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26th out of 172 books
—
91 voters
The Testament
by
John Grisham (Goodreads Author)
Troy Phelan, a 78-year-old eccentric and the 10th-richest man in America, is about to read his last will and testament, divvying up an estate worth $11 billion. Phelan's three ex-wives, their grasping spawn, a legion of lawyers, several psychiatrists, and a plethora of sound technicians wait breathlessly, all eyes glued to digital monitors as they watch the old man read hi...more
Hardcover, 1st Edition, 435 pages
Published
February 2nd 1999
by Doubleday
(first published 1999)
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Not much suspense, but a good story with unique and interesting characters.
STORY BRIEF:
Eccentric billionaire leaves all his money to an illegitimate child Rachel no one knew about. His six grandchildren are greedy idiots who hire attorneys to contest the will. Josh is executor of the will. He needs someone to go to the jungles of Brazil to find Rachel who is working with tribes as a Christian missionary. Josh asks Nate to go. Nate was a high-powered litigator who has been in rehab several times...more
STORY BRIEF:
Eccentric billionaire leaves all his money to an illegitimate child Rachel no one knew about. His six grandchildren are greedy idiots who hire attorneys to contest the will. Josh is executor of the will. He needs someone to go to the jungles of Brazil to find Rachel who is working with tribes as a Christian missionary. Josh asks Nate to go. Nate was a high-powered litigator who has been in rehab several times...more
What I learned from this book:
1) Everyone should have a fully executed will.
2) A poorly written Will is bad estate planning.
3) If you have lots of money and hate your family, make them think you are giving them $11 billion and then swap the Will that gives them nothing, and then jump off a building plunging to your death so that they can't do anything but settle with the estate.
This is my first Grisham book. And many more to come, I am sure!
1) Everyone should have a fully executed will.
2) A poorly written Will is bad estate planning.
3) If you have lots of money and hate your family, make them think you are giving them $11 billion and then swap the Will that gives them nothing, and then jump off a building plunging to your death so that they can't do anything but settle with the estate.
This is my first Grisham book. And many more to come, I am sure!
Mar 08, 2008
sarafem
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
royally-sucked,
novels
An overly preachy and hastily written Grisham novel with his typical battle of big money versus the good of heart. I am always drawn to Grisham for a good rainy day read and the premise sounded pretty good, but from page one this one is a waste of time. Too many characters bogged the story down and it dragged on and on, especially when Grisham started getting preachy. By the end of the book, it felt like Grisham had tired of the story himself, and just threw something together to be done with it...more
review
I am reading The Testament, by John Grisham.It's about a man named Nate who is put in charge of finding the illigitament daughter of a billionaire.She's a missionary to a remote jungle and is, as far as he knows, unreachable.So he sets out on a journey with vivid characters and challenging situations.Jevy the body guard and Milton the pilot befriend him and try to help him on his journey.I love this book.I can't stop reading because Grisham describes Nate's trials with such color and emoti...more
I am reading The Testament, by John Grisham.It's about a man named Nate who is put in charge of finding the illigitament daughter of a billionaire.She's a missionary to a remote jungle and is, as far as he knows, unreachable.So he sets out on a journey with vivid characters and challenging situations.Jevy the body guard and Milton the pilot befriend him and try to help him on his journey.I love this book.I can't stop reading because Grisham describes Nate's trials with such color and emoti...more
I learned it's more important to forget the materialism of this world and be self-less for Christ like the heroine of this book was, than to get caught up in making a name for myself in my short time on earth. I forget the amount of family fortune she'd inherited, but she was so lost in her love for Christ that she was oblivious to the inheritance itself until a lawyer tracked her down from U.S to the Amazon to tell her/award her the inheritance. Her other-worldness was in stark contrast to the...more
A rich old man dies, and his awful children are clamoring for the will that will reveal how much they get. They are horrified to find out all has been left to a hereto-unknown sibling Rachel, who is living as a missionary South America. The rich old man's lawyer now has to travel through the jungle to find her and explain to her that she is now worth millions.
A little bit different Grisham novel, as most of the action takes place in South America. I kind of enjoyed this different tone, of the co...more
A little bit different Grisham novel, as most of the action takes place in South America. I kind of enjoyed this different tone, of the co...more
A surprisingly entertaining novel from John Grisham - while still sticking to his legal routes, this novel takes place primarily in Africa, as a troubled partner from a DC firm tries to execute the last will and testament of a cruel yet brilliant business man who intentionally left out his extensive crazy family from his inheritance. A quick, enjoyable read that will leave you wondering what you would have done in the position of both the dying business man and the spiritual doctor living an imm...more
Great book!It was a fun and quick read! An exhilarating novel that kept me intruiged the entire time. The setting in the plot throughout this particular book was one of my favorites written by John Grisham. it was quite adventerous and political as well.
