The List
- Judith D Collins
- Jul 22
- 5 min read
By: Steve Berry
Narrator: Scott Brick
ISBN: 9781538770870
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: 07/22/2025
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
In the vein of David Baldacci, John Grisham, and Harlan Coben—this is Steve Berry like you’ve never read him before.
After a ten-year self-imposed exile, Brent Walker is returning home to Concord, a quaint town in central Georgia nestled close to the Savannah River. Two years ago, his father died, and now Brent, hired by Southern Republic Pulp and Paper Company as its assistant general counsel, is returning to care for his ailing mother.
For decades, Southern Republic has invested heavily in Concord, creating a thriving community where its employees live, work, and retire. But the genteel sheen of this quiet town is deceiving, and when a list of cryptic code surfaces, Brent starts to see the cracks.
Southern Republic’s success is based largely on a highly unorthodox and deadly system to control costs, known only to the three owners of the company. Now, one of them, Christopher Bozin, has had a change of heart. Brent’s return to Concord, a move Bozin personally orchestrated, provides his conscience with a chance at redemption. So a plan is set into motion, one that will not only criminally implicate Bozin’s two partners, but also place Brent Walker square in the crosshairs of men who want him dead—with only one course left available.
Find and reveal the shocking secret of the list.
My Review
TOP 20 Audiobooks of 2025! Scott Brick is fantastic.
Bestselling author Steve Berry pulls out an older manuscript in which fans will be forever grateful with this latest Southern crime legal thriller, THE LIST.
Full of mystery, intrigue, and murder, fans of John Grisham, David Baldacci, Scott Turow, and Greg Iles will savor this well-written suspense.
What is the shocking secret behind THE LIST?
Prepare to be drawn into a world of suspense and mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
About...
Berry hooks readers from the first line with a murder about to take place. From here, it is non-stop action and suspense.
Attorney Brent Walker is hired as assistant general counsel for the Southern Republic Pulp and Paper Company, where his longtime friend Hank Reed is a union official.
Walker had previously lived in the area and left his ten-year job in Atlanta to return home to Concord, a small town in Georgia, due to his mother’s illness.
Brent has been through some tragic events with his ex-wife and his dad gone. The paper mill is a large company that supports the town, but what Walker soon discovers is mind-blowing. Secrets that put him in danger.
Hank and Brent will be working on negotiating labor contracts with the union. However, they are in the dark regarding the motives of the three company owners.
They have devised a program called the Priority program to cut costs and have professionals in place to eliminate their list of employees or retirees who are costing the company money. They must die, but it must appear to look natural. MURDER.
Of the three, Christopher Bozin is dying and, of course, wants to repent and expose his partners to Walker and Reed.
There is a cryptic code with a list that is suspicious. Brent discovers it and wants to learn more, worried that there could be legal implications. What he finds will shock him and could turn Southern Republic on its head.
As with any whistleblower case, you must gather information, conduct thorough investigations, and obtain inside information before anyone knows you are on to them. Get ready for some shocking revelations that will keep you guessing until the end.
How far will they go to keep these dark, deadly secrets?
My thoughts...
What a riveting page turner!
Steve Berry knocks THE LIST out of the park! The story is told from two years earlier, the present, and a countdown from 20 days to one year later. This unique narrative structure adds an extra layer of suspense to this engrossing legal crime thriller, keeping you hooked until the finale.
Atmospheric and intense, Berry knows his way around the legal aspects, and his time working with papermills and negotiations in coastal Georgia makes THE LIST almost like an Erin Brockovich realistic story with MURDER.
An absorbing and entertaining read! Fans and new readers alike will enjoy the Author's Note, where he shares with readers how THE LIST came to fruition and the inspiration behind the story. This personal touch adds another dimension to the book, and we all thank you, Steve, for sharing this with us.
If you are fans of John Grisham's older Southern legal thrillers, THE LIST is a must-summer read Southern noir classic for your bookshelf.
THE LIST is prime for the big or small screen and an ideal pick for book clubs. Its thought-provoking themes and engaging plot make it a perfect choice for lively book club discussions. I would love to see more books like this in the future.
Audiobook...
STELLAR! I had the honor of reading the e-book and listening to the audiobook narrated by a favorite, Scott Brick (on fire), which delivered a stellar performance! Scott was the perfect voice, elevating the story with superb characterization, energy, accents, consistency, intensity, pacing, and emotional depth that will surely captivate legal crime thriller fans and audiophiles—making it a TOP audiobook of 2025.
Recs...
THE LIST is for fans of the author and those who enjoy well-written Southern, crime, and legal thrillers. Fans of John Grisham, Scott Turow, David Baldacci, and Greg Iles (all favorites) will delight.
Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for providing an advanced reading and listening copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. I also purchased the hardcover for my home library (a classic).
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: July 22, 2025
Praise
"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. [Berry’s] 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.”
— firstClue Newsletter
"Plenty of intrigue and action for crime fans.”
— Kirkus Reviews
"An intense well-written legal novel that is as good as any other legal novel written. The action, the setting and twists and turns make this a real page-turner.”
"This distinct departure from Berry’s long string of bestselling international thrillers trades the global arena for the courtroom with splendid results . . . The List reads like a cross between Greg Isles’ Penn Gage legal thrillers and both John Grisham and Scott Turow at their level best. This beautifully constructed Southern noir features Berry at his level best, a terrific and timeless tale leaves us hoping the next tale featuring Brent Walker never ends up in a drawer at all.”
“[One of] 19 new books [for summer] that sound so good you'll have to surgically remove them from my hands when I read them.”
About the Author
Photo Credit: Carey Sheffield
Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of twenty-four novels. His books have been translated into 41 languages with over 25,000,000 copies in 52 countries. They consistently appear in the top echelon of The New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestseller lists. Somewhere in the world, every thirty seconds, one of his novels is sold. WEBSITE
