The Gray Man

By: Mark Greaney

Narrated by: Jay Snyder

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Now a Netflix film starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas

The first Gray Man novel from number one New York Times best-selling author Mark Greaney.

To those who lurk in the shadows, he’s known as the Gray Man. He is a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible and then fading away. And he always hits his target. Always.

But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. Forces like money. And power. And there are men who hold these as the only currency worth fighting for. In their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness.

But Court Gentry is going to prove that, for him, there’s no gray area between killing for a living and killing to stay alive....

Get ready for white-knuckled listening. Greaney's debut novel introduces the enigmatic and elusive Court Gentry, a former CIA operative and a legendary hired gun. With a terrifying ability to vaporize targets and a strict moral code, he stalks the gray margins of the world, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible, then fading away. When his government and former employers turn on him, there is no safehouse to run to, no way to lie low. In a constant state of escape and pursuit, Gentry tears through the Middle East and Europe in a riveting life-or-death race against time.

©2009 Mark Greaney (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Through the carnage, Gentry remains an intriguing protagonist with his own moral code. Comparisons will be made to Jason Bourne, but the Gray Man is his own character. The ending screams for a sequel, but it will be difficult to maintain the intensity level of this impressive debut." (Booklist)

"Hard, fast, and unflinching – exactly what a thriller should be." (Lee Child)

"Bourne for the new millennium." (James Rollins)

Move Over Jack Reacher

Stumbling across The Gray Man by Mark Greaney could not have come at a better time. I was beginning to become disenchanted with my favorite "take-no-prisoners" character, Jack Reacher in the series written by Lee Child. Along comes Court Gentry, aka the Gray Man, aka Jim. He gets stalked. He gets shot. He gets stabbed. He bleeds. He fights against insurmountable odds. He wins. Mostly he goes after bad guys, just like Paladin did 150 years earlier in Have Gun Will Travel. And best of all Greaney keeps the action going pretty much non-stop while Child has Reacher spending nearly a quarter of one of his recent books riding in the back seat of a car. I thought I was going to have to reread some of the earlier Reacher novels to rekindle the excitement that the series used to generate. Instead I'm going to jump into The Gray Man series. I like my chances.

Intense just poorly detailed and poor accents.

Would you try another book from Mark Greaney and/or Jay Snyder?

Greaney: Possibly. Im 50/50 after this one.

Snyder: i LOVE his work with the Exs series by Peter Clines. So yes.

Would you recommend The Gray Man to your friends? Why or why not?

If they want something fast paced but shallow then yes.

What three words best describe Jay Snyder’s voice?

Inspiring,

Could you see The Gray Man being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Absolutely. Not sure. The characters were poorly fleshed out. The descriptions literally came down to things like beard, bald, german, ponytail, skinny and the like.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed it but i have two major complaints. 1 Snyder's accents are TERRIBLE. i love his work but a big part of this book is multinational characters. For instance the african accents were laughable.... the arab ones were laughable. just bad. 2 The lack of detail or explanations ESPECIALLY during the action. It was hard to tell what was going on because the scene was poorly set up and or poorly explained during. Just a lot of "he kicked, he punched... he ran through the door"... what door??

Violent!

There is not much of a plot here, but it is enough. The reading is super. This is a constant "blood and guts" story, and I prefer a bit less weaponry and killing, and a bit more philosophy, romance, and sightseeing. That said, I did listen and enjoyed it.

Action on steroids!

Loved this volume! Non-stop action in a book to which I couldn't stop listening. I am usually more a fan of police procedurals, but was delighted with this book (although, I needed extra coffee at work the next day, as had to listen to the ending.) I will definitely be looking for more Greaney books in hopes they are on par with this one.

Snyder delivers as narrator.

A Happy Surprise

I have had this title in my library for far too long before deciding to read it. Even after I started listening to this title, I did not expect to enjoy this title as much as I did. But it kept me wondering about what was going to happen next and how the situations would get resolved.

Really?

Too unbelievable for me to enjoy. It’s as if the author had a check-list of everything that could go wrong and packed them all into one story.

Fast paced and engaging

Very fast paced engaging novel on a themes that has been done before, but this is a bit different. Parts of the book are implausible and the dialogue varies a bit. I suspect that this is Mark Greaneys first book and if so it is a very good first effort. Suspect he will gather a few fans. Enjoyed the book and will wait for the next one.

…one of the best in action thriller genre!

Book Review - “The Gray Man” series is a white-knuckled action thriller series featuring the elusive Court Gentry, also known as “Violator.” With a terrifying ability to destroy his targets and a strict moral code, he stalks the ‘gray’ margins of the world, moving silently from job-to-job, accomplishing the impossible, then fading away, thus becoming ‘The Gray Man.’ When the US government and former employer - the CIA - turns on him, there is no safehouse to run to and no way to lie low. In a constant state of escape and pursuit, Gentry moves quickly through the Middle East and Europe in a riveting life-or-death race against staying alive. Fast-paced, well-researched, and just a lot of fun to read, The Gray Man book and series is one of my favorites in the genre. I listened to the first four books on audiobooks because they are paperbacks (I personally prefer hardcovers when physically reading). Jay Snyder narrates the series on audiobooks and is ‘phenomenal’ and is the voice of Court Gentry. I'm a huge fan of Author Mark Greaney because he knocks it out of the park with every book in the series, thus making it one of the best series in the action thriller genre! Each book is a stand alone but I recommend starting with the first novel - The Gray Man. The entire series is guaranteed to “knock your socks off!” Extremely enjoyable reads!

Really?

What made the experience of listening to The Gray Man the most enjoyable?

What the Gray Man made it through was all just a little too fantastical. I had to stop with this book. This guy ranks up next to the Six-Million Dollar Man, only meaner.

Excellent read for a long journey.

An interesting and engaging story for those, like me, that enjoy action packed spy novels.