I have read a couple of the Cotton Malone series by Steve Berry, but that's all. This one is very different.

Description:
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 Thoughts:
The nightmare Brent uncovers from the list is a shocking and horrific implementation of a program hidden by the owners of Southern Republic. Greed is at the root and the result is cold-blooded. What these three men did is unforgivable. Brent is definitely in danger. There is a great deal of tension and edge of your seat action. This is a great legal thriller and I truly enjoyed the book.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing through Netgalley for an advance copy.

(3.75 stars)
Steve Berry is well known for his long-running Cotton Malone series, but fans should check out his new standalone, The List. He has written a tale of greed that unfortunately seemed fairly believable. Imagine a paper manufacturing company owned by three men, one that dominates a small town in Georgia. And imagine that they self-insure and provide good medical benefits and pensions to their workers. Now imagine that workers comp and health claims are getting way too expensive and the owners decide to literally kill off their problems to control costs. This is the idea behind The List.

Brent Walker is a young lawyer who grew up in the town but fled to Atlanta for ten years, for personal reasons. Now he’s back, to help care for his mother after the death of his father. This is not primarily a legal thriller; Walker has come back to town to take up a job with the paper company. Once back in town, he renews his friendship with one of the labor leaders at the company, Hank Reed, and with a woman he loved too, who happens to be Reed’s daughter. Reed and Walker make a great pair, their friendship going back years. They need to readjust their relationship, now that Walker is working for the company, as opposed to representing claimants, as he had done before leaving town. With labor contract negotiations looming, Reed looks for any advantage he can get, and with the help of another employee, uncovers some potentially important secret information. This winds up putting both Reed and Walker in the sights of the owners and their “associates.”

Berry writes in his author’s note that he started writing this many years ago, and shelved it. A few years ago, he took it out, reworked and updated it and here we are.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance readers e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

My thanks to Net Galley and Grand Central for allowing me to enjoy this arc.

This was my first book from the author and I really enjoyed it! A bit of a heavy read with a lot going on and a lot of content but very well written. I liked the feel with the Grisham elements.

A paper mill and pulp company has a very unique way of getting a control on cost cutting measures to avoid pay outs for insurance and benefits. Definitely recommend!

While a bit confusing at first I really came to enjoy this one. This was my first book by Steve and I will definitely be checking out more. I liked this because It was intriguing and believable. Scary because of just how believable it was. This is what you would call unputdownable as I needed to know what was happening next! Highly recommend!

Cotton Malone's latest assignment to find the Lost Book of Berry takes him from the top floor executive suites of Atlanta's corporate skyline, to the rural paper mills of the Savannah area, to secret fishing holes on remote lakes and the lavish enclaves of billionaire capitalists. 

What he finds is an early unpublished novel by Steve Berry that is a major departure from Berry's trademark history's mysteries format in which the three principal owners of a struggling paper manufacturer use institutionalized murder as a cost cutting measure. 

Actually, Cotton Malone has nothing to do with The List. Steve Berry himself has resurrected a novel he wrote in 1992 about a lawyer for a paper mill who uncovers the owners' murder for profit scheme (not a spoiler, we learn of the scheme early on). 

Based on his own experience as a lawyer for a Georgia paper mill, updated during the 2020s for publication, developing characters based on people he met in real life, Berry has come up with a timely suspense story that captures the excesses of contemporary corporate America. 

Berry has painted a fictional portrait of one major corporation and its super-wealthy owners taking the exploitation of its workers to the extreme measure of murder. One can't tell if it was his explicit intention, but this stands as a symbolic indictment of unchecked corporate greed with its callous disregard for real people. 

This is not standard fare for Berry enthusiasts like me who have read every one of his many novels. Nevertheless it is a refreshing departure into his own past experience as an attorney and a glimpse of his early development as a writer. 

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance reading copy. Apologies for the late review, delayed by my own travels across the country over the past few weeks.

