Back Blast
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

*Starred Review* Greaney is known primarily for his work with Tom Clancy, but his Gray Man novels have attracted their own following. This latest in the series is his best yet. Court Gentry, the Gray Man, used to work for the CIA, but then the Company put him on its kill list. For years he has lived off the grid, trying to figure out what he did to earn the wrath of his superiors. Now he's decided it's time to stop running and return to Washington, D.C., to find answers. The alphabet agencies discover he is in town, however, and soon every possible hit squad is on high alert. For the Gray Man, the price of uncovering the truth appears to be to insure not only his termination but also that of others in the agency. The bold conspiracy plot and the vast cast of clearly delineated characters are impressive, and the novel's length (more than 500 pages) never seems padded. Comparisons to the Bourne novels and films are both expected and appropriate. Readers looking for another great thriller writer in the Brad Taylor camp best make some room on their bedside tables for Greaney and the Gray Man.--Ayers, Jeff Copyright 2016 Booklist

In Greaney's rousing fifth Gray Man novel (after 2013's Dead Eye), ex-CIA operative Court Gentry returns to the U.S. after five years dodging the kill order that has followed him all over the world. He needs to know why Denny Carmichael, the director of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, issued the order; if Gentry has to leave a string of bodies behind him to get at the truth, then so be it. Gentry slowly ferrets out various official reasons for the original shoot-on-sight order, which stemmed from an early operation, Back Blast, when he supposedly went rogue and killed the wrong person while executing the op. Gentry is positive he's innocent, but the evidence continues to mount, until even he's no longer sure what happened. Greaney's unraveling of the Back Blast mystery is masterly, but it's the Gray Man's ability to outthink and outgun the scores of men who are hunting him throughout the streets of Washington, D.C., that will keep readers glued to the pages. Author tour. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Fifth in the Gray Man series, this high-energy thriller pits a highly trained killer against a powerful and unexpected foe. Court Gentry is a wanted man with many names: Sierra Six, Six, Violator, The Gray Man. When Denny Carmichael, the CIA's Director of National Clandestine Services, learns Gentry is back in the U.S., he decides it's time to terminate him: "He's my target," Carmichael declares repeatedly. "I've been after this man for five years." He must be extremely frustrated, because 400 pages in, he's repeating the same refrain: "Court Gentry must die," as if the reader still needs reminding what the book is about. But Gentry doesn't know why and is tired of running, of being "off grid." He'd been in the Autonomous Asset Program, and the CIA is erasing anyone who'd been part of it. Gentry happens to be "the last man standing," so he's declared "a rogue CIA man gone mad" and added to a "presidential kill list." There is even a "Violator Working Group" dedicated to Gentry's demise. He's also said to have "fragged the wrong target" in the Back Blast op, though he insists otherwise. Multiple murders are wrongly blamed on him, but you needn't worry that the Violator is an innocent pansy. He's one of the deadliest assassins on the planet and "the smartest prey Zack had ever tracked." (That's Zack Hightower, thought to be long dead and buried.) From time to time the tale feels rather bloated, but readers may not mind as they witness the hero's unerring aim and semiplausible derring-do. Perhaps all they need to know is summed up in one sentence: "Court Gentry had just gotten so damn good at being so damn bad." The author also writes Tom Clancy novels with the imprimatur of the Clancy estate (Tom Clancy Commander in Chief, 2015, etc.), and this series is in the same style. Clancy fans will have a blast. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Greaney is known primarily for his work with Tom Clancy, but his Gray Man novels have attracted their own following. This latest in the series is his best yet. Court Gentry, the Gray Man, used to work for the CIA, but then the Company put him on its kill list. For years he has lived off the grid, trying to figure out what he did to earn the wrath of his superiors. Now he's decided it's time to stop running and return to Washington, D.C., to find answers. The alphabet agencies discover he is in town, however, and soon every possible hit squad is on high alert. For the Gray Man, the price of uncovering the truth appears to be to insure not only his termination but also that of others in the agency. The bold conspiracy plot and the vast cast of clearly delineated characters are impressive, and the novel's length (more than 500 pages) never seems padded. Comparisons to the Bourne novels and films are both expected and appropriate. Readers looking for another great thriller writer in the Brad Taylor camp best make some room on their bedside tables for Greaney and the Gray Man. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

In Greaney's rousing fifth Gray Man novel (after 2013's Dead Eye), ex-CIA operative Court Gentry returns to the U.S. after five years dodging the kill order that has followed him all over the world. He needs to know why Denny Carmichael, the director of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, issued the order; if Gentry has to leave a string of bodies behind him to get at the truth, then so be it. Gentry slowly ferrets out various official reasons for the original shoot-on-sight order, which stemmed from an early operation, Back Blast, when he supposedly went rogue and killed the wrong person while executing the op. Gentry is positive he's innocent, but the evidence continues to mount, until even he's no longer sure what happened. Greaney's unraveling of the Back Blast mystery is masterly, but it's the Gray Man's ability to outthink and outgun the scores of men who are hunting him throughout the streets of Washington, D.C., that will keep readers glued to the pages. Author tour. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group. (Feb.)