Greaney has taken his Court Gentry character into a more action/adventure mode than the series started. It's fun, but I miss the more introspective more realistic spy game that Greaney wrote in the early part of the series.

To get the action in, Greaney departs into the outrageous and here is another of that genre for Court Gentry. Greaney maintains his writing ability and creates an absurd foundation of invading Russia. As I wrote in my last review of the volume before this, John Gilstrap started his Graves series this way, and it's kept it's consistency. I do believe Gilstrap pulls this off better than Greaney, but this is still a good book.

Greaney pushes this main character (and others) through quite a labyrinth to get to a certain goal. The writing should keep the reader on the edge of their seats as complications riddle plans and the goal seems to be more and more impossible to accomplish. It's madcap adventure and Greaney pulls it off well.

The settings are a critical part of pulling the story off and Greaney illustrates them well. I was very impressed in the final battle setting and the multiple views of a fictional location that Greaney does an excellent job depicting.

Bottom line: i recommend this book. 7 out of 10 points.
Access to teh book was via NetGalley.com

Action, suspense, political intrigue and betrayal. This addition to the Court Gentry series lives up to the previous books of the series, definitely a page turner. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Court Gentry aka “The Gray Man” is on a mission to rescue his girlfriend, Zoya Zakharova, who is imprisoned in Russia. He starts in Eastern Europe and fights his way into Russia using a Cold War era underground network to make it into the country. Danger all round , the Gray Man will stop at nothing to free Zoya.

Mark Greaney might very well be the best action thriller in the business right now. Midnight Black was non stop action as Court battled his way to the prison holding Zoya. Starting with gangers in Eastern Europe to FSB deep in Russia, Court leaves a trail of bodies in his wake. He gets a help along the way from familiar faces Matt Handley and Zack Hightower. The plot is excellent and really puts Court in some of the tightest spots he has ever been in. The cold winter world of Russia is a great setting that really adds to the story.

Whether you have read all the Gray Man books or if this is your first foray into the series, you will throughly enjoy Midnight Black. You definitely need pick this book up when it is released on February 18th. Thank you to NetGalley, Mark Greaney, and Berkeley Publishing Group for a free advanced reader copy for an honest review.

Mark Greaney has once again outdone himself, and upped the ante for his characters, with Midnight Black. Love-stricken (because lovesick doesn't quite describe the despair) Court Gentry is determined that the love of his life is still alive, and being held somewhere in Russia, and he's going there to find her, a plan be damned. Ending up with some unofficial help from the CIA, along with Russian expats and an underground resistance movement, the Gray Man attempts to locate and rescue his love. Meanwhile, Zoya is testing the limits of her imprisonment, while being dangled as a prize by a psychopathic intelligence officer. Nonstop chills and thrills!

The Gray Man is back in Midnight Black, the 14 novel in the Gray Man series by Mark Greaney. The Gray Man's partner and lover, Zoya Zakharova has been captured by Russia and placed in a Penal Colony in the middle of nowhere Russia. Gray Man is doing anything in his resources to cross into Russian territory and leaving a wake of dead bodies in his path. He has little support from anywhere else besides former CIA director Mike Henley. Along the way he must fine the right connections to help get him across the border and make his way to the penal colony to try and save Zoya. There is plenty of action, gun battles, and espionage. The book moved along at a great pace and keeps you captivated. This was my second book by Mark Greaney and it was very enjoyable. Will definitely be reading more Gray Man in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book (publication date set for February 18, 2025) from NetGalley in exchange for my review.

This is the 14th edition of the series. I won’t delve into the plot but suffice it to say it is very Russia-Ukrainian War heavy, with subplots that I hope are a reflective of the reality there. Example: that there are in fact rebel Russian forces being trained in NATO countries tone infiltrated back into Russia to provoke chaos and upheaval amongst the overall complacent/underinformed/mislead Russian population in general. I had not heard of nor considered this but if it is reflective of reality, then so much the better given the recent Trump re-election here in the United States and all that could mean for continued US support of Ukraine.

Well worth the read for those who continue to be Gray Man enthusiasts.

Wow, Mark Greaney didn’t disappoint in this latest installment from the Gray Man series. This really is Court like we’ve never seen him before. The ups and downs throughout the story and the desperation Court has at times make the book extremely hard to put down. The climactic final scenes were also riveting.

Thanks to Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of this book. #MidnightBlack #NetGalley

Cortland Gentry is the only one that thinks that she’s alive. The rest of the known world is convinced that she has been executed. He’s convinced she is alive and thanks to some CCTV hacking it is found that Zoya is being held deep in Russia in a snow covered gulag. Seemingly marked for a slow and painful life.
The Gray Man is determined to free her and joins forced with a rebel outfit and the caper turns into a full fledged assault on this lonely place of death.

