The Blacklist

The Blacklist Book Cover

***The Blacklist*** is the first book in the trilogy, set in 2018, which starts off with all four characters on a mission. The agents are part of a Spec Ops group know as The Blacklist (Group), which includes Toby Rieper (the boss), Ralph Lindsay, Amelia Jersey and Shaunna Royalsden.

## Story Structure

Exposition - The Blacklist (Group) is a Special Ops group of agents; Toby Rieper (the boss), Ralph Lindsay, Amelia Jersey and Shaunna Royalsden. They are on a mission to capture Paula Smith. They are currently undergoing financial problems within the company.

Inciting Incident - Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay break away from the group and decide to go rouge.

Rising Action - The Strategic Support Unit trying to take down The Blacklist (Group). Amelia Jersey and Vanessa Newton's relationship. Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay trying to catch Paula Smith but getting in trouble with the SSU and getting arrested. Paula Smith teaming up with Diana Kerber but later turning against her. Shaunna Royalsden and Amelia Jersey's friendship and falling out. Ralph Lindsay and Charlotte Lindsay's relationship. The comeback of The Blacklist (Group) and journey to London. Strategic Support Unit teaming up with The Blacklist (Group). Ralph Lindsay's friends and contacts at MI6. Paula Smith attacks London. The Blacklist (Group) and Strategic Support Unit are split up into three groups; Toby & Shaunna; Ralph, Amelia & Jess; and Penny, Diana, Holleigh & Antony. They all meet up at the big battle outside of Buckingham Palace.

Climax - The final battle at the Buckingham Palace.

Denouement - Ralph Lindsay kills Paula Smith and Andrea Turner, and Toby Rieper dies.

Resolution - The Prime Minister presents a speech and the surviving main characters are victorious. Ralph Lindsay, Shaunna Royalsden and Amelia Jersey have a peaceful walk through the Buckingham Palace gardens.

## The Plot

The first book introduces the group of main characters and their chemistry. We get to see their personalities both at work, and outside of work. The story begins with a mission led by Toby Rieper to capture Paula Smith and her assistant Andrea Turner, who are partaking in an illegal sale. The mission fails when Shaunna Royalsden is shot in the arm, and the group retreat, letting the targets get away. We find out that The Blacklist (Group) is going through a difficult time financially, as they struggle to gain high profile contracts and opportunities. The group members are forced to do extra work on the side, which ruins morale within the group. The parent company wants to shut down The Blacklist (Group), and Toby Rieper is fighting to keep it going. They refuse to sponsor their current contract - which was their first internal contract since 2015 - and want to hand it over to a different group. Because of their problems, Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay break away from the group and go rouge to capture Paula Smith on their own, which angers Amelia Jersey and Shaunna Royalsden.

Meanwhile, Penny Steiker and Jess Derby, agents of the Strategic Support Unit (SSU), are hunting down Ralph Lindsay and Toby Rieper for their boss Diana Kerber. They want to gain their contacts and look into their status as they are seen as competition and want to bring them down. When they find out about The Blacklist (Group)'s financial problems, they see an opportunity to disintegrate the group. After they find out about their current target, they partner with Paula Smith and Andrea Turner and decide to work together.

Vanessa Newton tells Amelia Jersey that she likes her, but Amelia is hesitant at first. She lies to her and tells her that she doesn't like her back the same way. She gains a lot of emotional support from Shaunna Royalsden during this time, as they are also facing difficulties with location the rogue agents. They are putting continual efforts into up keeping The Blacklist (Group) as it's on the verge of collapse.

Ralph Lindsay is kidnapped by Paula Smith whilst he is attempting to follow their tracks. He is interrogated, but gives up no information. He manages to escape, causing a crossfire in the city centre, and alerting Amelia Jersey and Shaunna Royalsden on television. This further causes trouble between them as they start falling out as a result of the situation. Shaunna Royalsden trusts Toby Rieper's judgement, and wants to maintain their rogue status. Amelia Jersey lashes out on Shaunna Royalsden in a heated argument, which breaks them up and they stop speaking. Amelia Jersey attempts to apologise later, but Shaunna Royalsden isn't yet ready. Ralph Lindsay and Toby Rieper find out that the Strategic Support Unit (SSU) is working with Paula Smith. Ralph Lindsay visits Charlotte Lindsay to apologise for disappearing.

Penny Steiker and Jess Derby get a promotion from Diana Kerber, who does so to push the agents to work even harder. They have a huge party. Paula Smith later charges the Strategic Support Unit (SSU) headquarters and tells Diana Kerber that their partnership is over as they let Ralph Lindsay escape. Diana Kerber tells her agents that they will get revenge on Paula Smith. They publicly denounce her and expose her illegal dealings.

Amelia Jersey makes up to Shaunna Royalsden and they decide that the situation is bad enough, and that they at least need to stick together. They settle on a mid ground; to track down Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay, but without notifying the parent company about their findings. Penny Steiker and Jess Derby manage to get a lead on Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay's actions. They follow them around and keep track of their status.

Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay are told by an anonymous report (sent by Paula Smith for revenge) that Diana Kerber is trying to ambush The Blacklist (Group) and lead them to their demise to eliminate competition. She adds on false documents that show the Strategic Support Unit planning an attack that would result in many deaths and the loss of lives close to the group members. This angers Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay, who decide to raid the SSU Headquarters to find these documents and get a hold of Diana Kerber. However, she and her agents were gone, and instead Paula Smith's men had been instated at the building. Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay brutally murder the attackers, and interrogate the last one. They find out though that Diana Kerber and her agents had fled to London as she had knew that they were coming. Amelia Jersey is on a date with Vanessa Newton nearby at this time, and she finds Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay, just before they get arrested. She tells them that they tore their friendship apart.

