After exploring new genres with his last two novels, Charlottesville native John Grisham is back to writing legal thrillers. In his most recent, "The Summons," he takes the reader on a fast-paced and sometimes harrowing ride through the world of last wills and testaments and family secrets.
The story centers on Ray Atlee, a University of Virginia law professor. He and his younger, black sheep brother, Forrest, are summoned back home to Clanton, Mississippi, to see their father, the honorable and beloved Judge Atlee. Having called them there to discuss the terms of his will, he dies just before Ray arrives. Being the one to discover the body in the judge's study, Ray stumbles upon a secret that nobody else seems to know about. Nobody, that is, except the person now chasing Ray.
As he tries to hide his father's money and simultaneously discover its origins, Ray walks a dangerous tightrope. Not sure who he can trust, he ferries the money between his home in Charlottesville and his ancestral home in Clanton, not to mention various hotels and casinos in between. All the while, he must hold himself together, take care of his father's estate, deal with the mourning and the nosey closeness of a small town and try to keep his brother safe and clean.
And now, as his pursuers close in, he discovers the shocking truth behind this illicit family secret, a truth that threatens to tear his already fragile family apart.
Touted as his first book set in Charlottesville, very little action actually takes place here. The descriptions Grisham does give of the city, University and surrounding valley are, however, accurate and realistic.
Set in May, Grisham describes the University scene during these warm months as Ray heads to a faculty-student softball game: "There's no better place to be in the springtime than on a college campus ... girls in shorts, a cooler always close by, festive moods, impromptu parties, summer approaching. [Ray] was 43 years old, single, and he wanted to be a student again."
Grisham also gives a quick but apt description of the Downtown Mall where Ray lives, "near the ice rink where the usual gang of black-haired Goths gathered and spooked the normal folks. The old Main Street was a pedestrian mall - a very nice one with cafes and antique stores and book dealers - and if the weather was pleasant, as it usually was, the restaurants would spread outdoors for long evening meals."
As fun as it is to read about Charlottesville, the bulk of the story takes place in Clanton, Miss., a small town in the deep south, like those which Grisham has had much experience describing. "Ford County had no zoning whatsoever ... only hog farms and nuclear reactors required approval and paperwork. The result was slash-and-build clutter ... [but] nearer the square, the town had not changed."
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But not only is Grisham adept at setting the scene, he does a very good job describing moments of high action, setting the reader up for the climax with suspense. In one such scene, taking place the night after the judge's death and Ray's discovery of his secret, "Ray almost began firing, but he held his ammo, and his breath. He lay still on the sagging wooden floor for what seemed like an hour, sweating, listening, swatting spiders, hearing nothing."
As well as immersing us in the scenery of the novel, Grisham also allows us to get close to the characters, particularly Ray. Throughout the novel, there is a secondary plot line, one involving Ray, his recent divorce and one particular female student. We are given a glimpse into his personality through his hobby and passion for flying around the Shenandoah Valley. We also come to know his brother and his father through Ray's eyes. However, his brother may very well be the more interesting character, and yet he is mostly stereotyped as a drugged out loser.
Although Ray's image of his father changes through the movie, his father ultimately is seen as only a serious and upstanding judge. And Ray himself is even kept somewhat in the dark to us. Even though the book is not one centered around characters, but around the action, the mystery and the chase, it would have been nice to have slightly more development, particularly of Ray's brother.
"The Summons" is not Grisham's most suspenseful or fastest-paced book, nor is it his most legally thought-provoking book. It is, however, a quick and enjoyable read.
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