What happens when the Gray Man is exhausted, desperate, unrestrained and obsessively focused on an intimately personal yet seemingly impossible objective that he is willing to die trying to achieve? You get Midnight Black, an insanely intense balls to the wall heart-pounding journey that is gripping, suspenseful and packed with so much adrenaline-soaked action that you’ll need a moment to catch your breath after every chapter. It’s classic Mark Greaney. Delivering another legendary, mind-blowing Gray Man thrill ride.

Court Gentry is hellbent on covertly entering Russia to rescue Zoya Zakharova, the woman he loves, from a Russian prison. Meanwhile, Zach Hightower is tasked with helping the Russian Resistance in Poland to take out enemy spies and train their paramilitary forces. And Matt Hanley back at the CIA has crafted a plan that will put goth Court and Zach in the middle of an audacious mission that would deal a massive blow to the Russian president. But it’s so dangerous that it might be too much for even the Gray Man to pull off. And the only thing that’s certain is that bullets will fly and bodies will drop in copious amounts.

Midnight Black is up near the top of my favorite Gray Man books of all time. It includes a fascinating blend of the intense direct action we know and love with a raw vulnerability from Gentry that makes him more emotional and leads to a loss of composure at times. Presenting a fresh dichotomy we have not witnessed before from the most effective and efficient assassin on the planet. And the best part is it works incredibly well. Adding depth and a new dimension to one of the genre’s most beloved characters and opening new avenues to explore in future novels.

That’s not to say it’s all feelings, rainbows and hugging it out for 500+ pages. Au contraire mon frère. The big mission with multiple moving parts is as daring and recklessly hopeful as anything you’ll ever read and filled with death, destruction and chutzpah. It’s an operatic masterpiece of military operations with an outcome so uncertain that you cannot begin to guess what’s going to happen. It’s high-stakes, white-knuckle, nail-biting stuff of the highest order. And it’s exceptionally written, beautifully executed and unputdownable. A masterclass in thriller storytelling by Mark Greaney. Proving once again that he's one of the absolute best in the business.

Midnight Black by Mark Greaney

Every year for the last few years around Thanksgiving, I’ve been blessed enough to be approved to read the new Gray Man and the new Joe Pickett novels back-to-back. Enough so, it’s become sort of a tradition of sorts. Every year, it seems like I find myself saying the same thing about how Greaney somehow finds a way to keep the Gray Man feeling fresh and new despite being 14 titles in. This year proved no different. Midnight Black is everything you’ve come to love from Greaney as well as Gentry choked full of SDRs’ gunfights and plenty of that signature Gentry humor and violence mix. Picking up where the Chaos Agent left off, Zoya is in a Russian prison camp after being sold to the Russians by China. Meanwhile, Court Gentry is hell-bent on getting into Russia to save her, not believing the rumors of her death. The path of destruction and death he’s willing to leave in his wake has no limits to save the woman he loves. The familiar cast of characters are present here as well as some cool new ones that give another look at the Russia-Ukraine war few I’ve read have given when Court meets up with some rebels along the way to pull off his mission, which, without going into detail here for the sake of spoilers, two missions take place simultaneously, which I found really cool the way Greaney navigates that, similar to the way Sierra Six was with two timelines. This is everything you’ve come to love from the Gray Man and more. It also sets up the future in a cool way. This is a MUST read especially for Gray Man fans!

The Gray Man is back with Greaney’s Midnight Black, #14 in the series! Unfortunately, the Gray Man must sneak into Russia in this novel to save his lover, Zoya, who is in the gulag. If you are up on the series, you know that Zoya was captured and returned to Russia in the last book, The Chaos Agent. Courtland Gentry, aka the Gray Man, is a former CIA operator who works for the CIA off and on when the job is “off book.” The Gray Man has been one of the most likeable spy operatives since his debut in 2009 in The Gray Man. I read them all for my “spy action” fix!

The action continues in this latest entry as the Gray Man must use all his guiles to find a way INTO Russia and then battle the guards at Penal Colony IK22 situated with a thousand miles of frozen wasteland around it, find Zoya in the prison, and bring her back with him out of Russia. The Kremlin thinks the odds are with them this time, but of course, the Gray Man doesn’t play by the rules, and Russia again underestimates him.

