The Testament

Following John Grisham's path is a testament to diversity of subject matter and location. In <i>A Time to Kill,</i> the reader is asked to consider Southern culture and the question of whether

murder is justifiable as retribution. <i>The Pelican Brief</i> takes the reader to Washington for a

chase that pits the environment against enterprise. <i>The Street Lawyer</i> forces the reader to focus

on the homeless, and <i>The Partner</i> takes the reader to South America before placing the spotlight

on greed.

</p><p>Grisham's novels also vary in writing style from the relatively superficial <i>The Firm</i> to the

earthy, compelling <i>The Rainmaker.</i> All are entertaining, and several are meaningful.

</p><p><i>The Testament</i> is a combination of Grisham's styles, and it ranges from the deep imagery of <i>A

Time to Kill</i> to the shallow but swift-paced <i>The Firm.</i> The story is fascinatingly unusual.

</p><p>Nate O'Riley is a burned out Washington lawyer who is drying out in a rehab center for the

fourth time when his friend and partner Josh Stafford gets him out to track down an unlikely

heiress to a multi-billion-dollar fortune. Stafford's client, Troy Phelan, headed an empire

worth billions when he invited his ex-wives and his children to a reading of his will. The

reading was attended by three psychiatrists who certified his competency as he signed one will,

tore it up and signed another before jumping out of a window to his death.

</p><p>The will left Phelan's fortune to an illegitimate daughter who no one knew existed before the

will was read. Stafford has the job of probating the will against challenges by all the legitimate

children and ex-wives and must locate the heiress, Rachel Lane, as quickly as possible to carry

out Phelan's last testament. O'Riley is told Lane is a missionary living in the jungles of Brazil

and that her exact location is unknown. He travels to Corumba, Brazil and spends days boating on

a river to find the missionary heiress. As he travels, he fights his natural tendency to escape his

circumstances through alcohol and drugs.

</p><p>In another story of becoming lost to be found, the boat goes off-course, and O'Riley stumbles on

to Lane's native village. She refuses to sign the documents necessary to probate the will, and

O'Riley is forced to return to Corumba empty-handed. On the way, he becomes extremely ill.

While recovering in a hospital that is a living horror of third world conditions, Lane appears by

his bedside to comfort him. No one sees her but O'Riley and after his recovery, only he is

certain she came.

</p><p>When he leaves the hospital, O'Riley attempts to locate Lane and enters a church for the first

time in years. He contemplates God and his own spirituality to discover that Lane's commitment

of her life to the service of God has had a life-changing effect on him. O'Riley does not find her

and returns to the United States where he decides to retire from practicing law. Before he quits,

however, Stafford calls on him to represent Lane's interests in the estate. He goes through the

litigation discovery process professionally while taking time out to help a minister build new

Sunday school classrooms in the basement of a church. All the while, he tries to reach Lane with

letters through her missionary organization.

</p><p>Sound exciting so far? The story is moving in many ways but its pace is sporadic. There is no

deadly intrigue so the book is not going to satisfy those who want action from beginning to end.

The story is meaningful and satisfying in its irony and completeness. Nate O'Riley, lost in the

beginning in a way that would ensure his mortality and eternal condemnation, locates himself

when he locates Lane. Her living testament to her faith leads O'Riley to a new life that requires

no alcohol, drugs or other vices to satisfy or amuse him.

</p><p>In the end, what do you, the reader, have to show for a 435-page journey that ranges from

Washington to the Pantanal of Brazil and from faithlessness to spiritual peace? Perhaps you

will find the richest of Grisham's themes so far and a testament to substance over suspense.

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