THE HARD LINE, A Gray Man Novel (Gray Man series, Book 15) by Mark Greaney

5 stars

Gray Man’s back and you can barely keep straight all the people with vendettas out to kill him in revenge. The multiple plots crisscross and the non-stop action explodes out of the book.

The intense action picks up where the last book ended, with Court Gentry (aka The Gray Man as an elite, elusive contract assassin and aka The Violator from his CIA day as a paramilitary operations officer) back from rescuing fellow assassin Lola from a Russian work camp. Gentry owes a huge debt to the Director of Intelligence Operations (DIO) who assisted him during his dangerous mission. As an ask in return, Gentry’s former boss Matt Hanley has been commissioned by the DIO to set up a secret intelligence group to figure out who high up in the U.S. government has been leaking secrets to either the Russians or Chinese. In his first mission for Hanley, Gentry is sent down to Nicaragua to rescue an endangered intelligence asset. The pick-up mission goes horribly wrong due to leaked info, and the Gray Man encounters two Chinese National soldiers and barely makes it out alive with the asset.

Meanwhile, James Westwood wants to be elected Senator from New Hampshire en route to his ambitions to be President and has cut an intelligence leak deal with the Chinese in exchange for their help getting him there. The Chinese insist that he find a group of overseas assassins to execute multiple intelligence officers in the Washington, D.C. and offer in exchange to speed up his appointment to be Senator. He and his security head Mike hire elite international assassins and give them each five targets to kill.

Courtney moves onboard a sailboat in Norfolk Virginia to be near the home base of Hanley’s crew. Matt Hanley, former CIA Deputy Director, has named his off the books team Ghost Town.

Northern Irish Campbell Coyle sheds his retired locksmith and sheep herder persona to come to America to work for Westwood with his persoonal singular aim of killing Gentry for having killed his criminal son Charlie in a gun fight in Bulgaria. Described as a “bad man with a dark history,” Campbell digs up weapons hidden on his farm and goes on the war path.

Another assassin hired by Weswood is Lancer, a former Navy SEAL turned assassin, who’s also out to kill Gentry as he blames him for landing him in a Cuban prison.

Meanwhile, ex-CIA operative Zack Hightower who’s on the goes to Boulder to check in on his daughter a decade after she and his ex-wife entered Witness Protection to stop his enemies from threatening them. And those enemies are now on their trail.

Intense exhilarating actions scenes, danger lurking everywhere, treason afoot, leaks within the CIA – your heart races and your adrenaline pumps throughout the novel’s 500 pages.

The book ends mid-action on a MAJOR CLIFFHANGER! Now the wait begins for Greaney to bring Gray Man back on his sixteenth outing- as soon as possible, please!

Thanks to Berkeley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advance reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.