The Summons cover art

The Summons

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Summons

By: John Grisham
Narrated by: Michael Beck
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

Ray Atlee is a professor of law at the University of Virginia. He's 43, newly single, and still enduring the aftershocks of a surprise divorce. He has a younger brother, Forrest, who redefines the notion of a family's black sheep. And he has a father, a very sick old man who lives alone in the ancestral home in Clanton, Mississippi. He is known to all as Judge Atlee, a beloved and powerful official who has towered over local law and politics for forty years.

No longer on the bench, the Judge has withdrawn to the Atlee mansion and become a recluse. With the end in sight, Judge Atlee issues a summons for both sons to return home to Clanton, to discuss the details of his estate. It is typed by the Judge himself, on his handsome old stationery, and gives the date and time for Ray and Forrest to appear in his study.

Ray reluctantly heads south, to his hometown, to the place where he grew up, which he prefers now to avoid. But the family meeting does not take place. The Judge dies too soon, and in doing so leaves behind a shocking secret known only to Ray. And perhaps someone else.

©2002 Belfry Holdings, Inc. (P)2002 Random House, LLC Suspense Thriller & Suspense Law Thriller Fiction Crime

Critic Reviews

"No one tells a story better than Grisham" ( Evening Standard)
All stars
Most relevant  
I enjoyed this audio. Typical entertaining John Grisham novel. Good narration. I would recommend.

A good read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story was decent. The reading was good except I kept hearing Donald Trumps's voice which was a turn off, especially when he was talking about a girl he liked.

Fairly good but reader sounded like Trump

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
this is my first JG book although I enjoyed it. it was very predictable.

Long winded

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Nice ending and good story.
The narration took note of lots of behaviour and sounds. Well read.

Great narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Masterfully read. Colourful accents. Poignant pauses.
Flawlessly spellbinding story. I asked myself, what would I have done if I found the money?
Will listen to it again.
Thank you Mr. Grisham.

Kept me intrigued , right to the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Love the Grisham style - always gripping and fun good read
It his one is different again

Excellent book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This whole book is brilliant. I couldn't stop listening. Every time I thought I new where it was going, it went in another direction. I really loved the end. Thank you Mr Grisham!

Enthralling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Boring!!!!
Hard to stay awake while driving. Slow, flat ending. Waist of money . Very disappointed.

Zzzzzzzz

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.