‘One Minute Out’ by Mark Greaney.

Published by Little Brown,
20 February 2020.
ISBN:978-0-7515-7843-0 (TBP)

A massive STOP PRESS: for all Tom Clancy fans. Here is an author to give him a run for his money. The author Mark Greaney.

This story centres around is main character, Court Gentry, known and much feared as The Grey Man. He is the CIA’s number one hitman.

The story starts as he completes a mission to take out one of the most ruthless and sought- out torturers from World War 2. The mission is accomplished speedily and professionally, but as the Grey Man makes his escape, he stumbles across a crowd of very young girls chained in a room in the building. The monster he killed was obviously part of a human trafficking operation. Gentry is appalled and as hears these girls being beaten, he determines to make it a personal mission to close this ring down and take out the men responsible.

Next he stumbles across the very brave, acutely knowledgeable, but also naïve, Talyssa who is alone and on the trail of her sister, who she believes may have been abducted and sold into this ring and now turned into a sex-slave and prostitute. Together they start to track the culprits responsible down. As the situation worsen and he realises the ring is even wider than he thought, and master-minded by a gang known to be the cruellest and cleverest in the world, who would stop at nothing to rid anyone or anything that crosses their path, Gentry decides to request assistance from his own employees the CIA. However, the CIA won’t assist, and demand The Grey Man returns to America. They tell him the criminal ringleader has  intelligence that the CIA need, in connection with a threatened terrorist attack on America. Gentry is given an order not to go after him.

Not one to take this lightly after what he has seen happening to these very young and helpless girls, Gentry defies orders and follows the trail of these women on a life endangering mission to Italy, then across the Balkans and all the way to Hollywood. The shootouts and stand-offs that he faces, alone, as he chases his prey, are nail-biting.

This man is the world’s number one agent for facing the CIA’s most threatened enemies, and he can kill without blinking his eye. But, in this instance he has allowed himself to get morally involved and now the CIA say he cannot kill the top man in the operation, the man who is responsible for inflicting all the pain and misery on these very young and very vulnerable women. So, when he finds the ringleader and helps Talyssa’s sister, and all the other enslaved and prostituted underage girls, what will he do? Will he obey CIA orders and let the man in charge of the whole operation live, or will his moral conscious win through, and will he kill the man personally responsible for the horrendous torture and pain inflicted on a bunch of innocent children.

I would recommend you read this book to find out. It is a page-turner and will draw you in like a slow-gripping quick sand. I can guarantee a white-knuckled read, but for fans of Andy McNab and Tom Clancy, you won’t want to miss this one.

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Reviewer: Linda Regan.

www.lindareganonline.co.uk

Mark Greaney has a degree in International Relations and Political Science and is pursuing his Masters in Intelligence Studies with a concentration in Criminal Intelligence. The grey man became a national bestseller and was nominated for a Barry Award in the Best Thriller category. A feature film adaptation of the grey man is in development by New Regency Pictures. 

Linda Regan is the author of six police procedural crime novels. She is also an actress. She holds a Masters degree in critical writing and journalism, and writes a regular column, including book reviews, for three magazines. She also presents the book-club spot on BBC Radio Kent. She is an avid reader and welcomes the chance to read new writers. 

  To read a review of Linda's most recent book
The Terror Within
click on the title. 

www.lindareganonline.co.uk