons from their dying father. A judge, the father lived in the Deep Southern state of Mississippi in a small town. When Ray arrives he finds the Judge dead. The mess then begins. Forrest is having more trouble with alcohol and drugs after being clean for months. Ray also finds millions of unknown hidden money in the house. Was this money fake? Was the judge shady? While in Mississippi, the judge's house is broken into. Ray gets weary and hides it in his car. One night he travels out to a casino and spends some. After returning to Virginia, he receives a "sympathy" card saying its better to go to the IRS then keep it. Who is sending these threats? Was it Harry Rex, Judge Atlee's number 1 man and closest advisor? Was it Claudia, the money hungry former lover of the Judge? Let this book take you deep in the South and tangle you in the story. Mr. Grisham is a master and his work should be read by ALL.
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: 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: Mississippi Cain & Able
Review: Ray Atlee and his chemically dependent brother, Forrest, are summoned to their dying father's home in John Grisham's "The Summons.". While stern and distant to his sons, Judge Atlee is a local legend for his judicial prowess and benevolence. He is also dead upon their arrival. Ray discovers a $3M stash, not far from the judge's corpse. He proceeds to hide it from his pathetic brother, the estate and a mysterious blackmailer as he searches for the source of the judge's secret fortune.While many of the main characters are associated with the law, Grisham continues his trek away from legal thrillers. Ray is simultaneously trying to discover his father's secrets while dealing with the growing guilt around his deceit. The book excels on Ray angst in seeking new hiding place for the cash. It is disappointing in Ray's inability to reconcile with his father's real greatness as the old man's true values become clearer. Despite this setback, I recommend "The Summons" and encourage the author to continue pursuing new literary paths. Grisham's pace, prose and story depth is improving with each new work.
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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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Summary: Sibling rivalry
Review: This book will make you think, and you may learn something also. It made me think about my relationship with my brother, the deep South (Mississippi mostly), and about what I would do if I found $3 million dollars.
I learned what some lawyers (a la Mr. French) will do for money, that is, what their life goals are. I learned there was or is a so-called "mafia" on the Gulf coast.
I was glad that Harry Rex Vonner was not involved in trying to obtain the $3 million, even though he was ready to retire. Harry eats too crazy for anyone to dislike.
Here's what I didn't think was too good about this book: the ending, as others have noted. It just sort of falls off the edge of the cliff, seeming to set up a sequel. Is there a sequel? What is Forrest going to do in a year when he leaves rehab?
But that's the author's business. He doesn't have to please all the people all the time, as the saying goes. Just some of the people all the time. I'm pleased. If you like books with lots of dialogue and somewhat simple plots, but books that still have substance, you'll be among those who like it. Otherwise, go back to Tom Clancy or Jack Higgins or........? Diximus.
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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.
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