The List

Berry delivers a novel unlike anything he’s ever done before. Rather than exploring history, this one takes pieces of John Grisham’s The Firm and mixes them with the business aspects of a Joseph Finder novel and storytelling elements from David Baldacci. Brent Walker left his hometown and the woman he loved ten years ago, and now he’s come back to help his sick mom. He takes a job at the small-town paper mill in a legal role beneath his level of expertise to oversee their negotiations with the local union. The company’s management is not trustworthy, and more than doctoring the financials, they have created a list, and the purpose of the names on it is beyond reprehensible. Brent and his lifelong friend and co-worker, Hank, are given a series of what appear to be random numbers, but research reveals to them the horrendous nature of what the numbers mean. They are not random at all, but to say anything more would spoil the fun. Someone given the pages without knowing the author’s identity would never identify Berry as this book’s writer, and his going outside his comfort zone to resurrect one of his early, desk-drawer novels is beneficial to him, his fans, and thriller readers alike. The List would be a perfect story to be turned into an Alfred Hitchcock film, and this should only add to Berry’s fanbase.