Product Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In a plush Virginia office?? a rich?? angry old man is furiously rewriting his will. With his death just hours away?? Troy Phelan wants to send a message to his children?? his ex-wives?? and his minions?a message that will touch off a vicious legal battle and transform dozens of lives. Because Troy Phelan??s new will names a sole surprise heir to his eleven-billion-dollar fortune: a mysterious woman named Rachel Lane?? a missionary living deep in the jungles of Brazil.

Enter the lawyers. Nate O??Riley is fresh out of rehab?? a disgraced corporate attorney handpicked for his last job: to find Rachel Lane at any cost. As Phelan??s family circles like vultures in D.C.?? Nate goes crashing through the Brazilian jungle?? entering a world where money means nothing?? where death is just one misstep away?? and where a woman?pursued by enemies and friends alike?holds a stunning surprise of her own.

Amazon.com Review

Troy Phelan?? a 78-year-old"he 10th-richest man in America?? is about to read his last will and testament?? divvying up an estate worth $11 billion. Phelan's three ex-wives?? their grasping spawn?? a legion of lawyers?? several psychiatrists?? and a plethora of sound technicians wait breathlessly?? all eyes glued to digital monitors as they watch the old man read his verdict. But Phelan shocks everyone with a bizarre?? last-gasp attempt to redistribute the spoils?? setting in motion a legal morality tale of a contested will?? sin?? and redemption.

Our hero?? Nate O'Riley--a washed-up?? alcoholic litigator with two ruined marriages in his wake and the IRS on his tail--is dispatched to the Brazilian wetlands in search of a mysterious heir named in the will. After a harrowing trip upriver to a remote settlement in the Pantanal?? he encounters Rachel Lane?? a pure-hearted missionary living with an indigenous tribe and carrying out "chel's grave dedication and kindn