One reason i found this book so interesting was how well it relates to myself and society as a whole. I feel it related to myself by the faith and mission work that Grisham adds to the story which really helped the plot along. It also related to...more
One reason i found this book so interesting was how well it relates to myself and society as a whole. I feel it related to myself by the faith and mission work that Grisham adds to the story which really helped the plot along. It also related to...more
The Testament was my formal introduction to John Grisham's works, and is a thrilling, intellectual and entertaining book. I loved this book so much that I became an instant John Grisham fan, and have read every one of his books since. I was particularly moved by this book because it told the story of one man's physical journey as well as personal, and even spiritual journey. Nate O'Riley, attorney,embarks on a life-changing and dangerous trip to Brazil to find the heir to a fortune. The story li...more
Fascinating!! I was extremely intrigued by this Grisham. His writing is above par, and definitely good enough to keep the readers at grasp and wondering what will happen next. I'm not too much into suicide, but the grip of it keeps us reading and wondering what the story is fully about.
Though different from many of his other books, I think The Testament becomes one of my Grisham favorites. Troy Phelan, a self-made billionaire, jumps to a spectacular death after signing a will leaving his fortun...more
Though different from many of his other books, I think The Testament becomes one of my Grisham favorites. Troy Phelan, a self-made billionaire, jumps to a spectacular death after signing a will leaving his fortun...more
The Testament's first five chapters is so full of impact. Those five chapters are dazzling pieces of story telling that may be Grisham's best start, even better than The Client's. Sadly, the rest of the book fades in comparison. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not saying the rest of the book isn't good, it's just not that brilliant like those five are. To quote from USA Today's Larry King "The Testament has the best first 50 pages for pure storytelling impact that I have ever read." The rest of th...more
I read John Grisham's "The Testament" in dead tree format years ago and loved it. It is part of my physical library as many books are.
But recently I listened to it in audiobook format as well. The audio adaptation was very well done and added much to the already great book.
Henry Leyva (http://www.simplyaudiobooks.com/audio...) performed the narration of the book and I have to say, he did a great job performing the narration of this unabridged book.
This early John Grisham thriller does not disap...more
But recently I listened to it in audiobook format as well. The audio adaptation was very well done and added much to the already great book.
Henry Leyva (http://www.simplyaudiobooks.com/audio...) performed the narration of the book and I have to say, he did a great job performing the narration of this unabridged book.
This early John Grisham thriller does not disap...more
SUMMARY: 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 inten...more
An angry, bitter, extremely rich, old man is examined by psychiatrists and is found to be of sound mind. Only minutes after signing his last will and testament he jumps to his death out the window of his high rise.
According to his last will all of his billions of dollars are to go to a heir which no one has heard of. The woman is a missionary who is serving deep in the jungles of Brazil.
Nate O'riley, a disgraced corporate attorney who is in and out of rehab for alcohol, is sent to find her. Mean...more
According to his last will all of his billions of dollars are to go to a heir which no one has heard of. The woman is a missionary who is serving deep in the jungles of Brazil.
Nate O'riley, a disgraced corporate attorney who is in and out of rehab for alcohol, is sent to find her. Mean...more
One of his BEST!
The novel begins with a very rich man gathering in his lawyer, his children(with their lawyers), & a team of doctors to examine him(physically, & by interview) on video, & declare he is 100% sane.
He signs his will (worth hundreds of millions) then pulls out another one, states that he herewith rescinds all previous wills, & this is his official one, then he leaps out the window to his death.
The new will has some important key points:
-each child(adults) will get a...more
The novel begins with a very rich man gathering in his lawyer, his children(with their lawyers), & a team of doctors to examine him(physically, & by interview) on video, & declare he is 100% sane.
He signs his will (worth hundreds of millions) then pulls out another one, states that he herewith rescinds all previous wills, & this is his official one, then he leaps out the window to his death.
The new will has some important key points:
-each child(adults) will get a...more
ISBN 0440234743 - Troy Phelan is a self-made multi-billionaire who, on the last day of his life, outsmarts everyone around him, sticks it to his 3 ex-wives and six living children by means of a well thought out and executed plan, before he flings himself from the balcony of his building. The book isn't about him.
