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The Summons
  
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The Summons (Library Binding)

by John Grisham (Author)
2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (681 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 18.13
Price: CDN$ 14.44 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
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Product Details

Product Description

From Amazon.com

Law professor Ray Atlee and his prodigal brother, Forrest, are summoned home to Clanton, Mississippi, by their ailing father to discuss his will. But when Ray arrives the judge is already dead, and the one-page document dividing his meager estate between the two sons seems crystal clear. What it doesn't mention, however, is the small fortune in cash Ray discovers hidden in the old man's house--$3 million he can't account for and doesn't mention to brother Forrest, either.

Ray's efforts to keep his find a secret, figure out where it came from, and hide it from a nameless extortioner, who seems to know more about it than he does, culminate in a denouement with an almost biblical twist. It's a slender plot to hang a thriller on, and in truth it's not John Grisham's best in terms of pacing, dramatic tension, and interesting characters (except for Harry Rex, a country lawyer who was the judge's closest friend and in many ways is the father Ray wishes he'd had. He's so vivid he jumps off the page). But Grisham's legions of fans are likely to enjoy The Summons even if it lacks the power of some of his classic earlier books, like The Firm, The Brethren, and The Testament. --Jane Adams --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.



From Publishers Weekly

Beck offers a fine performance in this no-frills production of Grisham's latest, despite its lack of overall narrative zip. University of Virginia law professor Ray Atlee stumbles upon more than $3 million in cash in the rural Mississippi house of his dead father, then tries to discover the source of the money and elude an increasingly persistent and menacing extortionist. Beck is a dynamic reader and excels at tackling the challenge of capturing the characters' Southern twang in the story's dialogue. Ray's voice is refined and authoritative, while that of his black sheep brother, Forrest, carries a slight crack that befits a person lacking in confidence and maturity. Family friend and local lawyer Harry Rex stands out the most, and Beck also deftly portrays a smarmy, boozing Delta attorney who calls himself the "King of the Torts." But even with these intriguing, well-rounded characters and a nice evocation of the legal system's more unsavory machinations, the plot won't move listeners to the edge of their seats. Beck, however, does well with what he has, which is a decently written but rather sluggish tale of suspense with a quirky cast and one good twist at the end. Simultaneous release with the Doubleday hardcover
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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Customer Reviews

681 Reviews
5 star:
 (71)
4 star:
 (127)
3 star:
 (147)
2 star:
 (156)
1 star:
 (180)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.6 out of 5 stars (681 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
4.0 out of 5 stars Two Different Worlds, Nov 23 2008
This review is from: The Summons (Mass Market Paperback)
Ray Atlee is a UVA law professor in Charlottesville, VA and receives the news that his father, Judge Reuben Atlee, has died. The news takes him to Clanton, Mississippi to his father's house where he discovers boxes of cash totaling three million dollars. Rather than report the money he decides to take it and deprive his brother, Forrest, of this money as well. The plot accelerates when a mystery third person indicates knowledge of the money and initiates threats to get it. Charlottesville, a sophisticated, wealthy college town in Virginia provides a striking contrast to the more rural Clanton, Mississippi both in culture and setting. Grisham manages to keep the ending and resolution a surprise that intrigues and mostly satisfies. Grisham is good at developing his plot and characters but some of the plot walks close to the margins of plausibility.The Griffon Trilogy: Part I
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2.0 out of 5 stars A Law School Hypothetical Problem Turned into a Slow-Moving Novel, Nov 29 2007
This review is from: The Summons (Mass Market Paperback)
One of the problems of being a lawyer is that you can start to think like one all too much of the time. For those who are most fascinated by the law, the favorite intellectual game is to pose ever more complex scenarios to test what is the right solution. John Grisham clearly thought he was writing a law school hypothetical problem when he penned this novel . . . which will leave those who aren't lawyers puzzled, troubled, and disgruntled.

From a legal and personal perspective, this book raises some nice ethical questions:

1. What is the obligation to protect the reputation and memory of a deceased person?

2. How should an addict be protected from hurting himself?

3. How far should potentially illegal activities be pursued by an attorney who is an executor of an estate?

4. How should protecting property be weighed against protecting life?

5. Can you overcome the temptation to run off with something that no one knows you have found?

Attorney and law professor Ray Atlee is faced with all of those issues and more when he returns home to find his father dead and the living room filled with stationery boxes bursting with cash. First, he wants to know if the cash is counterfeit or part of some illegal activity. Second, he is concerned that his brother not go on a long cocaine-sniffing holiday from which he might not survive. Third, he's afraid someone will walk off with the money. Fourth, he begins to think how nice it would be to avoid paying taxes on the money. Fifth, he dreams about having it all to himself.

But life isn't that simple. Someone else seems to know about the money, and they are getting aggressive about retrieving it. What will Ray do?

There's supposed to be a mystery here, but parts of it are pretty transparent. What isn't transparent eventually turns out to be far-fetched.

Except for tickling my memories of property class hypotheticals, I didn't find much to recommend this book. If you do decide to read it, I suggest that you listen instead to the Recorded Books reading by Michael Beck who makes a lot of the silliness sound more interesting.
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4.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed this book very much, Sep 24 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: The Summons (Mass Market Paperback)
I could not put it down until it was done. I cannot think of a better way to spend a rainy afternoon. Can't wait to get my hands on the author's next works.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Dumb!
Anyone calling this drivel a pleasent read should have never read anything decent in his life so that he is short of comparing. Read more
Published on Jul 18 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars I guess I'm in a minority here - I loved this one
I'd go into the plot but that's been done already. Needless to say I enjoyed reading Ray Atlee's odyssey, well-written by Grisham, with one of those "I can't believe I didn't... Read more
Published on Jul 7 2004 by John

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, quick read
Grisham goes back to Clanton in "The Summons," a book about two brothers and their estranged dad. Read more
Published on Jun 22 2004 by Moonlight Graham

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst book I've read in years
This book was so horrible I left it in my hotel room when I was finished. I should have thrown it out so that no one else would be subjected to it. Read more
Published on Jun 15 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars HAVE A HEART JOHN
Come on John, get a grip ! This book had a scrawny story line which you dragged out to the bitter end. Read more
Published on May 20 2004 by Mr Pineapples

4.0 out of 5 stars I love Grisham, and this is an easy, but entertaining story
This John Grisham suspense-thriller is a true mystery all the way to the end. Set in the Deep South, as in many of his books, this tale is brilliantly written and carries on his... Read more
Published on May 13 2004 by Aliecia Bores

3.0 out of 5 stars GET SUMMONED...
The Summons, is different from any other Grisham book from the point of view and approach, but it always envolved people of the LAW and misterious suspense cases and misteries to... Read more
Published on May 6 2004 by S. Quinto

1.0 out of 5 stars What's happened to Grisham?
I've loved this author's earlier books, but is he turning out to be like so many who turn out a good novel or two, then, in order to keep the$ coming in, churns out new ones even... Read more
Published on April 29 2004 by Wayne Price

5.0 out of 5 stars A typical John Grisham page-turner with an unexpected ending
I have been, and still am, a big fan of John Grisham since 1995 when I read "The Pelican Brief". His books are still good after all this time and even better! Read more
Published on April 26 2004 by Tomas MF

2.0 out of 5 stars Readable, as long as you don't mind that there is no plot.
Most Grisham books can be described as having weak characterization but a strong plot or theme ("The Firm" comes to mind). Not this one. Read more
Published on April 24 2004 by Roger J. Buffington

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