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booksmy's review against another edition
3.0
Fast paced and lots of action, a little too convenient how he got himself out of a couple of situations. 3.5 stars
spatt856's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoy the Gray Man series but I'm not anxiously awaiting the next one like I do for some other authors. The main complaint I have is that they are always too long. There is always a section that drags for me. This one, like the others in the series, could have had 100 pages cut and been a much better, tighter story. If I could, I would probably have rated this one a 3.75. I also will say that next year when number 8 is released, I will read it.
brig_berthold's review against another edition
4.0
What do I even say here? Violator is the man. This is one of my favorite characters to read and I just can't get enough of it! Without spoiling anything, just know, if you've made it this far in the series you won't be disappointed with this installment.
hippie13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
topdragon's review against another edition
4.0
A rare re-read for me. I had originally read this novel back in 2017 when it came out. I had received an Advanced Reader's Copy and gave it a go even though I hadn't read any of the previous six books in the series. I really enjoyed it back then but felt like I was probably missing some nuances of the character as well as general background on how the legend of the Gray Man came to be. So I chose to go back to the beginning of the series and read them all, at least as far as I continued to enjoy the experience. Happily, I've really liked all of them. So, while my initial review is still valid, I found this re-read to be absolutely worth it. Needless to say, I'll be continuing the series.
Original Review:
Several weeks ago I participated in a cover survey with Penguin books and apparently that entered me in a drawing for an ARC of the book. The next thing I knew I had received a copy of the book in the mail and a letter notifying me I had been selected as a winner of the drawing as well as a request for a review. At first I thought this was book number two in a series so I tried to borrow book one from the library (I have a fairly strict policy of reading series books in order so that I can experience the larger cross-volume story arcs) only to discover this was actually book number seven! Well, I wasn’t going to read the first 6 in the next week in order to get to this one so I just plunged in and hoped for the best.
I was fully expecting to be underwhelmed by this novel. I’ve read numerous thrillers such as this appeared to be over the last 20 years or so and frankly, they’ve grown rather stale for me. I had never read any books by Mark Greaney but did know he had been a coauthor of the later Jack Ryan novels. Despite my preconceived notions, I found myself pleasantly surprised with the opening chapters and was soon engrossed in the story. True, the hero, Court Gentry (the Gray Man) was much like many other heroes of the genre; i.e. best in the world at what he does. The plot unfolded nicely and for the most part was unpredictable (with a few notable exceptions), the cast of characters was interesting, and the author’s style was engaging. The plot did seem to bog down quite a bit in the middle and I struggled with understanding Court’s motivations but it picked up again over the final chapters for a swift conclusion.
While I enjoyed this book overall, I suspect I would have liked it even better had I read the rest of the series and been invested in the main characters. I may go back and try book number one just to see how it all gets started and to better understand who Court Gentry is and what he’s all about but doubt I will invest the time and energy to follow yet another series like this amidst all of the other series I am trying to maintain.
This book is scheduled to be available for sale on 2/28/2018. By the way, the book has an awesome cover :)
Original Review:
Several weeks ago I participated in a cover survey with Penguin books and apparently that entered me in a drawing for an ARC of the book. The next thing I knew I had received a copy of the book in the mail and a letter notifying me I had been selected as a winner of the drawing as well as a request for a review. At first I thought this was book number two in a series so I tried to borrow book one from the library (I have a fairly strict policy of reading series books in order so that I can experience the larger cross-volume story arcs) only to discover this was actually book number seven! Well, I wasn’t going to read the first 6 in the next week in order to get to this one so I just plunged in and hoped for the best.
I was fully expecting to be underwhelmed by this novel. I’ve read numerous thrillers such as this appeared to be over the last 20 years or so and frankly, they’ve grown rather stale for me. I had never read any books by Mark Greaney but did know he had been a coauthor of the later Jack Ryan novels. Despite my preconceived notions, I found myself pleasantly surprised with the opening chapters and was soon engrossed in the story. True, the hero, Court Gentry (the Gray Man) was much like many other heroes of the genre; i.e. best in the world at what he does. The plot unfolded nicely and for the most part was unpredictable (with a few notable exceptions), the cast of characters was interesting, and the author’s style was engaging. The plot did seem to bog down quite a bit in the middle and I struggled with understanding Court’s motivations but it picked up again over the final chapters for a swift conclusion.
While I enjoyed this book overall, I suspect I would have liked it even better had I read the rest of the series and been invested in the main characters. I may go back and try book number one just to see how it all gets started and to better understand who Court Gentry is and what he’s all about but doubt I will invest the time and energy to follow yet another series like this amidst all of the other series I am trying to maintain.
This book is scheduled to be available for sale on 2/28/2018. By the way, the book has an awesome cover :)
sorressean's review against another edition
The first three books of this series were nice, but there really wasn't a lot of progression or development of the character, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I still sort of wish that the main character would gain something (he does, but it's so incredibly slow) or that there might be changes in his life. again there are, but they're so small.
kingcashew's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
jerantium's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
austin_ch's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
shannonw19's review against another edition
5.0
Due to an unfortunate incident with Normal Mailer in college, I always read the last page of a book first. No surprises. So. That having been said, I read the last page of Agent in Place first. So I knew, very vaguely, the end. Even having done that, this book kept me on the edge of my seat from page 1 to page 507. Since I started the Gray Man series, my favorite books have been Back Blast and The Gray Man. But I think Agent in Place might be number 1 now.
Court is not working for the CIA in this one. He's on his own and he takes a contract from two Syrian ex-pats in France to prevent the mistress of the Syrian dictator from returning to Syria. When Court sees that he was set up, he gets mad. But he, for reasons that I won't discuss here, decides to see the mission through. Which means going to Syria, working for mercenaries, running into U.S. Special Forces, and attempting to assassinate the Syrian dictator.
I honestly don't understand how Mark Greaney comes up with these books. He puts Court into all kinds of situations that seem impossible to get him out of. And he gets Court out - in ways that are believable. At least, they are to me, not having been a soldier or spy.
I like Court. He's trying to do what he thinks is right -even though his idea of right isn't always what most of us would consider right. The things that I wish were different for Court - having a life outside of what he does - are the things that would probably get him killed in his. I like that he realizes that about himself. I like that he's flawed and human.
If you haven't been reading The Gray Man books, you should be.
I won this book and have received no other compensation in exchange for this review. The opinions contained herein are mine and mine alone.
Court is not working for the CIA in this one. He's on his own and he takes a contract from two Syrian ex-pats in France to prevent the mistress of the Syrian dictator from returning to Syria. When Court sees that he was set up, he gets mad. But he, for reasons that I won't discuss here, decides to see the mission through. Which means going to Syria, working for mercenaries, running into U.S. Special Forces, and attempting to assassinate the Syrian dictator.
I honestly don't understand how Mark Greaney comes up with these books. He puts Court into all kinds of situations that seem impossible to get him out of. And he gets Court out - in ways that are believable. At least, they are to me, not having been a soldier or spy.
I like Court. He's trying to do what he thinks is right -even though his idea of right isn't always what most of us would consider right. The things that I wish were different for Court - having a life outside of what he does - are the things that would probably get him killed in his. I like that he realizes that about himself. I like that he's flawed and human.
If you haven't been reading The Gray Man books, you should be.
I won this book and have received no other compensation in exchange for this review. The opinions contained herein are mine and mine alone.