Name: The Testament
Price: 8.99
Rating: 4.4 (742 reviews)

- $8.99

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In a plush Virginia office, a rich, angry old man is furiously rewriting his will. With his death just hours away, Troy Phelan wants to send a message to his children, his ex-wives, and his minions—a message that will touch off a vicious legal battle and transform dozens of lives. Because Troy Phelan’s new will names a sole surprise heir to his eleven-billion-dollar fortune: a mysterious woman named Rachel Lane, a missionary living deep in the jungles of Brazil.

Enter the lawyers. Nate O’Riley is fresh out of rehab, a disgraced corporate attorney handpicked for his last job: to find Rachel Lane at any cost. As Phelan’s family circles like vultures in D.C., Nate goes crashing through the Brazilian jungle, entering a world where money means nothing, where death is just one misstep away, and where a woman—pursued by enemies and friends alike—holds a stunning surprise of her own.

BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from John Grisham's Sycamore Row.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY FEB 1, 1999

Grisham, with his master-storyteller legal thriller form, always plays well on audio. His latest begins with a coyly playful opening scene. Elderly billionaire industrialist Troy Phelan is holding court from his corporate office headquarters in Virginia. He has just rewritten his will to ensure that his rogue heirs--six children and three ex-wives--will be cut off. Instead, he gives the bulk of his fortune to an illegitimate daughter, Rachel Lane, a religious missionary living among native peoples in the Brazilian jungle. This done, Phelan hurls himself out the office window, killing himself, leaving his heirs and their $500-an-hour lawyers to fight over his money. From here, the plot turns schmaltzy, as Nate O'Riley, an alcoholic attorney with a heart of gold, is sent to Brazil to seek out Rachel, where he summarily falls in love with her and finds spiritual redemption. Reader Leyva, a Shakespearean actor, is finely tuned as a professional narrator, making the book sound like a movie screenplay waiting to happen. Simultaneous release with the Doubleday hardcover. Also available unabridged and on CD.

GENRE

Mysteries & Thrillers

RELEASED

1999

February 2

LANGUAGE

English

LENGTH

448

Pages

PUBLISHER

Random House Publishing Group

SELLER

Penguin Random House LLC

SIZE

13.1

Inspiring

Read this book in Italy twelve years ago and led me to be a better person, trying to avoid all those mistakes Nate made. I was 34, lived in Italy working as a busy lawyer.
Now I'm 46, live in Chicago, divorced, went twice to rehab and read again this book. I made half of Nate's mistakes, fortunately no kids.
Hope to meet my Rachel sometime and to read this book more often

A testament to Grisham’s masterful skills as a storyteller!

Awesome, absolutely awesome!!! A book that demonstrates how limitless greed and lust can be, while also showing the virtues and rewards of kindness, love, and faith. Don’t ever stop writing, John Grisham! The world has more than one master storyteller, but you are high on the list! The day you die, leaving the world a sadder place without your excellent writing, will be an extremely sad day. Because it means that the only way we will get to enjoy your wonderful stories is through the everything you will have written and published up to that point. I love reading books by lots of different authors, so John Grisham isn’t the only one I can honestly say that about. But he is probably one of the rare authors who can write so well. Let’s appreciate all of the truly wonderful storytellers who are still living, folks! The ones that we truly consider masters! Since they are only human, their gifts won’t last forever and probably not long enough! If you want another fantastic book from THIS author, The Testament is a great time that you definitely shouldn’t miss!