HIs mother recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Brent Walker has returned to his roots in Concord, GA. He takes a job as Assistant Counsel with the paper mill. He’s tasked with with working the Workmen’s Comp cases, but soon finds himself drawn into an investigation of a list of numbers.
What a story! What a concept! Terrifying yet plausible premise. About first loves, corporate greed, and seeking redemption. It’s an excellent thriller filled with heart-pounding suspense. 4.5 stars

A suspense thriller that baits you in the beginning and then reels you in for a wow of an ending. The basic storyline that a corporation develops a program to kill off employees/former employees as a way to pare down costs is both frightening and believable. There’s a secondary subplot between Brent Walker, the main character, and Ashley, his girlfriend from years ago, that’s a bit of a distraction, but lucky for us Berry gives the reader a page turner of an ending.

If you’re in the mood for a fast-paced legal thriller that goes full throttle from the first chapter, The List delivers.

This one’s packed with everything you’d expect from Steve Berry: high-stakes tension, corporate conspiracies, and a plot that never hits the brakes. I loved the multi-POV structure; it gave the story a wide scope without ever feeling overwhelming. You always know who the good guys and bad guys are, but that clarity actually worked here; it’s less about moral ambiguity and more about the ride.

The premise itself is phenomenal. Corporate greed, power plays, and secrets wrapped in a legal drama made this feel like a very current, very dangerous game. While the long chapters weren’t my favorite, the pacing still kept me fully hooked. Not a dull moment in sight.

If you love your thrillers sleek, sharp, and relentless, this one’s worth the read.

This book is so amazing! It’s very well written and a great, exciting read!
The story itself was suspenseful and enjoyable, The characters were great and the style of writing was perfect.
An intriguing story with characters who draw you in and keeps you flipping the pages.
I didn’t want to stop reading the story until I knew how it was going to end!

Old fashioned legal thriller, very much a Grisham throwback from a writer who normally does history based mystery novels. A lawyer returns to his hometown, a company town run by a paper processing plant, and he discovers that they are trimming their pension and health care costs by killing their employees. The more you read about avaristic capitalism the more plausible the plan sounds, and Berry really does a nice job setting the table for the thriller finish.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

This novel was not quite what I expected for a Steve Berry book. But a pleasant surprise. It’s hard to say exactly what sub-genre of a thriller that I’d label it, with elements of corporate espionage, legal drama and outright hitmen…but highly entertaining for any fans of Baldacci or Grisham.

Headline: A Thoroughly Enjoyable Book!

Book Review: The List by Steve Berry
Published by Grand Central Publishing, July 22, 2025

★★★★★ (4.5 Stars rounded up! Rave!)

A DIFFERENT ASPECT of Steve Berry. In the "Writer's Notes" section at the end of the book, author Steve Berry shares that the first version of "The List" was created in 1992, during which period John Grisham's second novel "The Firm" was published, and heralded the rise in popularity of legal thrillers. Berry felt at that time that the quality of his unpublished work was simply not ready for primetime.

This was well before "The Templar Legacy" (2006), Cotton Malone #1, by Steve Berry which would become a bestseller, with the series now on its 20th book.

THE PREMISE OF his unfinished legal thriller developed over the years. What if the company (in the story) didn't bother with due process? What if, instead, it just permanently eliminated any problems?

// The List by Steve Berry (2025) //

Concord, Pike County, GA.
FORTY-YEAR-OLD Brent Walker returns to his central Georgia hometown after ten years in Atlanta at the Fulton County DA's office, and joins Southern Republic Paper and Pulp, the area's lifeblood in terms of work and employment, as assistant general counsel. HIs new job is quite a turnaround from his endeavors a decade earlier as a hotshot lawyer who knew no fear and worked on labor issues on the side of the union.

It was in the course of his duties that Walker learns that Southern Republic had years earlier canceled their health insurance and workers' compensation coverage with third party providers, and became self-insured.

