The theme of the story is about reaching out. Reaching out to anybody especially the poor and the less privileged. Giving up something for the passion of helping one another .. For Rachel, she gave up the inheritance as she will never need it or perhaps she will need a portion of it just to buy stuff needed at the place she loves. We are all children of this Earth, so we should reach out to those who need us. ( )

Troy Phelan is one of the richest men in the world, until he jumps out a twentieth-floor window, moments after signing a holographic will that leaves his various ex-wives and children in an uproar. Nate O'Riley, a member of the firm representing Phelan's interests, is plucked from rehab to find a potential heir, currently a missionary in the Brazilian jungle. A rich and meaty story, with plenty of legal wrangling and a surprisingly satisfying spiritual bent, The Testament kept me up at night reading until the very end. I don't think I'd read any Grisham before, so I don't know if this is typical of his novels, but I was impressed by its reach. ( )

I acquired my first two John Grisham novels at the same time and, unfortunately, read _The Partner_ first. But I figured I owed Grisham one more chance before giving up on him completely. Luckily for us both, _The Testament_ is a much better book. I enjoyed the depictions of Brazil and the journies through the Pantanal, and the author managed to confound my expectations about Nate's encounter with Rachel.

If I have one nit to pick, it's that Grisham again introduces an event that makes no narrative sense, that seems to exist only as a contrivance to add a bit of mystery to the proceedings. Since he did something similar in _The Partner_, I'm wondering if this is a common problem in his books. What am I talking about? See below.

********* SPOILER WARNING! **************

When Rachel goes to Corumba and visits Nate in the hospital, he's not sure if he actually saw her or was just dreaming. He and Jevy search everywhere, but find no trace of her; Jevy, with his contacts and local knowledge, is finally convinced that Rachel has not entered the town.

But we learn that Rachel *was* in Corumba! And so we're forced to conclude that she snuck into town, carefully avoiding contact with any of the locals who could identify her. Why? There's no reason for such behavior in the story – it only exists as a plot device for the author to keep Nate – and his readers – guessing until the end. ( )

Loved it! The only bad part was that the story eventually ended. ( )

Nate has spent his career as a lawyer trying to find himself in a bottle. When he has to find a long long and unknown heir to a fortune, he finds more than the heiress, but himself sans that pesky bottle. ( )