From Publishers WeeklyIn Greaney's fast-paced, fun debut thriller, Court The Gray Man Gentry, a former CIA operative now renowned as the ultimate killer for hire, is on the job in Syria and Iraq. To his shock, he learns that a team sent in to rescue him now has him targeted for elimination. On the run, Gentry slowly realizes that huge forces are marshaling against him, from his former government to the one man in England he always trusted. With unbelievable powers of survival, the Gray Man eludes teams of killers and deadly traps, while the reader begins to cheer for this unlikely hero. Cinematic battles and escapes fill out the simplistic but satisfying plot, and Greaney deftly provides small details to show Gentry's human side, offset by the petty rivalries and greed of his enemies. (Oct.) Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. I LOVE THE GRAY MAN.#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee ChildBOURNE FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM.New York Times bestselling author James RollinsWriting as smooth as stainless steel and a hero as mean as razor wire...The Gray Man glitters like a blade in an alley.New York Times bestselling author David Stone A high-octane thriller that doesnt pause for more than a second for all of its 464 pages...For readers looking for a thriller where the action comes fast and furious, this is the ticket.Chicago Sun-Times Take fictional spy Jason Bourne, pump him up with Red Bull and meth, shake vigorouslyand youve got the recipe for Court Gentry.The Memphis Commercial Appeal From the opening pages, the bullets fly and the bodies pile up. Through the carnage, Gentry remains an intriguing protagonist with his own moral code.BooklistAbout the AuthorMark Greaney has a degree in international relations and political science. In his research for theGray Man novels, including Gunmetal Gray,Back Blast, Dead Eye, Ballistic, On Target, and The Gray Man, he traveled to more than fifteen countries and trained alongside military and law enforcement in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combative tactics.He is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tom Clancy Support and Defend, Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, Tom Clancy Commander in Chief, and Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance. With Tom Clancy, he coauthored Locked On, Threat Vector, and Command Authority. which is the best selling book of all time The Gray Man
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The Gray ManBy Riley1I am absolutely in love with the Tom Clancy books especially the ones which star John Clark and Jack Ryan JR and his friends Ding and Dom. These led me to the Mark Greaney books about Gray Man. I have read the first four in Greaney's series of 5 books about Gray Man and am on the 5th book now. They obviously have me hooked. I wish Gray man would have some friends---other characters in the book that support him. Also I have to say some of the things Gray Man does are almost unbelievable meaning a little far fetched---like taking down six highly trained men by himself or taking down another assassin when he (Gray Man) has a broken arm and a knife wound to his leg. Having said that, I will keep on reading about him. The stories are fast paced and the books are hard to put down. I think they are very well written.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Packed with action!By D. CrossI'd long ago read, and enjoyed, Mr. Greaney's work first in collaboration with, then in succession of, Tom Clancy but had chosen to forego his own work. For the life of me I can't figure out why at this minute.The first book in his Gray Man series wasn't all that intricate in terms of plot but, what it may lack in intrigue, it MORE than makes up for in action!I found this book to be very enjoyable and compelling with very villainous villains and a few characters, loosely constructed who demonstrated no small degree of moral ambiguity.As to the title character, at times he appears near indestructible and was created in the Mitch Rapp/Scot Harvath moldHighly enjoyable. I look forward to seeing if the next tale has equal appeal for me.12 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Despite a little stumbling, Gray Man is a strong, page-turning thriller and great series starterBy Steven Hildreth, Jr.It took me over two years to get around to reading this book, and I'm honestly glad I did finally get around to it.I've ready Mark Greaney's work before in the world of Tom Clancy. His book LOCKED ON was a very strong successor to DEAD OR ALIVE, which I felt was the start of Clancy's final push for greatness before his untimely demise in 2013. So, I knew that Greaney had the writing chops. I just never got around to reading his original works.The Gray Man is solid entertainment all around. It's his first book, and it does read with the roughness of a first work (especially when compared to his later works), but it is no less entertaining.The novel starts with the eponymous title character blowing his cover to save a couple of US service members taken hostage after a helicopter crash in Iraq. We see that, despite being a covert operative, he still feels patriotism and compassion. We then quickly learn that the Gray Man (Courtland Gentry) is a disgraced former CIA paramilitary operative who has gone to ground and, strapped for cash, has taken a job as a contract killer.The problem is that the Gentry's latest contract kill has drawn the ire of the deceased's relatives, and they have found a way to pressure his handlers into burning him. When that fails, they bring in a variety of hitters from all over the world with one goal: kill Gentry and provide proof of death for one large payday.I'll focus briefly on the negatives of the novel before I end on the positives and why you should read this book.Gentry sort of teeters on the cusp of realism versus fantasy. There was definitely a way to describe such a man in a more realistic fashion, but it fell a little short. The dialogue suffers the most from this, but some of the descriptions also leave a little something to be desired in this department.I also found the ending to be a little...sudden. It could have used a little more exposition, a little more showing of the Gentry's thoughts in what his plan of action was going to be. That's about all I can say about that without major spoilers.Having said all of that, The Gray Man packs action-filled punches nearly every step of the novel. The action is crisp, visceral, and dirty, just the way that action should be portrayed.My favorite part of the novel was that Gentry, despite being described as almost superhuman by his peers, some opponents, and at times by the narrator, is anything but. Gentry hurts. He bleeds. He dances with death the further along we get into the story. There were legitimately times where I began to wonder (knowing full well there are sequels) if Gentry would make it out alive. The best laid plans go absolutely awry and, when all is said and done, it is sheer dumb luck that Gentry manages to survive to the end of the book.Greaney succeeded in doing what any author should aim to do: convince the reader to keep turning the page to find out what happens next, and despite the misgivings posted above (which can really be chalked up to first novel problems, which nearly every author suffers from), all I wanted to do was get to the end of the story, and I put it down at the end, took a deep breath, and wondered what would happen in subsequent installments.Bottom line, The Gray Man is a good start to a series, one that, hopefully, it does not take me two years in which to read the next entry.If you haven't been introduced to Greaney through his interpretation of Tom Clancy's classic characters, then The Gray Man is near-equally a good place to start and see what kind of writing chops he brings to the table.I'm looking forward to getting caught up on the rest of the Gray Man series.