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Summary and Reviews of The Testament by John Grisham

The Testament by John Grisham

The Testament

by John Grisham
  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (34):
  • First Published:
  • Feb 1, 1999, 435 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2000, 544 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

Troy Phelan is a self-made billionaire. He is also eccentric, reclusive, confined to a wheelchair, and looking for a way to die. His heirs, to no one's surprise are circling like vultures.

Troy Phelan is a self-made billionaire, one of the richest men in the United States. He is also eccentric, reclusive, confined to a wheelchair, and looking for a way to die. His heirs, to no one's surprise--especially Troy's--are circling like vultures.

Nate O'Riley is a high-octane Washington litigator who's lived too hard, too fast, for too long. His second marriage in a shambles, and he is emerging from his fourth stay in rehab armed with little more than his fragile sobriety, good intentions, and resilient sense of humor. Returning to the real world is always difficult, but this time it's going to be murder.

Rachel Lane is a young woman who chose to give her life to God, who walked away from the modern world with all its strivings and trappings and encumbrances, and went to live and work with a primitive tribe of Indians in the deepest jungles of Brazil.

In a story that mixes legal suspense with a remarkable adventure, their lives are forever altered by the startling secret of The Testament.

Excerpt
The Testament

SNEAD WAS TWO STEPS behind Mr. Phelan, and thought for a second that he might catch him. The shock of seeing the old man not only rise and walk but also practically sprint to the door froze Snead. Mr. Phelan hadn't moved that fast in years.

Snead reached the railing just in time to scream in horror, then watched helplessly as Mr. Phelan fell silently, twisting and flailing and growing smaller and smaller until he struck the ground. Snead clenched the railing and stared in disbelief, then he began to cry.

Josh Stafford arrived on the terrace a step behind Snead, and witnessed most of the fall. It happened so quickly, at least the jump; the fall itself seemed to last for an hour. A man weighing a hundred and fifty pounds will drop three hundred feet in less than five seconds, but Stafford later told people the old man floated for an eternity, like a feather whirling in the wind.

Tip Durban got to the railing just behind Stafford, and saw only the body's ...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Newsweek - Malcolm Jones
A compulsory page-turner...Abandoning the courtroom for the Brazilian jungle...Grisham can spin an adventure yarn every bit as well as he can craft a legal thriller.

Publishers Weekly
A traditional gangbuster Grisham opening .....Sincere, exciting and tinged with wonder, this novel is going to sell like an angel, and deservedly so.

Reader Reviews

Beckyh

Not your usual Grisham - in a good way
I started this book thinking “oh no, another bad will, lawyers fighting it out” book. I was wrong. This book is really a character study of two people: one selfless, powerless, kind, gentle, loving, astute; the other selfish, brutish, drunk, ...   Read More
Palesa Mpuru

Thrilling
The book is excellent. Though we turn to depend on wealth and power, but self spiritual healing is important to overcome your life's tribulations; as we go through Nate's escapade. An emotional ending...[spoiler removed- ed]
Anand

Takes you to the interior jungles & flooding rivers of The Pantanal. Those will stay afresh ever in my eyes. Good Work
luc

You are the man. You can do it. I hope you make a book about fooball, not like the Bleacher you made.

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Read-Alikes

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