The Testament: A Novel

This is by far the best book I have ever read. I loved the christian story. I hope you write more books with a christian theme. I certainly wasn't ready for the book to end.

As usual a very well written tale.

This is one of the best books I have ever read! Grisham is a great writer and this is one of his top 5 books. The kindle version is great and Audible is even better. May God bless your reading of this.

I just got back into reading books and getting my head out of screens, YouTube and all the rest of it, and decided to get back into it with this novel. Took a day to get into the swing of it, but this story made it an easy transition. Wonderful story and excellent character development, a Grisham trademark.If you have not read this one, pick it up as it will not disappoint. Nate O'Reilly, the central character, is perfectly depicted here and his story makes this a compelling read.

What a twist! Just wow! I love John Grisham, but this novel is on a whole different level. I love it.

Rinse, wash, repeat. Grisham had some great works, but this feels so predictable as to be annoying. Still a decent read for vacation.

I give this book 3 statute I would really give it 3.5 stars. I take away .5 stars for the seemingly endless journey of Nate to find Rachel. It just took too much time from the story and it didn’t make a difference. The boat sinking and Nate and Jevy getting lost on the river didn’t make one bit of difference to the story. Neither did Nate talking with the head missionary lady in Houston. I’m my opinion all of that could have been condensed and Nate’s rebirth could have been explored more. Also, Nate fell of the wagon in Brazil for what? It never added to the story, but I guess it showed the vulnerability of Nate at that point. The story gets 4 full stars once Nate gets ill and gets back to he states. Bravo.

I liked this book about greed, manipulation, serenity and redemption.Grisham's first chapter sucks the reader into the story like few beginnings I have encountered. The first person perspective of a bitter and lonely billionaire who plots his revenge on his children even as he has plotted his own death is riviting.When the story moves to inland Brazil, Grisham's narrative excels at explaining a remote yet beautiful land that few are aware exists. His characters likewise are well developed and beleivable in their roles. His portrayal of the several amoral lawyers borders on the hilarious and will serve to confirm many people's stereotypes of members of the bar.What separates this novel from othe works of Grisham is the presence of God in the life of several of the characters. Religion is a positive influence on those it touches in the story and serves as the fulcrum upon which the plot turns.This is the first fiction book I can recall reading where the strong faith of several major characters is treated as a positive defining aspect of their lives. In my experience, when I have encountered religion at all in fiction, it usually is presented as a character defect or held up to demonstrate the hypocrisy of those who do not practice what they preach. Grisham's treatment of faith as a central aspect of character and motivational force is refreshing and much more representative of how it affects most religious people.I read the book quickly over several days. Great opening, well developed and interesting characters, enough greed and money on the line to titilate and a good juxtaposition of faith and redemption. A winner.

Excellent storyline. Very descriptive. Highly recommended.

A very good read typical of John Grisham

I've already read this book years ago, wanted to read it again and remembered that I lent it to someone and never got it back. I enjoyed this book so much that I have now purchased it on kindle for £4.99 which is is astonishing as it is a 24 year old book. That should tell you how good this book is.

日本人には理解できない巨額な資産を有する特権階級とそこに群れ集まる血に飢えた敵対者と貪欲なロイヤー達、そして彼らが繰り広げる果てしない法廷闘争。ただ今回は一方の当事者がアマゾンの僻地にミッショナリーとして暮す世俗を捨てた女性。米国資本主義の醜悪な頂点と,真逆な自然に生きる人達。著者John Grishamの得意とする従来の法廷物とは一回り、二回り異なった物語。しかし、著者の切り口、描写力、物語への引力は相変わらず強力でドンドン引き込まれていく。傑作です。

This novel is a strange mixture of two elements. Firstly is what you expect of Grisham, a depiction of courtroom wrangling over the will of a recently deceased billionaire. This is mixed in with a gung-ho, Boys' Own style adventure as a lone lawyer heads off with a local guide into the wilds of Brazil's Pantanal to search out the will's beneficiary. The two don't necessarily sit well together.The main character, Nate the lawyer, is a sympathetic character despite being heavily flawed. An alcoholic, he has recently completed yet another period of rehabilitation, but his career and family have been lost. Hence his being selected to track down the elusive missionary who has unexpectedly become the world's richest woman, but hasn't been seen for many years. His journey is certainly eventful - probably beyond the realms of realism. Having travelled in the Pantanal myself (admittedly not in the wet season) I don't recognise it as being quite as wild and terrifying as it is depicted here. But given it's the area of France it's possible parts of it are.The courtroom elements are drier, although described as always with Grisham's clarity and his eye's firmly on the people rather than the technicalities. Unfortunately, all of the relatives contesting the will are thoroughly unpleasant and not in a believable way. I could quite happily have bought some, or even most, of the relatives being as stupid, selfish, greedy and careless as described. But not every single one of them. If nothing else, the law of averages suggests there would have been one brighter one amongst the batch, or one who learned from the mistakes of their older siblings. Because the relatives are so unpleasant, the reader doesn't want them to get the money, but as the intended beneficiary doesn't want the money from herself, it creates a kind of void which takes the heat out of the battle.I enjoyed the Pantanal sections more than the rest, as it described an exotic locale and was quite exciting in places. But it didn't sit very well within the wider structure. I also found the underlying messages a bit simplistic. 'Money can't buy you happiness' being the key the theme, which is laudable enough but has been done so often you'd need something a bit more subtle than this novel to really draw it out. The contrast between the saintly missionary and the money-grabbing will contestants is so extreme it borders on cartoonish and again feels a bit over-simplified. There were more interesting angles that could have been taken here. What about the potential use of the money to fund efforts to convert tribal peoples to Christianity? The whole ethics of that could have been explored and made a much tastier and more thought-provoking courtroom battle.As it is, Grisham has produced another easily read book set in the American legal system with a bit of added drama. It's an OK read, but not spectacular. I do think that opportunities were missed here to create a much deeper and more interesting story, but then perhaps that's not really Grisham's aim. Not every book has to push the boundaries. So it works perfectly well as what it is, a solid piece of courtroom drama that makes good holiday reading that will be enjoyed by many people, based on his popularity.