Ballistic (Gray Man) Paperback – October 4, 2011

It is a really exciting and action filled series. Incredible and I enjoyed it immensely. Gray man is my number one read at this time and I plan on reading the whole series.

I was critical of the first two Gray Man novels. While I liked the concept and the character of Courty Gentry, the first two books had simple, threadbare plots, shallow, flat characters, and repetitive overly-long, action scenes. But they were still well-written and fast-paced books.In this third novel, Mark Greaney has improved considerably as a writer. For the first time, Courty Gentry actually comes across as a real person. The other characters are believable and not just cardboard cutouts. The story is more complex, mature, and well-developed. Rather than non-stop action, there is build-up to the action scenes, and Greaney does a much better job of creating suspense and maintaining tension.While Flynn, Thor, and Silva are re-writting the same Muslim terrorist stories over and over again, Greaney sets Ballistic south of the border. Courty Gentry, still on the run in South America from CIA and Russian mafia assassins, arrives in Mexico to pay respects to a dead friend. There, he becomes embroiled in the drug wars as he protects his friend's family from a Mexican drug cartel and corrupt police. Greaney does a good job of depicting the bleak, violent conflict taking place in Mexico, without overloading his story with background and historical information. He portrays his fictional cartel leaders as these people are in real life; sadistic and completely apathetic to human life.But, Ballistic did not quite make it to a five-star rating from me. The fast pace of the novel comes to an dead halt in the middle of the novel, where Court Gentry and the family under his protection are beiseiged in a house. This lengthy section just dragged on for too long, but the pace quickly picked up again after this. Also, without spoiling the ending, the climax seemed a little unlikely and strayed a bit from the gritty realism of the rest of the novel.So, only two minor faults with the novel, and I enjoyed Ballistic far more than the new Daniel Silva, Brad Thor, or Tom Clancy books released this year. Mark Greaney is really starting to look like a promising author, and I'm really looking forward to more novels in this series, as well as the upcoming Tom Clancy book he "co"-wrote.

"Ballistic" is Mark Greaney's third installment in his Gray Man series and it is a wild non-stop ride. Court Gentry is the Gray Man, a former government operative targeted for elimination by his former handlers and assorted government assassins. After being discovered hiding deep in an Amazon jungle, Court makes a daring escape and by chance, hears a news report that Eddie Gamboa had been killed by a merciless drug cartel in Mexico. Eddie had once saved Court's life when both were incarcerated in a Laotian jail and Court sets out to pay his respects to his old friend only to find himself in the unwanted position of defending Eddie's family from the marauding cartel.Daniel de la Rocha is the ruthless crime lord of the cartel who has made the killing of the entire Gamboa family a personal quest and will stop at nothing to kill Eddie's widow and her unborn son along with Eddie's lovely sister, Laura. Relucantly, Court jumps in to aid the family and a full scale war between the Gray Man and Rocha's cartel erupts; however, this deadly cartel has never faced a man as deadly and destructive as Court Gentry once he is motivated. Court declares a blood feud war against the Mexican cartel and soon the reader is gasping and turning pages as fast as possible.There is breathtaking action and the body count mounts by the chapter, yet court employs many other skills to bring down the evil cartel such as maneuvering a rival cartel into assisting him and manipulating leaders within each cartel to betray their own. But make no mistake, "Ballistic" is a non-stop action thriller that will appeal to those who love the lone vigilante exacting personal justice even when confronted by powerful seemingly insurmountable forces. Greany does a fine job of making the saga of a lone vigilante against an evil drug cartel seem reasonably plausible and he ties the tale up in a satisfactory and, perhaps to some, surprising manner. If you enjoy action thrillers and do not worry about the size of the body count, grab this one for a quick, fun read. Greaney has evolved Court Gentry into a most interesting character who is now on my must read list.

This is the third one I have read in sequence and the best so far. You don’t read these books for the characterization and the plot, but this one was the usual breathless action with better plotting and characters. The others were good, but this was excellent.

I don't know about the ending. I guess I was hoping for a different ending but overall it's a decent book. I recommend it for sure!

Lately I have become a fan of “The gray man series.’s way and I just finished reading the third book(soft cover, 467 pages, Ballistic by Mark Greaney) in this series. In this tale, Court Gentry is still trying to hide from the many people who are attempting to kill him and must move fast to get out of harm way. He manages to get away but unfortunately, barely escapes with the clothes on his back and very little money.This story now unfolds when he finds out a man, Eddie Gamboa, who had saved his life in Laos, many years previously, had been assassinated by members of the Mexican drug cartel. Not wanting to get caught up in the Gamboa family issues, but winds up helping them escape from criminals who want to kill them.I never give away too much information when reviewing any novel, but if you are a fan of the “gray man” series you may want to check out his action-packed tale.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Shotokan Karate self-defense techniques: Combat karate for the street).

Enthralling start to finish, as all grey man hooks are. Reading all thirteen in sequence…. Don s

I really enjoyed this book, but I’m a big fan of all the grey man books. They are an easy read with a predictable ending, which is what I like in an action book. I loved it and bought the next book in the series as soon as I finished this one.

I liked Greaney's novel from the Jack Ryan series. Thats why I took this book, but it was quite different. Fast paced, tbe gray man has no time to breath, being attacked by the police, narcos, more police, passers by and God knows who else. At some point it becomes too much, like watching a cartoon. Coyote chasing the bird again and again and again...

a read I really enjoyed. Fast packend Action, always on the brink of the impossible mixed with a purpose for the Last Hope that there is a Good somewhere. All in all more credible that the action in the previous books he'd done severely wounded.

This is an excitement machine of a book...a good continuation of the Gray Man's story. He is still on the run, still facing insurmountable odds, but this time he is in a position he is not used too, having to think about and look after someone else.