Review to come.

Great story. One of my favorite John Grisham books. Loved the ending

The story became a bit boring. All of a sudden, everything was wrapped up at the end.

What was that ending? Seriously what was that?

Everything about it is good, but the ending did not work well for me. It is Grisham all the way, with a little twist, as this time there was no case in court, no big time law office...The summons is a document of such, though called so with a sarcastic tone. There was the usual thrill and suspense and it wasn't quite late in the book when I figured out the culprit. I read somewhere that The King of Torts is a thematic sequel to The Summons, so I'm reading that next. Never mind that it's only "thematic", I was really hoping there were more pages, at least an epilogue in The Summons.

.....I wrote the above early in the morning, and then I hit the shower, during which time I thought twice about my review. I was being selfish In a way, asking for more, I failed to dwell on the most important part of the book: the life lesson; after all, I believe lessons are what all stories are all about. Two brothers; one, educated albeit a lawyer; the other, a dope addict for life. All their lives, it's the lawyer who's always been the smart one, even the dope-addict brother thought so. But in the face of temptation, it wasn't a surprise who turned out to be the smarter one, but who's the moral one.....And for that, an extra star.

3.5⭐


The thing with Grisham is that his plots are always interesting. In The Summons, we follow a Law School University professor who receives a letter from his dying father requesting him to come home on a specific date. On arriving at his hometown he gets shockers upon shockers bound to upset his life in every way, and all this begins a story of money, deceit, secrets, and family that will have the reader engaged from start to finish.

Grisham had me in the first forty pages, and with a very promising storyline I knew I was in for something good. It's fast-paced mystery fiction, so it's not one where you got to deeply connect with the characters, and that was just fine. The entirety of this book rested on the shoulders of its execution, and that, I have to say, was done quite neatly. Grisham delivers an intense amount of pressure, tension, and fear in some parts of this story, it almost truly feels like a movie. Very few authors have the ability to do that.

The book is near 400 pages and while it does not feel like that as it goes by quite quickly, there were a few not so needed pages in the story that felt a bit stale and boring and frankly unnecessary. The writing was also sometimes a bit too icky for me. It was not bad writing at all, just those annoying type sentences that pop up time and time again and stepped on your toes. Those probably were my only issues with the book.

Another thing you could commend Grisham on is how he does the final hundred pages. They are packed with so much intensity they keep you upright. The final two pages and the way the reveal and all that was executed really sank with me, and it was like a movie's final scene that stayed with you for a while. That closer really upped it for me. It was not the most; yet it felt right and very satisfactory.

My second book by this author and definitely a worthwhile reading experience. I'm definitely reading more from this man and if you like the mystery and the thrill, I highly recommend.

"Meh," that's all I have to say about this book. Definitely not Grisham's best. Found most of it rather dull, and Ray Atlee's decision-making skills annoyed me throughout the narrative. I'm not certain what I would do if I acquired that kind of cash, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't act that irrationally.

I was in the mood for some easy going brain candy.
Re-read.

I keep telling myself, “the next one is going to be great,” but John Grisham keeps making it impossible.

A story about a professor of Law, Ray Atlee, whose father instructed him to visit him in their family home to discuss about his will. On getting there, Ray discovers his father had died and left just the crumbling house and a few thousand dollars for him and his addict brother, Forrest.

Ray later discovers boxes of cash totalling up to $3 million, and he doesn't know where it came from and what to do with it.

On the process of investigating the source of the money, he discovers that other parties are also after that money, which brings about more and more adventures for Ray.

The plot started really good, but lost pace halfway through and another bad ending by John Grisham.

Pirmas sakinys: Jis atėjo paprastu paštu, senoviškai, kadangi Teisėjas buvo beveik aštuoniasdešimties ir šiuolaikinėmis ryšių priemonėmis nepasitikėjo.

Trileris. Nors pagal negyvėlių skaičių (Riubenas Etlis) ir veiksmą (didžiąją dalį siužeto Rėjus Etlis tik perslėpinėja pinigus) galėtų pretenduoti į klasikinį detektyvą. 2002 m. romanas, tačiau po 20 m. senstelėjęs – kaip trileriui trūksta intensyvumo, kaip klasikiniams detektyvui per daug veiksmo.

Visa esmė ( abu broliai neišdrįsta pasidalyti pinigais vienas su kitu, kad "pinigai neišvarytų tavęs iš proto" (278 p.)) ir moralas (informacija reikia dalintis, neverta jos slėpti – Rėjus, pasidalinęs savo paslaptimi su Hariu Reksu, vėliau pastarojo išgirsta "Džeikobo Speino istoriją, kaip likus šešioms dienoms iki Teisėjo mirties Forestas slapstėsi tarp medžių prie onkologinės klinikos" (264 p.)) tiesiai šviesiai pasakyta paskutiniuose puslapiuose.

Nors ne viskas šiame romane įtikino (Foresto Etlio sprendimas patikrinti brolį), istorija nepakilo aukščiau panašaus tipo kūrinių (vienplaniai veikėjai, pabaiga su dviem posūkiais), tačiau pirma pažintis su John'u Grisham'u buvo įdomi.

I don't do book reviews like many seem to do on Goodreads, including a synopsis of the book, just say if I enjoyed it or not. I can say, for this book, yes I did enjoy it very much. A nice, fast read.

Am I my brother's keeper? This is what came to mind as I read. Riches can corrupt if not used with wisdom. The Judge got it partially right when he gave money away, but his failure was that he became miserly and did not take care of himself. Forrest was like The Prodigal Son, he wasted money on his vices and squandered it away on selfish living. Ray lived in fear of the money, doling it out slowly and constantly looking over his shoulder. He lied to himself and said he was doing his brother a favor. Really he, too, was being selfish. His motive, in the end, was greed until he realized his mistake.

This novel was not as apparent as King of Torts which was outright greed. It took me a little bit to realize what Grisham was getting at! Love a story that make one think and offers a lesson! Lucinda at the Library