His 3 ex-wives and their children are, overall, pretty rotten people who have only one reason to be interested in the old man - his money. So when his plan works and they are all left ou...more
His 3 ex-wives and their children are, overall, pretty rotten people who have only one reason to be interested in the old man - his money. So when his plan works and they are all left ou...more
The Testament did not in the direction I thought it would but I enjoyed it as most Grisham novels I've read. I found that the act of the deceased was not explored as widely as the real world would but then I must think of the fairly new show, The Will or some name like it where it deals with the legal aspects of some high fortunes of the contest that goes on after a dear one departs. It wasn't that scathing in light of the realities of the world but I found it had a core in the heart of the sole...more
Not particularly one of Grisham's best, The Testament nonetheless moves quickly and is a pleasant-enough read.
A wealthy business dies and leaves his huge estate not to his "legitimate" children -- most of whom he never liked, and could be largely described as "spoiled" -- and instead leaves it all to an out-of-wedlock child that was never known to the rest of the family. Odd enough by itself, this situation is made even stranger by the fact that the heir has been away from civilization for years...more
A wealthy business dies and leaves his huge estate not to his "legitimate" children -- most of whom he never liked, and could be largely described as "spoiled" -- and instead leaves it all to an out-of-wedlock child that was never known to the rest of the family. Odd enough by itself, this situation is made even stranger by the fact that the heir has been away from civilization for years...more
Years ago--when it was first released, I believe--I bought the small, paperback version of this book, read some of it with interest, then stopped reading it and gave it away.
Now, years later, having seen it in large print version, I picked it up.
Again, because I compared this book to David Baldacci's legal thrillers, my critique may be a bit harsh. But readers will find it interesting, perhaps enjoyable, to read about Tony Phelan's idiot children and how they squandered their father's wealth.
On...more
Now, years later, having seen it in large print version, I picked it up.
Again, because I compared this book to David Baldacci's legal thrillers, my critique may be a bit harsh. But readers will find it interesting, perhaps enjoyable, to read about Tony Phelan's idiot children and how they squandered their father's wealth.
On...more
Though different from many of his other books, I think The Testament goes down as one of my Grisham favorites. Troy Phelan, a self-made billionaire, jumps to a spectacular death after signing a will leaving his fortune to an unknown daughter, Rachel Lane, and spurning his six other children by three failed marriages, all of whom are circling like vultures waiting for their lucky day to finally arrive. The wrinkle is that Rachel is a missionary in a remote part of Brazil, and is totally out of to...more
While everyone has heard stories about the reading of wills, few novels have ever focused on the meaning of the word "testament." This word is pivotal to the story since what Troy Phelan testifies to in the will unleashes secrets, exposing his heirs for what they really are --- both good and evil.
Grisham always teaches me one legal term I never knew or explains a process which I found rather vague. In this book, it is the holographic will --- a document wholly in the handwriting of its author....more
Grisham always teaches me one legal term I never knew or explains a process which I found rather vague. In this book, it is the holographic will --- a document wholly in the handwriting of its author....more
Another absorbing novel by one of my favourite authors.
Troy Phelan faced his mortality with a body barely functioning but with a mind as sharp as a tack (supposedly.)The problem of how to bequeath his vast wealth to a family, (who Troy believed) were undeserving, greedy, argumentative and as emotionally distant as could be,......needed to be addressed and quickly. His familial investments over the years were sparse, preferring to spend his energies draining all of life's luxuries to their limit....more
Troy Phelan faced his mortality with a body barely functioning but with a mind as sharp as a tack (supposedly.)The problem of how to bequeath his vast wealth to a family, (who Troy believed) were undeserving, greedy, argumentative and as emotionally distant as could be,......needed to be addressed and quickly. His familial investments over the years were sparse, preferring to spend his energies draining all of life's luxuries to their limit....more
I'm going to write a review. I'm going to do it. Why? Personal reasons.
