The Summons / The King of Torts

by John Grisham

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

John Grisham is the author of more than fifty consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include Framed, Camino Ghosts and The Exchange: After the Firm.

Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.

John lives on a farm in central Virginia.

Reviews

[Roxana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two books in one. I almost forgot the pleasure to read one of John Grisham's novel, although maybe the reasson I enjoyed it so much was because it was in English, and I definately prefer to read him in his own language.
In The Summons, a former judge summons his two sons to his house. Both sons lived in other cities.
The first one to arrive is the oldest son, only to find that his father had recently died and that he had left his last will, naming him the executor. Before his brother or anybody else arrived, he take a look around his father office. There he founds money, a lot of it, and he doesnt' have any clue where it comes from... That's where the conflicts begin. Where does the money come from? Does it have a legal origin? Should he tell his brother about it? Should he tell anybody?... Who else knows about it?...
On the second book, we read about a young lawyer who works as a public defender. As everyone who works in that office he wants something more and better payed. By defending an addcit he gets involve in a proposal he just can't say no, and suddenly his life makes a 360ºdegree of change. He became the most popular lawyer, the King of Torts... Winning more money than he ever dreams... But the house of cards can collapse at any moment...
Two books about greed and all the other feelings that money inspire

[Tricia Fagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grisham is terrific at spinning a good yarn. His forte has been in engaging legal thrillers - often intersecting with problems of greed, fraud and corruption. Those elements are present, but this novel is something of a departure from his usual fare. There's a more personal dynamic here that is clearly the focal point of the novel. It's engaging (occasionally, moving) in its own right; very much a man's story (the rare women are flashbacks, tight-skirted or caricatures) and some of the action in the book feels as if it is contrived just to keep the page count building. Interesting to see if this becomes a transitional book in the evolution of the Grisham canon.

[W W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whatta whirlwind tale of a young lawyer wild ride!!!

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like reading about money, greed and lawyers, then this is your book. Not me, I only continued to read it because I thought there would be a come uppance and I wanted to see that unfold. I didn't like any of the characters, and I find I need to like a character in a story to care about reading it.

However, I think it was well written and can see why John Grisham has got such a huge following. I probably won't be reading other books by him. I found myself skipping over the financial bits and pieces, such as buying and selling shares, as I had no interest in trying to work out what it all meant.

Also, he seems to say whether somebody is white of black a lot and I fail to see the significance in this type of story.

I gve it two stars because I didn't have a personal interest. So it was a choice failing, rather than the author not being a good writer.

[Brian Bixler · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointment. I have read a few of Grisham's books and enjoyed them. This one failed to maintain interest. Devoid of suspense with a one-trick plot, it took more than 370 pages to find out the answer to a mystery that was not that interesting to begin with. If I were a newcomer to Grisham's work, I would probably not explore any other writing based on this book. Normally a book of this length would take me a couple of days to read -- even one if it were a page turner. This one took me a couple of weeks to get through. That tells me something.

[Kshipra Sharma]

Regular Grisham classic. Thrilling as ever.

[Virginia]

The book was The Summons only.

[Tigner James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best John Grisham book I've read. action packed with many twist and turns

[Steve Angus]

Why Grisham is Grisham.

[Bobbie Barker Ulmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by John Grisham