The initial blurb about 'The List' says it's the first in the Wallis Jones series. Which when first reading that made me expect less from a book that is trying to sell you subsequent books in a series before you've even read the first one
BUT...
After reading this book I found myself feeling glad that I'd get to read more of Wallis Jones.
'The List' had me enthralled from the first page. Suspense and intrigue were introduced from the start and what was going to be an initial brief look at the first couple of pages ended 3 exciting hours later...
Carr describes the locations perfectly and an image appears in your head that the characters can then inhabit. "Amidst a sea of green" the action starts and draws you in. The characters themselves are well developed 'real' people who you feel you know and understand.
I love a good book that has politics, power-plays, religion and conspiracy in it. 'The List' has all of this and more! A la Dan Brown? The people and families that are pulled in and prepared for positions of power discover that the escape route is not so easy.
There are also some great quotes that I could imagine using myself! I love Wallis' "geriatric pregnancy of a well-nourished woman" that she reads as them calling her "a fat old broad" and that the reason for having Ned, Wallis' son, was so that he'd provide "free nursing care in another thirty years"!
This is a great Adult fiction book with a little shock value that will attract readers and hold them until the last page.