The List

The tepid latest standalone from bestseller Berry (after The Atlas Maneuver) is a paint-by-numbers legal thriller. Attorney Brent Walker has returned to Concord, Ga., to work as assistant general counsel for Southern Republic, the paper manufacturer where his late father worked as a machinist. What Walker doesn’t know is that Southern Republic’s three partners have spent years limiting expenses by hiring hit men to assassinate employees who run up sizable medical expenses on the company’s insurance policies—and Walker’s father was one such victim. Things take a turn when Hank Reed, head of the union representing most Southern Republic workers, stumbles across a coded document while preparing for a round of labor negotiations. He brings the code to Walker, who cracks it, revealing the Social Security numbers of the company’s victims and setting him on a path to unraveling the scheme with help from one of Southern Republic’s guilt-ridden partners. Far-fetched contrivances and a lack of surprises mar this from the get-go. Even the author’s devoted fans are likely to find this rough going. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (July)