Management then implemented a scheme to control and eliminate costs, i.e. those of employees requiring extra costly health outlays, i.e. needing a heart transplant. Inter alia, employees with unreasonable workers' compensation or medical claims, third party claims, even those vested in lucrative long-term retirement benefits. Such employees were assigned numbers on a Priority program, referred to as the "List".

Shortly after, down the road, Brent Walker realizes that his own father, had been that same Priority list.
And that his tragic death at Eagle Lake was not an accident.

RISING STAR and corporate counsel, Brent Walker, his fiance and his daughter, and all those whom he loved, then suddenly find themselves prioritized.

On the List...!

------

"WRITER'S NOTE" reprised. Another interesting tidbit that author Steve Berry shares is that he had in fact practiced law for thirty years, and was involved in labor issues, workers compensation and collective bargaining negotiations. And, that, as in the book, Berry had worked with an actual paper mill in Georgia. Like "Brent Walker" in the book, Berry had eventually changed teams. From labor to management.

SELF-INSURANCE as a Financial Strategy. Many major companies self-insure for health insurance and workers' compensation to manage costs and gain more control over their benefits programs. Some notable examples include Costco, BJ's Wholesale Club, General Motors, Federal Express and Procter & Gamble.

SAFEGUARDS. Self-insured companies often partner with third-party administrators to handle claims processing and other administrative tasks to eliminate issues of conflict of interest, and as a safeguard against questionable practices. These mechanisms appear to be absent from the narrative for the legal thriller's purposes.

A thoroughly enjoyable book! And a delightful glimpse into the background and persona of the celebrated creator of "Cotton Malone".

Review based on an advance review copy courtesy of Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley.

Steve Berry is one of my all time favorite secular, thriller authors. The only negative for me is the profanity. As always this story kept me engaged from the first to the last. I thought the premise of “The List” was intriguing and believable. My favorite main characters were Brent, Hank, secondary character, Ashley. There were several evil men in this story. If you enjoy a high octane thriller, this would be a great choice. Highly recommend.

I was blessed with an EArc and an audio ARC. Scott Brick is my all time favorite narrator, outstanding performance. The opinions expressed are my own and unbiased,

The List by Steve Berry is a frightening thriller in that I could see these things happening in our world. The topic is a medium sized paper company in the southeast that had weathered many storms, expanded their product line, and generally kept their employees happy. It is run by three men who have been partners for years and have become very rich. Two of the three are heading toward a coup, thinking the third has no idea. Our protagonist, Brent Walker, a lawyer, has returned to this small town after ten years. He had had his own law firm here, until his wife had killed herself and he couldn’t face his part in that. He ran to the big city and spent years being a top notch prosecutor. Now he was back, working for the company as his father had, although in a different sort of position. His mother was in the early stages of dementia and enjoyed having him near. His friend, Hank Reed, the union organizer for the plant and his intellectual equal, was happy to have him back, as was his daughter, who had been in love with Brent for years.

The story popped back and forth between the miscreants, the owners of the plant, and Brent and Hank. Much of the time the reader could tell where it was going, but there were surprises...many. As always, Berry has plotted the story to perfection, building slowly, making the reader wait. The characters are fully fleshed out, where necessary, and interesting in a variety of ways. The plot is sickening, but real. The pacing keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, throughout. If it weren’t so realistic, and maybe because it is, it would be a masterpiece.

I was invited to read The List by Grand Central Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #GrandCentralPublishing #SteveBerry #TheList

Steve Berry's THE LIST is a standalone novel that showcases this unique opportunity to combine the author’s thriller writing chops with a story that reflects his thirty-year career as an attorney. This standalone corporate thriller, originally conceived in 1992 but refined and released decades later, showcases Berry at his most grounded and emotionally resonant. Set in the fictional Concord, Georgia, The List trades ancient conspiracies and historical mysteries for a chilling exploration of modern corporate greed, healthcare costs, and small-town economic dependency.

