The Summons, John Grisham
The Summons, John Grisham
183 Rating(s)
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The Summons

Author: John Grisham

Narrator: Michael Beck

Unabridged: 8 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/05/2002


Synopsis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A pillar of the community who towered over local law and politics for forty years, Judge Atlee is now a shadow of his former self—a sick, lonely old man who has withdrawn to his sprawling ancestral home in Clanton, Mississippi.

Knowing that the end is near, Judge Atlee has issued a summons for his two sons to return to Clanton to discuss his estate. Ray Atlee is the elder, a Virginia law professor, newly single, still enduring the aftershocks of a surprise divorce. Forrest is Ray’s younger brother, the family’s black sheep.

The summons is typed by the Judge himself, on his handsome old stationery, and gives the date and time for Ray and Forrest to appear in his study. Ray reluctantly heads south to his hometown, to the place he now prefers to avoid. But the family meeting does not take place. The Judge dies too soon, and in doing so leaves behind a shocking secret known only to Ray . . . and perhaps to someone else.

About John Grisham

John Ray Grisham, Jr. was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas on February 8, 1955. Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University and later from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He was a practicing criminal attorney for over ten years and then served in the House of Representatives from 1984 to 1990. He published his first novel in 1989 after working on it for five years. ‘A Time to Kill’, his first novel, launched his new career and was later made into a major motion picture. His first bestseller, ‘The Firm’, released in 1991, sold over seven million copies and was made into a box office hit starring Tom Cruise two years later. Almost twenty years later in 2012, a TV series was launched and picks up the life of Mitch McDeere and his family ten years after the events of the novel.

John Grisham has had his novels translated into more than forty languages and has sold nearly 300 million copies worldwide. He is a winner of the prestigious Galaxy British Book Award and is one of only three authors (the other two being Tom Clancy and J.K. Rowling) to ever sell two million copies of a first published novel. Nine of his novels (including ‘The Firm and ‘A Time to Kill’ have been made into major motion pictures.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Baba on April 03, 2024

Big Man in small county, Judge Atlee is on his death bed, so he sends out a Summons for his two sons, one is an alcoholic and drug addict; the other who actually turns up is law professor Ray Atlee, who return to his childhood home to be at his father's bedside. His father's legacy is unexpected and......more

Goodreads review by Holly on June 23, 2023

Enjoyable audio! I love a legal / crime/ mystery thriller and Grisham is so so good at creating intrigue and taking the time to really develop the characters. The narrator, Michael Beck was brilliant at voicing all the characters. There is a 3 million $$ discovery and mystery that follows the money,......more

Goodreads review by Bill on February 21, 2019

Not a very compelling read. Good while in the small Southern town, but boring just about everywhere else. A disappointment.......more

Goodreads review by Mark on September 08, 2022

After recently reading The Broker by John Grisham my appetite was whet for more by this author, so I jumped into my car, scoured the local charity shops, and snaffled up a handful of his books – eager to read more. The Summons was an ordinary experience. Forgettable. Professor of Law at Virginia Unive......more

Goodreads review by Jay on June 22, 2022

What would you do if you went to your father's house, found him dead and then discovered 3 million dollars in cash stashed away and knew it wasn't covered in the will? Keep it, tell your drug-addled brother and split it or call the authorities. That was the dilemma that confronted Ray. Not as easy as......more


Quotes

The Summons ranks as my absolute favorite in many years...[with] an ending too delicious and morally instructive to give away.”—USA Today

“A pleasure to read...a good yarn.”—The Washington Post