*ahem*
first of all, I feel like John Grisham tries too hard to make this book seem action packed and suspenseful, when really, it's very predictable, cliche and slow moving. You always know what's coming. I found myself only reading one chapter, then putting it down. Then coming back hours later, reading another chapter maybe two, then putting it down again, etc. It didn't hold much interest. The only reason I read it so fa...more
*ahem*
first of all, I feel like John Grisham tries too hard to make this book seem action packed and suspenseful, when really, it's very predictable, cliche and slow moving. You always know what's coming. I found myself only reading one chapter, then putting it down. Then coming back hours later, reading another chapter maybe two, then putting it down again, etc. It didn't hold much interest. The only reason I read it so fa...more
Brief summary: One of the richest men in the world writes his idiot descendents out of his will and leaves everything to Rachel, an illegitimate daughter no one knew about, a missionary somewhere in South America. Mainly, the book is about the emotional journey of Nate the Lawyer, fresh from rehab, who has to search for Rachel in the jungle. While Nate rides a slow boat through a swamp, the idiot descendents and their lawyers run about in a frenzy to contest the will.
Why I liked this book:
1. It...more
Why I liked this book:
1. It...more
Jan 08, 2010
Jessica
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Jessica by:
jessica.z.hall@gmail.com
It has been YEARS since I've read John Grisham. To my recollection, I haven't disliked a single book of his that I've read. This one is equally fascinating to me because of one of the settings: the Pantanal in Brazil. Though I have Brazilian blood and have traveled there since I was a baby, I've never ventured to the Panatanal (and I'm not sure that I want to!), but it's interesting to read about the setting. Again, I don't know how accurate the portrayal of the Panatanal is (and Grisham admits...more
The Testament, by John Grisham
Grisham is always good, and he has a marvelous way of weaving an intricate plot. This one begins when an aging, irascible multibillionaire, Troy Phelan, decides to bedevil his three ex-wives and six children one last time; he sets up a situation whereby he will be examined by psychiatrists selected by them to establish that he is of sound mind, after which he publically and on camera signs the attorney-created will that gives them each a billion or so … and then, as...more
Grisham is always good, and he has a marvelous way of weaving an intricate plot. This one begins when an aging, irascible multibillionaire, Troy Phelan, decides to bedevil his three ex-wives and six children one last time; he sets up a situation whereby he will be examined by psychiatrists selected by them to establish that he is of sound mind, after which he publically and on camera signs the attorney-created will that gives them each a billion or so … and then, as...more
This book has been an adventure for me. From the start, being in the mind of Troy Phelan, an old man whose death is just hours away. He was a billionaire who was writing his last testament. His entire family was in his estate waiting for the will, expecting to become millionaires. What they didn't know was that they weren't getting a cent from the will. Troy leaves his entire estate to an unknown daughter named Rachael lane. Then he jumps off the building. In my opinion, Troy did the right thin...more
I haven't finished this book yet but I really love it. This book is about the billionaire Troy Phelan who is tired of being hounded by his three ex-wifes and their children who are bidding for a spot in the will. Troy hs lied to them that he has a brain tumor. Troy secretly plans to kill himself shortly after writing a will that makes his former wills that split almost 11 billion dollars among his family and various charities. This new will stipulates that the 11 billion dollars will be given to...more
Feb 08, 2011
Tracy Darity
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
tracy-s-book-club
Ever watch a game show like Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the contestant gets to the last question and a big smile covers their face because the answer is something they have just read or heard? Well, while in the process of reading The Testament I dreamed I was that contestant and the question centered around the Pantanol, situated in Corumba, Brazil…but I digress.
The Testament was typical John Grisham. It was enjoyable, informative, and entertaining. Troy Phelan is an aging billionaire wit...more
The Testament was typical John Grisham. It was enjoyable, informative, and entertaining. Troy Phelan is an aging billionaire wit...more
I confess that I enjoy John Grisham novels--they are generally easy to read, have realistic characters, and have a good plot. This one fell into that category for me, also. Not great literature, but fine for a quiet September afternoon. Despite the title of the book, I was surprised by the heavy Christian theme that ran through the book, but it was mostly believable and relevant to the plot.
One thing bothered me throughout, however, and in the end cast a shadow over the book for me, as it did f...more
One thing bothered me throughout, however, and in the end cast a shadow over the book for me, as it did f...more
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| an artist | 11 | 76 | Nov 25, 2012 07:27am | |
| John Grisham Testamentet | 1 | 15 | Dec 27, 2011 06:59am |
"Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, he was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby—writing his first novel.
Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of...more
More about John Grisham...
Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of...more
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“If you're gonna be stupid you gotta be tough.”
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“Shame was an emotion he had abandoned years earlier. Addicts know no shame. You disgrace yourself so many times you become immune to it.”
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Hi James,
I recently went through the list of Grisham books I had not read and ordered a few mor...more
Feb 04, 2012 07:27am
Feb 04, 2012 09:04am