#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A father’s sudden death leaves one of his sons holding a dangerous secret in this masterful thriller from “a legal literary legend” ( USA Today ). “A pleasure to read . . . a good yarn.”— The Washington Post A pillar of the community who towered over local law and politics for forty years, Judge Atlee is now a shadow of his former self—a sick, lonely old man who has withdrawn to his sprawling ancestral home in Clanton, Mississippi. Knowing that the end is near, Judge Atlee has issued a summons for his two sons to return to Clanton to discuss his estate. Ray Atlee is the elder, a Virginia law professor, newly single, still enduring the aftershocks of a surprise divorce. Forrest is Ray’s younger brother, the family’s black sheep. The summons 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 he now prefers 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 to someone else. “ The Summons ranks as my absolute favorite in many years [with] an ending too delicious and morally instructive to give away.” — USA Today “Grisham has grown more comfortable with his voice while expanding its range. In The Summons, he returns in all his Grisham glory. . . . The Summons is more than a . . . return to form; it marks out the rich literary territory Grisham has begun to occupy.” — Los Angeles Times “There’s much to admire in [Grisham’s] newest thriller, particularly his colorful evocation of a Deep South legal setting . . . and some finely drawn characters.” — Publishers Weekly “If there’s ever been a literary example of giving the people what they want, The Summons is it.” — Fort Worth Star-Telegram “The Summons has the hallmarks of old-style Grisham.” — The Plain Dealer “A swift, no-nonsense story written in a highly effective, uncluttered fashion.” — The New York Times Book Review “Grisham’s skill in plotting legal dramas that can turn on a dime is as sharp here as in his previous works. The characters in Clanton have the authentic touch of hometown Mississippi, and Grisham’s crisp dialogue moves the story smartly along. . . . The Summons will keep his fans happy and burnish his reputation as a master of the legal suspense thriller.” — Richmond Times-Dispatch “Another Grisham page-turner.” — The Orlando Sentinel Tribune Once Judge Atlee was a powerful figure in Clanton, Mississippi--a pillar of the community who towered over local law and politics for forty years. Now the judge is a shadow of his former self, a sick, lonely old man who has withdrawn to his sprawling ancestral home. Knowing the end is near, Judge Atlee has issued a summons for his two sons to return to Clanton to discuss his estate. Ray Atlee is the eldest, a Virginia law professor, newly single and still enduring the aftershocks of a surprise divorce. Forrest is Ray's younger brother, who redefines the notion of a family's black sheep. The summons 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 and now prefers 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. "From the Paperback edition. John Grisham is the author of numerous #1 bestsellers, including The Firm, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Innocent Man, The Whistler, The Boys from Biloxi, and many more. His books have been translated into nearly fifty languages. Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction. Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system. He lives on a farm in central Virginia. Chapter 1 It came by mail, regular postage, the old-fashioned way since the Judge was almost eighty and distrusted modern devices. Forget e-mail and even faxes. He didn't use an answering machine and had never been fond of the telephone. He pecked out his letters with both index fingers, one feeble key at a time, hunched over his old Underwood manual on a rolltop desk under the portrait of Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Judge's grandfather had fought with Forrest at Shiloh and throughout the Deep South, and to him no figure in history was more revered. For thirty-two years, the Judge had quietly refused to hold court on July 13, Forrest's birthday. It came with another letter, a magazine, an