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hcamel24's review against another edition
5.0
Finally, Finally, FINALLY! THIS is the John Grisham I remember reading in the early 90s (my god, has it been that long??). Jake Brigance is back (well, I'm a little late to the party as this came out in 2013 but still..) after his big case in "A Time to Kill." This time, he finds himself sent a will by a man who has hung himself. What's interesting about the will? It's handwritten by the deceased and explicitly cuts out his family and leaves 90% of his estate to his black housekeeper.
Twists and turns (I'll admit, I saw a couple of them coming) keep this novel going at high speed until the very end.
THIS is the John Grisham I love.
A wonderful story and great characters (Harry Rex and Lucien in particular made me smile) and well told by the narrator as I listened via audio.
Thank you Mr. Grisham for an outstanding novel that sits now as highly esteemed on my bookshelf (albeit virtual) as A Time to Kill, and The Firm.
Twists and turns (I'll admit, I saw a couple of them coming) keep this novel going at high speed until the very end.
THIS is the John Grisham I love.
A wonderful story and great characters (Harry Rex and Lucien in particular made me smile) and well told by the narrator as I listened via audio.
Thank you Mr. Grisham for an outstanding novel that sits now as highly esteemed on my bookshelf (albeit virtual) as A Time to Kill, and The Firm.
nsuddhi's review against another edition
5.0
Much Better than A Time to Kill, with a twister plot line and some real thoughtful questions. Still found Jake a bit unsympathetic and useless (at the end of the day, he wins another case thanks to sheer luck and brilliant colleagues...)
collieluvr's review against another edition
4.0
One reason I've been reading so many novels by John Grisham is that I find the plot twists & turns intriguing. And while I did like this book, I could see where it was going by the time I got about 1/3 of the way into the story. That doesn't necessarily detract from the story but it was disappointing at the time and then again at the end when I realized my prediction was accurate. So I docked it 1 star for that reason.
The idea behind the story is that a wealthy man commits suicide once his cancer has been diagnosed as terminal. He writes a hand-written will that leaves everything to his black housekeeper and he explicitly cuts off his relatives. Naturally his children decide to contest the handwritten will. The main question is Why? Why would he have done this after he'd already prepared a proper will that would minimize the tax hit to his children and grandchildren? And THAT is what the novel is all about. The book also explains the intricacies of estate law which, apparently, doesn't differ much from one state to the next.
I will leave it to future readers to find out for themselves how the jury decides who will inherit the money and why he took this action.
The idea behind the story is that a wealthy man commits suicide once his cancer has been diagnosed as terminal. He writes a hand-written will that leaves everything to his black housekeeper and he explicitly cuts off his relatives. Naturally his children decide to contest the handwritten will. The main question is Why? Why would he have done this after he'd already prepared a proper will that would minimize the tax hit to his children and grandchildren? And THAT is what the novel is all about. The book also explains the intricacies of estate law which, apparently, doesn't differ much from one state to the next.
I will leave it to future readers to find out for themselves how the jury decides who will inherit the money and why he took this action.
yayupapa's review against another edition
4.0
Another great Grisham novel in the style that he gained fame with, a legal drama. It's the traditional good versus evil story with good prevailing. Really enjoyed it
949_peewee's review against another edition
4.0
Well-written and believable follow-up to Time to Kill.
christinembyrd's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great book, though I found Grisham to be a bit verbose at times, making the book longer than perhaps necessary.
maryg571's review against another edition
2.0
I actually didn't finish this book. It was so dull. I feel bad; 1st, because I love John Grisham as an author and 2nd, just because I hate not finishing a book.
tbkeith's review against another edition
5.0
John Grisham always weaves a masterful story and this time it was no different. He faces racism, bigotry, prejudice and so many other sensitive issues head on. The characters were we'll, defined as was Ford County.
My only wish is that it hadn't taken so long for this novel to be written. Excellent story.
My only wish is that it hadn't taken so long for this novel to be written. Excellent story.