Vanessa Newton is shocked when she finds out that Amelia Jersey was a Special Ops agent. She discusses the matter with her parents. Harry Stewart leaves the Strategic Support Unit and joins The Blacklist (Group) as a receptionist, also replacing Crossroads temporarily, as she was transferred when the financial issues begun.

Ralph Lindsay and Toby Rieper are in a prison cell in central Manchester. Ralph Lindsay, having previously worked there, hatches an escape plan. They follow his plan, meeting Holleigh (Ralph's friend) and the traitor Anjali on the way out. They manage to escape. Diana Kerber's helicopter on their way to London is attacked, but they manage to survive. Later on, Penny Steiker and Jess Derby do some research and find out that Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay had been acting independently from the group, and that Harry Stewart joined The Blacklist (Group). Diana Kerber gets angry but tells the agents that she owes her life to them, as they prevented her from being at the building during the attack.

Amelia Jersey visits Vanessa Newton and apologises for all of the secrecy and lying. Vanessa Newton takes it in and decides to support her in whatever job she chooses to do. Amelia Jersey tells her that she wants to resign from The Blacklist (Group). Paula Smith is revealed to have been the person who organised the attack on Diana Kerber's helicopter. She wanted her dead after the accusations went public. She decides that she is going to follow her to London.

Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay decide that it's time that they stop what they are doing for now as they failed. Ralph Lindsay visits Charlotte Lindsay again to explain what she saw on the news. They have a serious conversation about Ralph's morals and career path. He promises to her that he'll try to be more active in her life. Toby Rieper also finally visits Shaunna Royalsden. He apologises to her for his and Ralph's actions, and she eventually forgives him. She tells him that if he ever dares to leave her, she will not meet him with open arms again. They want to get the group back together. Amelia Jersey is sleeping at Vanessa Newton's house when she receives the call from Toby Rieper. She's hesitant at first, but Vanessa Newton convinces her that she should go with them. She meets the group outside of the house. They have a serious conversation in the car about Toby Rieper and Ralph Lindsay's actions, both for going rouge and for the SSU Headquarters raid. Shaunna Royalsden explains that she did some research and found out that Diana Kerber and the Strategic Support Unit have publicly denounced Paula Smith so they must no longer be together. Ralph Lindsay wants to attack when the two parties are weakest, Amelia Jersey stays silent, but Toby Rieper is more concerned with the status of The Blacklist (Group). He makes the decision to fix their own problems first before they set off. They go to The Blacklist Headquarters to find out that Crossroads had been placed on a different team as the higher ups treated The Blacklist (Group) as if they had disbanded. They are informed that they are going to be having a new receptionist. Toby Rieper goes crazy at some of the higher staff, and the group is shocked as they never saw him this way. They stand up for him and support him. They manage to persuade the management to fund the rest of this mission, but that they would disband the group if they failed once more. The team head to their usual hangout spot to celebrate. They have a casual night for the first time in a while.

They make the track down Diana Kerber and Paula Smith simultaneously, and gain a big victory to revive the group. That's when Amelia Jersey finally tells them that she was planning to resign from The Blacklist (Group). She makes the decision that this would be her final mission with them. Meanwhile, Diana Kerber comes to the conclusion that they need to instead attempt to team up with The Blacklist (Group). Jess Derby thinks it's a waste of time and they've lost too many assets because of them, but Penny Steiker agrees that it's better in the long run. Paula Smith is at her mansion celebrating her plans going well. Andrea Turner tells her that they'll be in London in one hour, and that they're going to take a jet to Stansted Airport. She says that they will let The Blacklist (Group) ambush Diana Kerber and her agents, at which point Paula Smith herself will go in and kill everyone else.

The Blacklist (Group) members say their final goodbyes to their loved ones as they set off on their journey to London, to Ralph Lindsay's MI6 contacts. Toby Rieper explains the plan that they will attack the targets simultaneously to avoid the other getting warned and finding out and escaping again. But they are interrupted with a call from Harry Stewart, who is trying to put through the Strategic Support Unit. Jess Derby had called Harry Stewart after unsuccessfully trying to get in touch with The Blacklist (Group)'s private communication system. She says that she doesn't want to start a war, but wants to team with them as long as they call their attack off. After a somewhat lengthy conversation, the four agents decide to make a deal with the Strategic Support Unit, as long as they give them information on Paula Smith.

Over at home, someone calls Vanessa Newton to tell her that Amelia Jersey had been murdered. It was Paula Smith attempting to trick her. Vanessa Newton panics and runs to The Blacklist Headquarters. Ralph Lindsay and Amelia Jersey are seen to be at Stansted airport, waiting for Paula Smith's cars to drive past. As the last one is driving past them, the two agents quickly take it out and get inside themselves, as Toby Rieper and Shaunna Royalsden follow Paula and her men. When they're somewhat safe, Ralph Lindsay tells Amelia Jersey that she has some spare time. Amelia decides to call Vanessa Newton, who answers instantly. Amelia asks where Vanessa is and she says that someone called her saying Amelia is dead, and she is five minutes away from The Blacklist Headquarters. Then, bullets spray their rear window and Ralph Lindsay and Amelia Jersey realised they fell into a trap. Several Land Rovers were chasing them... Amelia Jersey leans out of the door and shoots a few cars down, while Ralph Lindsay continues to drive. Amelia Jersey asks how far away they are and Ralph reveals that they're just about to enter the city.