Somebody's got to go down there, locate her amid a vast wilderness, tell her what's happened, and convince her to sign the papers. It's a difficult, dangerous assignment, and there's a lot at stake. Nate O'Riley, a suicidal alcoholic who's been through detox four times and falls off the wagon whenever he's under stress. A plane crashes. A boat capsizes.
People succumb to snakebite and malaria.
The Testament is too hokey and too tediously paced to be enjoyed as a novel, but it does serve as a nice travelogue through the Pantanal, Earth's largest wetland. Grisham has visited the area twice, and he does a good job of describing both its natural wonders and the environmental problems it faces. Perhaps by popularizing the issue he can motivate people to save the Pantanal, just as his previous book The Street Lawyer raised awareness of homelessness. They want to be entertained. And this time, he's let his fans down.