I must admit that I prefer the Gray Man when he is on missions where he is using his skills in a less emotional manner. He makes many mistakes in this outing due to his lack of sleep or self-care and worry over Zoya being killed. The action involves more gun battles and less craftiness and strategy than most of the other books. The Gray Man is desperate and has help from a secret Russian resistance group, and therefore, he loses some of his appeal as a spy – this is more “military strategy” and less duplicity and artfulness.

The last few books since Zoya appearance (Relentless, 2021) have been less interesting for me as the Gray Man is not all he could be with his love interest. Let’s hope that in #15, the Gray Man is back to his real skill of cagey spy craft and that Zoya is finally out of the story line.

This ARC title was provided by Netgalley.com at no cost, and I am providing an unbiased review. Midnight Black will be published on February 18, 2025.

After Zoya's capture by the Chinese in Cuba, Gentry is pushed to the brink, determined to rescue her from the FSB's grasp. Once more, these patriots have been exploited and discarded by the very institutions and countries they've loyally served. Nonetheless, Hanley and Hightower rally behind Gentry's perilous solo mission to penetrate Russia and its penal colony system to retrieve Zoya. This harrowing endeavor could spell the end for this close-knit group of friends who have weathered countless trials together. A cautionary note: Midnight Black may lead to sleepless nights for many readers.

Mark Greaney’s latest installment in *The Gray Man* series delivers another high-octane, emotionally charged thriller that dives deep into the heart of darkness. In *Mission: Yavas*, Court Gentry—the titular Gray Man—faces his most personal and dangerous mission yet. Zoya Zhakarova, the woman he loves, has fallen into the clutches of the Russian intelligence service, and the CIA believes she’s already been executed. But Court won’t accept that. His single-minded belief that "she’s not dead" fuels his relentless pursuit to rescue her, no matter the cost.

The story picks up with Court’s desperation palpable as he spends six months trying to infiltrate Russia, using every tool at his disposal—bribes, bullets, and sheer force of will. But as the clock ticks down, Court’s options grow slimmer. His final, almost insane move is to seek out a shadowy network of anti-communist agents who once helped political dissidents escape the Soviet Union. This risky alliance sets the stage for a daring mission into the heart of Russia’s frozen wasteland, where danger lurks at every turn and survival feels like a fleeting hope.

The destination? Yavas, a desolate prison where even the strongest souls are broken. Located 700 miles from the nearest border, it’s a place where hope dies, and nightmares thrive. Getting in is only the beginning; getting out alive is a feat that will require Court to navigate not just the brutal Russian landscape but a web of geopolitical tensions that threaten to ignite a war. The stakes have never been higher, and the odds have never been worse.

Greaney masterfully weaves together high-stakes action, complex geopolitics, and emotional depth. Court Gentry, a character defined by his cold efficiency and lethal skill, is pushed to his limits as the mission becomes not just a rescue operation, but a personal quest for redemption and love. While the novel excels in its fast-paced, action-packed sequences—Court’s confrontations with enemies, his resourceful escapes, and the sheer grit he displays—what truly sets *Midnight Black apart is the heart behind the action. Court’s determination to save Zoya gives the story a depth rarely found in the genre. His vulnerability, his internal struggles, and his unwavering belief in her survival create a compelling emotional backbone to the otherwise explosive narrative.

The grim, wintry setting of Yavas—a place where prisoners are forgotten by the world—adds a haunting layer of atmosphere, and Greaney’s vivid descriptions make the Siberian landscape feel as unforgiving and bleak as the people imprisoned within it. The tension is palpable, as Court’s every move seems to bring him closer to either salvation or disaster.

In conclusion, Midnight Black is a thrilling, emotional rollercoaster that fans of *The Gray Man* series will find impossible to put down. Mark Greaney has crafted a perfect blend of heart-pounding action, intricate plotting, and a character-driven narrative that elevates this book above the typical action thriller.

Mark Greaney’s “Midnight Black” is an absolute must-read! It’s got all the action and suspense you could ever want, and it’s a great addition to the Gray Man series. I can’t wait to read the next book!

This book features the gray man who's name is Court. He knows in his heart that his girlfriend Zoya is alive. He works at trying to find a way to save her by somehow getting into Russia when everyone knows Russia doesn't want his there. He gets help along the way and this makes for a great read! Highly recommend!

