The Testament

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The Testament
Author	John Grisham
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Legal thriller
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	2 February 1999
Media type	Hardcover Paperback
Pages	435
ISBN	0-385-49380-2

The Testament is a legal/suspense thriller by American author John Grisham. It was published in hardcover by Doubleday on February 2, 1999.

[edit] Plot summary

Troy Phelan, an eccentric & elderly billionaire, commits suicide minutes after leaving his vast fortune to an illegitimate daughter, Rachel Lane, instead of his six children by three marriages. His reason is revulsion to years of fighting with & embarrassment from his family, as well as their greed — much of which was due to his neglect of his children and multiple affairs (both personal and business). His lawyers are now tasked with protecting Troy's wishes as well as finding the heiress. Nate O'Riley, a recovering alcoholic, is sent to Brazil, where Rachel is living as a missionary.

While Nate is trying to find Rachel, Troy's family does everything in their power to contest the new will. They argue that although Troy was examined by three of the top psychiatrists in the nation, he was lacking sanity at the time of the new will.

The journey into the Pantanal of South America by way of Corumbá, Brazil nearly kills Nate, for he drinks nearly two bottles of vodka. He recovers and locates the tribe in which Rachel Lane is, but she refuses the legacy. Nate is unable to convince her otherwise, and returns to America after contracting dengue fever from a mosquito.

In the meantime, the ex-wives, children and respective lawyers continue attempting to destroy and disprove all evidence of Troy Phelan's sanity and even the will itself.

Nate is persuaded to return to the jungle, but when he arrives he learns that Rachel has died from malaria. She has, however, left instructions that the money be put into trust for the benefit of the indigenous peoples and that Nate will have control of the trust. In the end of the book, the relatives of Troy Phelan finally get fifty million dollars each (minus lawyers' fees) to stop turning the will into a legal quagmire.

[edit] Characters in "The Testament"

Troy Phelan, an eccentric, reclusive, ruthless billionaire businessman, commits suicide. In order to leave his family out of his will, he makes a fake will a few hours before his suicide, putting his family into that will. Then minutes before his suicide, he shows his lawyer a new will that he would like carried out. This will leaves only enough money to each of his heirs to pay off their debts up until the day of his death, and leaves everything else to Rachel Lane, an illegitimate daughter no one has heard of before.

Josh Stafford, Troy's lawyer, confidante and executor, must find Rachel, but he knows only that she is a missionary somewhere in Brazil. He decides to assign Nate O'Riley, former high-powered litigator and recovering alcoholic, to find her. Nate is just emerging from his fourth stay in rehab, and he reluctantly agrees to go.

Preceded by The Street Lawyer

John Grisham Novels 1999

Succeeded by The Brethren

v • d • e Works by John Grisham Novels: A Time to Kill (1989) • The Firm (1991) • The Pelican Brief (1992) • The Client (1993) • The Chamber (1994) • The Rainmaker (1995) • The Runaway Jury (1996) • The Partner (1997) • The Gingerbread Man (Unpublished) (1998) • The Street Lawyer (1998) • The Testament (1999) • The Brethren (2000) • A Painted House (2001) • Skipping Christmas (2001) • The Summons (2002) • The King of Torts (2003) • Bleachers (2003) • Mickey (screenplay) (2004) • The Last Juror (2004) • The Broker (2005) • Playing for Pizza (2007) • The Appeal (2008) Non-fiction: The Innocent Man (2006)