The Summons
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| Author | John Grisham |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Legal thriller novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Released | 2002 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0385503822 |
The Summons is a legal thriller novel written in 2000 by noted American author John Grisham.
[edit] Plot summary
The main character, Ray Atlee is a law professor with a good salary in Virginia. He has a brother, Forrest, and a dying father, known to many as Judge Reuben V. Atlee. Ray is sent to his father's estate in Clanton, MS, to discuss issues regarding the old man's will and estate. To do this, Ray had to go to Ford County, the setting for many of John Grisham's other books such as A Time To Kill. In this book, we get introduced to characters from the other books such as Harry Rex. When he finds his father dead in the study Ray discovers a sum of over three million dollars in the house, money which was not part of Judge Atlee's will. Ray immediately thought the money was "dirty" because his father couldn't possibly make so much money in his career.
Assuming that he was the only one who knew about the money, Ray decided he would take it without making it officially part of the estate, and did not tell anyone about it. He knew that if he made it a part of the estate, taxes will take most of the money. But later reality proves otherwise. Ray was being followed -- someone else knew about the money. After his own investigations into the roots of the money and the identity of his shadow -- investigations which include trips to casinos and shady meetings with prominent southern lawyers -- he discovers the truth about the money and his stalker.
He finds out that it was two men, hired by his brother Forrest, who were following him. Forrest knew about the hidden money from when he had visited his father in a secret meeting only days before both brothers met at the estate and found their own father dead. The story implies that Forrest kills his own father by drugging him. The large sum of money found in the deceased father's estate turns out to be only a little element in a much larger scheme of things. It was a thank you gift to the judge (Ray's and Forrest's father) who presided over a massive corporate lawsuit which settled for millions. The sender of the money was a very unethical lawyer named Patton French who wanted to thank the judge for ruling in their favor.
| Preceded by Skipping Christmas |
John Grisham Novels 2000 |
Succeeded by Bleachers |
| John Grisham's novels (as of 2006) | |
|---|---|
|
1980s: A Time to Kill |
|
| Non-Fiction | |
|
2000s: The Innocent Man |
|
