One Minute Out (Gray Man Book 9) Kindle Edition

Court Gentry (aka the Gray Man) is in Croatia to snipe a war criminal. As he watches the old man through his scope, though, he decides that far away through a scope just won't do, and this man needs an up close and personal visit. Despite the presence of a small personal army and a couple of dogs guarding the war criminal, Gentry makes his way into the house only to find the old man not in his bed. Following sounds he hears, he makes his way into a basement and finds over twenty women and girls chained to the walls there. One woman, who was loose because the old man was about to bring her upstairs and assault her, runs out of the house (despite the presence of that small army and a couple of dogs). Gentry kills the old man and then wants to free the women, but one of their number tells him to leave, as he can't protect all of them, and they will be punished worse if they leave and are recaptured.Gentry reluctantly leaves them but vows to find them again and free them, and also to bust the human sex trafficking ring he has stumbled across.The story moves from Croatia to Italy to the US, as Gentry follows the pipeline of women moved from country to country. Along the way, he picks up an ally - one of the womens' sister, who works in financial fraud for EUROPOL - and she heads off on a side trek to engage the services of a hacker. after telling Gentry that not only is there a sex trafficking ring, there's an ocean of bad money being laundered in the process. Meanwhile, Gentry keeps dogging the pipeline, killing quite a number of people in his path and getting beat up at various locales.SPOILERS FROM HERE The evidence continues to pile up, and when it points to a US-based businessman and movie exec as the ringleader, Gentry calls his office - the CIA - and asks for help. When it's denied for reasons he isn't told, he requests help from another, more personal source: a bad guy in Italy, where the women will be sold at auction. The bigshot US businessman will also be in attendance at this particular stop even though his head of security advises him against it, and Gentry wants to get to him somehow, and kill him. On the evening of the auction, Gentry spots members of a special ops team, realizes they're hunting him, and eventually there's a big firefight, with the bad guys hoping on a private plane with two women marked for "special handling" - that is, to serve as sex slaves for he crooked businessman.Gentry makes his way back to the States via a pretty humorous (considering the circumstances) method, and gets to California. Based on information provided by the EUROPOL analyst, he makes his way to the bigshot's house. He realizes he can't take the entire compound by himself, so enlists the help of some old operators (and I mean older in ago, as in, this sort of thing is a young person's game). After killing some more bad guys, and talking the bigshot's personal security out of protecting the bigshot, Gentry has come face to face with the bad guy - but he promised the CIA he wouldn't kill the guy, because the guy is an asset to the CIA, providing information on the flow of money and arms around the world. Since Gentry can't kill the bad guy, he shoots the bad guy right in the crotch, blowing his junk off. I guess that means no more sexytimes for him, assaulting or otherwise, although the way medicine is these days, and the fact that he's a billionaire, it could be entirely possible bad guy could get his nether regions redone and go right back to his evil ways. On the other hand, it's made clear in the last few chapters that the gad guy needs ED drugs and coke in order to be able to perform, so maybe not.Gentry then walks away from the house, despite the LAPD showing up in huge numbers. He climbs into a van holding some CIA dudes, and they drive off into the sunset.END SPOILERSThe end of the book evokes The Shawshank Redemption (or, for the pedants, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption") with a litany of "hopes". This book really does seem to be one of the more adaptable ones of the series for the big screen, and it wouldn't surprise me to see it adapted into a screenplay and made into a movie starring some actor everyone will either love or hate, with the hate side pointing out all the ways X could not possibly be the Gray Man.Overall, if you like the Gray Man series, you'll like this book. I do, and I did.Four solid stars out of five.

Mark Greaney is by far the best thrill writer today..... never thought I would like some betterthan Travis McGee ( Macdonald) series..... but Gray Man is it.... cant put the book down.

Exposes sex trafficking in all its horrors. Skillfully done. As usual Greaney gives a full adrenalin ride while informing about this scourge. It is the Gray Man at his finest.

Don’t listen to the complainers. It’s a great read…written in the first person, which finally allows us to hear more of Court’s thoughts. As for the subject matter of the plot line…it’s brutal. The brutality of sex trafficking should be know while most readers sleep comfortably in their beds at night. Bravo! Greaney.

First of all I must write that if I am ever in any kind of trouble, I want Court Gentry...AKA the Grey Man...to either be on my side or come and rescue me...Hopefully I will never be in that situation but if I am...come and get me out of my distress...This novel starts in Croatia with Court Gentry attempting to assassinate a Serbian war criminal from 25 years ago. Retired General Ratko Babic has been living peacefully surrounded by bodyguards for many, many years. And, yes, he was responsible for murdering over 8000 men and young boys. His quiet litle farmhouse, however, holds a secret of its own...This novel is off to a rip roaring start. Wow.The reader will be transported from Croatia to Hollywood with many stops in between. There are a lot of characters and was glad the author provided the list at the beginning of this one. Lots of different locations, different jobs and of course, different motives.The descriptions are vivid throughout this novel and at times downright sickening to read. When a reader has his senses fully awakened by the writing, it illustrates excellent skills by the author. The amount of money involved in this global trafficking of drugs, guns, sex, immigrants and more is staggering. The Director of the Consortium raked in around $10 billion a year. And, that is one person involved in this circle of traffickers.So, the question in this novel becomes whether or not The Grey Man will be able to complete his mission. The intel on a terrorist attack on US soil seems viable but....Lots of truly evil people in this novel and the suspense is palpable throughout. One quote that I really liked from Maurice, a CIA handler: "Hope is not a strategy". And, Court remembered this for years.A perfect read on a snowy and blowing day in Vermont. Loved the multi-layered plot, the dialogue was clear and crisp and the action continued from the beginning until the end.Most highly recommended.

This is the best guy since Clancy.

Former Seal Team Six asset, faces his most righteous Job, ever. The problem is that it all started with a dime task - take out a wanted War Criminal, whose killed thousands in his past.Mark Greaney spins a tale that will have your blood racing and your hands shaking as you're transported into the middle of the action. This is, unquestionably, his best book ever!

Mark once again with a book you can't put down. Had a relative in the hospital and read this one in two days. Couldn't put it down. If you want action and excitement this series is for you!

翻訳版がまだ図書館にないのでこの本を買って読んでいます。まだ半分程度までしか読んで言うませんが、ストーリーは単純、明快で面白い。就寝前に読むのに良いと思います。

Gray Man シリーズの大ファンです。毎回趣向を凝らした設定で裏切られずに愛読してます。アクション部分は何回も読み直しいないと私には動作が早過ぎて想像できない時も多々あります。でもそれも又楽しみの一部でもあります。英語自体はそんなに難しくないのでよみやすいです。他の作品(RED METAL)も劣らず楽しめました。

ジェントリー、本当に渋い。惚れ惚れします。だからこのGrayman シリーズはやめられない。Hope isn’t a strategy, but sometimes it’s all you’ve got.

Entirely agree with other reviews, loved the other Gray man books, but hate this story told in first person. Maybe the author wants us to know how vulnerable he is, but that’s not the way I want, or expect to view him. After eagerly anticipating this novel, it’s been a great disappointment. Released on the same day as new orphan X novel, thank goodness that didn’t disappoint.

It’s sometimes hard to see where Mark Greaney is going to take The Grey Man next, but he keeps the series going without flagging one bit. This one’s the best yet.Staying just the right side of a pretty stretched credibility line (as befits The Grey Man), the plot is ingenious, with enough twists and suspense to keep you glued right to the end.The in-out of the government’s black ops fold was starting to wear thin earlier in the series, but Greaney plays it beautifully here.A great read. Thank you. Can’t wait for the next one!