The Gray Man by Mark Greaney

THE FIRST GRAY MAN NOVEL FROM #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR MARK GREANEY--Soon to Be a Netflix Original Film Starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans "Hard, fast, and unflinching--exactly what a thriller should be."--Lee Child 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. And 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....

To be honest, I'm a little puzzled why this book has such high reviews on Goodreads. Certainly it was an interesting story, Greaney does write good action scenes, and the book is un-put-downable, but man, the writing is ... overwrought? Technically, the author tries way too hard to establish the fact that The Gray Man is a tough, mean, capable assassin by telling us every second. Show, don't tell. The prose is adjective-laden, and the narrator doesn't call the main character by name but by his attributes such as “The American Assassin”, “The Gray Man”. I personally hate that, and this reminds me of the fanfiction I used to read. Gah. I can't help but giggle each time the narrator calls Jim or whatever his name is as “The Gray Man”, “the American Assassin”. I keep imagining the Marlborough man narrating the story. ...

And yes, can you please stop reminding me he is a Feared Killer of Bad Men. It was already enough that the story highlighted that the man is a capable and feared assassin. You don't have to keep telling the reader that through the omnipresent narrator, who seems to think terribly highly of our hero.

So, this novel is weak on the technical side. The only reason why the book is so well-received is because it's such a page turner and a well-crafted tale. In the end, that wasn't enough for me.

over the top thriller of a righteous but wronged lone assassin fighting the the establishment. The protagonist is a cipher that has almost no human qualities and is not interesting. Should have been called “The Blue Man” due to the excess of profanity.

Phenomenal first book!

The best way of describing this book is like I was reading the final book in a series. It was an absolute treat to read with constant action and constant movement.

Some action books try and build life around the protagonist but Mark Greaney managed to give Court Gentrey more personality in a book that contained pure action than these other books do by having them have personal lives.

Not only have I fallen in love with a new action hero but I'm wholly backing him to succeed every time. If any first book in a series really wanted to introduced their protagonist as a badass, this book did it. Thoroughly looking forward to reading the sequel and all sequential books!

Was this the best book I ever read? Absolutely not.
Was it fun, action packed and quick paced? Absolutely it was.

A few plot holes here and there and a it lacked in the believability department but it was just a nice, action packed novel.