This is the tenth offering in Greaney's series featuring former CIA agent and freelance assassin Courtland Gentry, whose exceptional skills (at both assassination and running under the radar) have earned him the moniker Gray Man, "the unkillable uber assassin," who "walked alone unnoticed, moved diagonally, always keeping something between him and his target." When we catch up with Gentry here, he's back with the CIA, this time in an off-the-grid project to find missing staffers. He's in Venezuela, the setting for a rocking action scene that bleeds into long political conversations, extended flashbacks, and an overpopulated plot--all puzzling distractions in a genre that requires a strong narrative line. As the story goes on, Gentry's attempt to quash an initiative "to draw Iran into a war with the West"is a clothesline on which to hang neat, insider spy stuff. Learn what a "choke point" and "brush pass" are. Savor the humor, as when a gun battle becomes a food fight and a jail survivor observes, "those third world prisons aren't nearly as much fun as everyone makes them out to be." Good reading for the Gray Man's following.

At the start of bestseller Greaney's solid 10th Gray Man novel (after 2020's One Minute Out), CIA operative Zach Hightower is trailing his target, a traitorous former NSA computer scientist, in a Caracas marketplace when he's grabbed by thugs from Venezuela's intelligence service. On learning of the failed mission, the CIA deputy director for operations rousts Zach's partner, CIA contract killer Court Gentry (aka the Gray Man), from his hospital bed, where he's recovering from a chest wound, and sends him to finish the job. Gentry takes on a long list of bad guys, including a group of American mercenaries working for the spy organization of the United Arab Emirates, a rogue international intelligence firm, and a Russian superagent who may be the only assassin in the world who could go one-on-one with Gentry and come out on top. Readers won't be wrong to suspect that Gentry, despite being at half strength, will prevail. Vivid action scenes more than make up for a complicated plot that can be hard to follow at times. Though short of Greaney's best, this is still a must for espionage thriller fans. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group. (Feb.)

The 10th installment in the Gray Man series begins with a dent in the hero's armor and revs up with nonstop action. Court Gentry, aka the Gray Man, is recovering from a stab wound, and he really needs to get some rest. He's tired and badly weakened, not yet fit for operational duty, but the CIA's off-the-books contract killer is "wholly unaccustomed to free time." Soon he's in Caracas, trying to spring his comrade in arms Zack Hightower from a Venezuelan prison. Then he's off to Germany to deal with a possible coordinated attack on Americans in Berlin. Gentry, whose CIA code name is Violator, is that rare killer with a heart, so he takes only "righteous and worthy" assignments and does them right. His CIA boss congratulates him on one assassination, saying "You put a warhead on his forehead." Gentry's in love with Zoya Zakharova, a field operative also working for the CIA, but gunning down bad guys keeps both too busy for a meaningful relationship. Meanwhile, a sultan in the United Arab Emirates can hardly wait for his father to die of cancer, and an Iranian Quds sleeper agent plots mayhem in Berlin. Evildoers abound in this bloody thriller, including Americans. But the star of the scum is Maksim Akulov, who works for the Russian Mafia and whose target is Zakharova. Think of Akulov as the Gray Man without the moral compass. The title aptly fits the plot, as the hero scarcely takes a breather. There's enough bloodshed to pour into two thrillers, and author Greaney doesn't spare the good guys. Gentry's body is "racked with pain and exhaustion" much of the time, but he is relentless. And Zack gets more than scratched while he thinks that "fighting a robot attack would be one badass way to go." Not for the squeamish but a jolt for thriller junkies. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.