The Testament / by John Grisham

Self-made billionaire Troy Phelan is a very proud man. Like anyone else whose personal worth registers over $11 Billion, he's rigidly protective of his assets. So it's not so odd that at age 80, Troy promptly decides to die, popping up out of his wheelchair, through a glass window and plunging down 33 stories to the pavement. Troy's suicide was in fact done with 'rational' intention, an act perpetrated to prevent his children, grandchildren, ex-wives and a horde of mooching lawyers from inheriting the fortune he'd worked so hard for. With stipulations in the current will (re-drafted just prior to the fall) admonishing Troy's sane diagnosis and with no reputable doctor to state otherwise, potential heirs are essentially "cut off" from the money. The uncontested and legally valid will bequeaths--with bittersweet irony--the bulk of the inheritance to one Rachel Lane, a heretofore unknown illegitimate daughter currently working as a missionary in remote South America.

Attorney and once-revered litigator Nate O'Riley is currently where many lifelong drunks find themselves--rehab. His wife long gone, alienated by his kids, and having forfeited his job and all but a few friends, Nate has used up whatever second chances he was once given. So it's somewhat a surprise when he's asked to go on a strange business trip to a remote region of South America--Brazil to be exact--to locate a missionary and dictate legal conditions pertaining to a vast sum of money she's just inherited. But even Nate has his doubts about maintaining sobriety long enough to reach her, much less pinpointing her exact location. While he's no Faulkner (even if he does inhabit the same hometown), John Grisham's long list of court room thrillers have never failed to entertain, making him a publisher's dream over the last two decades. It's the endearing nature of his characters along with his story's humanistic appeal which most garner applause and of course the southern gothic elements in many of his books always making for a dramatic story. Not so much of the legal jargon is dished out here though as 'Testament' definitely stays on the lighter side of things; its colorful depictions of the vulturous Phelan flock, Nate's will to succeed against addiction and the uniquely compassionate heroine all making for a one-of-a-kind inspirational story. Readers wanting an absorbing read for say, a really long trip, can't go wrong here.