The Gray Man

So, I decided to give this series a go after being somewhat disappointed in the highly touted Scot Harvath thrillers. I had actually taken a break from political/spy novels altogether and went back to reading hard-sci fi. So, after being blissfully entrenched in several of Alistair Reynolds' beautifully written, highly complex novels based on real astrophysics I was almost hesitant to get back into 'the game'. Well, I was more than pleasantly surprised when I picked up Mark Greaney's Gray Man.I feel like this is a saturated genre, but Mark Greany did an exceptional job at writing an above-the-punch assassin thriller. I was utterly blown away actually (no pun intended). It was clear after about four pages that this was a true page-turner. The action starts up right away, but doesn't let up; like, ever. Not only does it continue at a staggering pace, but it is also very well written, and pulls the reader into the mind of the novel's primary character and protagonist - Court Gentry. Court is a burned operative living off the grid and outside of the law, doing wetwork for hire. But, he's not a cold blooded psychopath; no, he's a killer with a moral code and the best in the business.Like I said, I felt the Scot Harvath novels by Brad Thor weren't all the great. Actually, I got through four and I couldn't bring myself to finish another. They're not terrible, and there are flashes of brilliance; but, for the most part they’re kinda corny and border on the absurd. The Gray Man was different. The lingo was there, the writing solid, the characters were deep, the action was BAM! It didn't have that corniness you get from other spy thrillers. No, this was a damn good book and I can't wait to start the second one!

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.

Mark Greaney paints Court Gentry as a tier one operator who's become a contract killer. That's a common enough premise, the Army veteran / CIA operator goes bad. Greaney has other ideas, though - the Gentry character has layers of personality and morals that're quite unexpected in some cases as the series goes on.Greaney also keeps things realistic, from the force structure of various countries to the accuracy in the details of weapons. He obviously did his homework, as every pistol, rifle, submachine gun and even folding knives are referred to by brand and model names with accurate descriptions and details. It's much like Tom Clancy, but done succinctly - Greaney doesn't need five pages to give the details on a Spyderco tactical folder or an MP5 submachine gun, which keeps the story moving and doesn't blow the suspension of disbelief in the way that Clancy does, in my opinion...reading several pages detailing specifications on the MOA, range and history of a certain marksman rifle and another half a page explaining a Lapua magnum round in a Clancy novel just pulls me out of the narrative. It may be partially because I already know most of the items Clancy describes in great detail, but Greaney simply gives the right amount of details without getting out of hand with it.The pacing of his writing is excellent, with plenty of action but a good amount of backstory on the various characters given as he advances the narrative. I read this book again a couple of weeks ago, as his new release in the series was available and I wanted to have the first two books fresh in my mind. I enjoyed it the second time every bit as much as my first read through and never found myself getting bored with the story - in fact, I finished the entire kindle book on my iPad 2 in two days, but I am a very quick reader by nature and always have been.I have nothing negative to say about Greaney's writing whatsoever, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention a couple of small issues with the kindle version of the book. I initially read it on my keyboard kindle, the generation 3 model I believe, and the second time on the kindle app on my iPad 2, holding it vertically which makes reading comparable to a double sized kindle. There are quite a few instances of words running together and the spacing is off in a lot of places, for example you'll see something like "L ater that e vening", usually a couple times on one page then the formatting is fine for 20-30 pages, then you'll see it again. It's not a huge deal to me at all, but I imagine some people might be irritated with formatting issues in an E-book they paid for. For reference, I read it in the second smallest font size on my actual kindle and nearly the smallest on the font size slider on my iPad. I don't think that caused the issues, but I rather doubt it...I just thought I'd mention it, as it is a slight negative point about the kindle edition.Overall, if you enjoy fast paced action and a good story to back it up I think you'll enjoy Mark Greaney's work. If you aren't sure, download the kindle sample and see what you think. I've enjoyed the three books in the series a great deal and hope that you will as well if you decide to pick up The Grey Man.

The book is a example on high-octane action. From start to finish the novel maintains a relentless pace, immersing readers in a world of an assassin for hire taking the heroic path and danger at every corner. Greaney's skillful storytelling and rhythm keep the suspense alive making it difficult to put down. If you're a fan of action-packed thrillers this is a must-read. Be aware that it is slightly different from the movie they made about it but keep the same idea. In my opinion the book is better and this is why it created a series of novels after it.

Like Bourne, the Gray Man has been disavowed. And like Bond, he is unkillable. The action scenes are well written and keep you turning the pages. A great series.

I finished it in one afternoon.I go with the next one right now.I liked the movie better, but the book is also awesome

Got a good paperback edition of the book for Rs139 without any damages while receiving with the cover of the movie of the same name. Packaging should have been improved.

This is a videogame for 12y boys. Went to the bin