The Testament

Hi All!

I was thinking and thinking about what to blog about today when it struck me - I had finished a book earlier this week and hadn't blogged about it yet! Score!

This is The Testament by John Grisham. While I don't normally read much of Grisham's work, I have read one or two in my time (doesn't that sound like I am ancient?). This one I happened to pick up at Half Price Books a while back because it was on sale and I can't pass up books on sale!

Well, I finished reading this and was struck by a myriad of emotions. But, I will get to that in a bit. The book is centered around the last will and testament of a very, very rich man. He is worth something like eleven billion (yes, billion with a B) dollars when he decides to throw himself out of the window of his penthouse. The man's six children from three different marriages are all chomping at the bit to get their inheritance which they (and their lawyers) anticipate to be in the millions.

The deceased, however, has left his entire fortune to a previously unknown, illegitimate daughter who is currently a missionary in the middle of nowhere. Until she is located, the contents of the will are to be kept from the family. This is quite a task considering the lawyers are trying to get the settlement so they can get their quite substantial cut!

Enter a lawyer fresh out of rehab. He is sent to the jungles of Bolivia to locate the heir and has quite an adventure on the way. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you but rest assured it is interesting.

Well, back to those feelings. First of all, the book was a pleasant, and quick, read which was nice. Next, the adventure of the now sober (or maybe not) lawyer are interesting and well written. Then, the descriptions of the six children and their lawyers is very interesting and certainly makes them seem to come alive - for better or worse. The main lawyer for the deceased (the guy who sends the out-of-rehab lawyer on his quest) is very interesting and there seems to be a bigger story behind what you see. Then, I must admit, I felt a bit . . . let down. Grisham's books are usually very suspenseful and, while there was some suspense in this book, it just didn't get my heart pumping like some of his other books. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more "meat" to this book.

Overall, it was a good, fun read but it didn't have enough to it to really engage my mind too much. Sorry, Grisham fans!

The absolute best part of the book was this . . .

How in the world could you pass that up?

Trisha

Voice Update: Self congratulations are going on at my house. I have been a very good girl and have been doing my exercises faithfully AND my massage! The "thumper" massager still hasn't made the scene - I just can't bring myself to use it yet while my muscles are not quite recovered from Susan's ministrations!