The List follows Brent Walker, an attorney who returns to his hometown of Concord, Georgia, after a decade-long self-imposed exile in Atlanta. His return is prompted by a need to care for his ailing mother and a job opportunity at the Southern Republic Pulp and Paper Company, a powerful corporation that dominates the town’s economy. What begins as a seemingly straightforward legal role spirals into a deadly cat-and-mouse game when Brent uncovers a sinister secret: a “Priority List” that reveals the company’s ruthless practices.

As Brent digs deeper, he finds himself hunted by professional killers who treat murder as a business transaction, forcing Brent to expose the conspiracy to survive. Brent is joined by his mentor Hank, a union boss and former mayor of Concord, as well as his former lover Ashley, who is Hank's daughter and a postal carrier. The book also has various points of view from the villains of the story, which makes this book seem as though it was definitely written with John Grisham's The Firm in mind. The novel unfolds over nearly three weeks, with each chapter timestamped by day, creating a ticking-clock urgency that underscores the protagonists’ race against time.

The theme of personal redemption also runs deep. Brent’s return to Concord is as much about confronting his past as it is about surviving the present. His journey, marked by emotional stakes and a subtle romance subplot with Ashley, as well as a lingering sense of remorse stemming from an event that occurred years ago, which led him to work in Atlanta, adds depth to the thriller’s tension. Unlike the Cotton Malone series, which weaves historical mysteries with international intrigue (e.g., The Templar Legacy or The Lincoln Myth), The List is firmly rooted in the present, with no ancient artifacts or secret societies. The ending is pretty much an action-packed full full-throttle race as Brent and Hank try to survive against all odds while protecting the people they love.

In the book The List, author Steve Berry writes about Brent Walker who returns to his home town of Concord, Georgia to take a job as legal council to the local paper mill. Living with his mom and helping her after his dads death, he receives a call from Christopher Bozin, one of the three controlling partners of the company. And things start to get strange when a list of numbers crop up. What are these numbers? And when Bozin dies, he leaves a package for Walker with information on how the company has controlled their cost of healthcare and retirement payments. It is crazy idea and I found this scary because I could see some companies trying this. I would recommend this book. I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Very entertaining novel of suspense and a departure from this author’s typical work.

Brent Walker has moved back to Concord, a small town in central Georgia, after being hired by Southern Republic Pulp and Paper Company as its assistant general counsel. When he left it behind years ago, he also left a woman he loved and his parents. Now, since his father is no longer alive, he is going to help care for his mom who has recently been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.

Not too long after beginning his new job and reuniting with an old friend, union leader Hank Reed, Brent faces a curious mystery when a list of names and numbers comes to his attention. Once the implications of that list becomes clear to Brent and Hank, they know that everything they believed about their town and its biggest employer was wrong.

This was so well written and very fast paced. I found it hard to put down as things heated up quickly. So many characters, easily divided into the good guys vs the bad guys, but the premise was good and there was lots of action. It was a fun read and though the ending was anticipated to some degree, I enjoyed how it all played out.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided for review by the publishers. The audio format was narrated by the incomparable Scott Brick. I love his voice and his dramatic flair that always brings the novel to life and this production was no exception. This immersive experience definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book!

I love most of Steve Berry's writing. This one was just okay. It didn't feel like a regular Berry book. I think I'll stick with his Cotton Malone writings.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central for allowing me to read this early in exchange for an honest review.

Phew. Did Berry know how close this would hit to home in today's political climate where the bottom line matters more than human life? Or maybe its always been that way in our extremely capitalistic society. As an attorney myself I felt this one with my soul.

Berry's writing is phenomenal, what a fun read. The twists were twisting on this one folks! Just when you think you know where its going.. it doesn't.

Thanks for the good time.

Fell flat. Even tried the audiobook in the hopes hearing someone would help me get through it. Just didn’t feel like a Berry book at all.