This was a different Gray Man than we have seen in the past. Long time readers - and fans (which would include me in this category) have seen Courtland Gentry deal with ALL kinds of issues. He has dealt with the betrayal from his own government, the red notice going out worldwide that put a bullseye on his back, heck, I'm not even sure how in the world he has been able to stay sane with all of the double crosses that he has endured. BUT.....in the last book, we began to see a different Court (Gray Man, Violator, Sierra Six...choose the name). For the first time we saw him slowly wondering if there might actually be a life beyond his current life. For the first time, he was happy. He had found a person that actually could understand his lifestyle and his....well, his issues. I don't think that unless you have been a long-time reader, honestly, a reader from the very beginning, that you would understand what a GIGANTIC step that was for Court. And what an unbelievable punch in the gut it was for the events that happened at the end of the last book.

This book starts with Court pretty much losing it. He seems to be the only one that seems to believe that Anthem is still alive. Everyone else is giving him platitudes (and you don't think that Court realizes this?) So for the first time, we see a very messy and sloppy Gray Man. He is moving across Eastern Europe without caring about ANYTHING. Fallout? Who tf cares? At this point he doesn't care about anything but finding a way to get into Russia to find and to rescue Anthem. My heart just kept breaking into a million pieces because he was holding on by a thread with his belief, to hear him constantly say to himself..."she's not dead"......broke my heart.

Then, we also get to have the POV's from Anthem and several other new people who come to the party that in the beginning, just muddy up the waters because things do not make sense. This new guy Baronov, I had a hard time understanding what was going on with him in the beginning because it felt like he was able to know things that he should not have been able to know. In absolute amazing, yet Greaney style, in the end, the explanations made sense and the issues that I thought I might have with this book fell into place.

Without spoilers, let me just say that this was...again...an amazing Gray Man story. We are now dealing with a current world situation - the Ukraine war with Russia. It was very interesting to learn about the real life things that are happening in Russia - the new police state, the new resistance groups being built. Are they 100% accurate? I honestly do not know but I DO know that Mr. Greaney spends quite a bit of time with the research that he does before each book. This information - at least to me - was new and unexpected, but VERY intriguing.

Back to the book. If you are a fan of this series- this is another winner. This book will not disappoint. Once we get past the point of the Gray Man's impulsiveness and seeming disregard for his own life, things get even more complex. We also get to see characters from the past become VERY involved in what is going on now. Hightower, Hanley....I do not need to say more.

If you are already a fan - this is going to take you on another incredible journey.

If you have never read this series- stop. Go back and begin from the beginning. You will NOT be disappointed. I read A LOT... I've read thousands of books, yet for some reason, this series has a hold on my heart that even I cannot explain. All I know is that Court Gentry has a hold on me - and that, more than anything is an absolute fact of life.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone. This book will be out for publication February 18, 2025.

I thought this book was fantastic. Court seems more desperate here than he has in a while and he must go into arguably the most dangerous place in the world. The tension is excellent and I think Gray Man and thriller fans will really enjoy this entry. Thank you to Penguin House for early access to this novel.

Another great read by the author. The story continues where The Chaos Agent left off. The story starts with Court trying to find a way into Russia searching for Anthem (Zoya). No one else believes she is still alive following her capture and being traded back to the Russians. A well developed plot with lots of action. All of the old Grey Man characters make appearances and are part of his effort to rescue Zoya. Great action along with the story.

A great continuation of the Grey Man series. Reading the previous books in the series helps with understanding the plot. I can't wait to reading more books in the series. Mark is one of the best authors in the thriller genre!

To enjoy this kind of troglodyte hogwash, you have to be able to put up with the general right-wing ideology. But this novel crosses the line: much of it is propaganda for the Freedom of Russia Legion, a far-right paramilitary organization whose leaders are Neo-Nazis and white supremacists, as are many of the rank & file. I enjoyed the Gray Man series until this entry, & of course Russia is a police state run by an authoritarian thug, but that doesn't excuse whitewashing Nazism. I'll never read another word Greaney writes.

Review: "Oh no, the Gray Man!!!" Why he just takes out multiple threats in the span of an hour while muttering "SHE IS NOT DEAD!" (x32). Let's see. Six armed toughs in a bar, plus the bartender. Ten minutes later another 5-6 armed dudes on a rooftop garage and while leaving those for dead, another bunch of bad dudes with AKs. The insurmountable odds shtick repeats itself over and over. If it is not a convenient plot vehicle then it is Super Grayman (reluctant and tired) wiping everyone out. Can the bs get any deeper?

Sometimes entertainment needs an infusion of reality. Reality in the form of a tired and beatup CIA guy performing miraculous deeds does not endear the reader... at least not this one. First thing to do is make the fight scenes believable and more clandestine than overt. Ease the reader into your world so that we can identify more easily with the reluctant hero (K. Costner).

As it was, this novel just kept trying to outdo the previous scenes. By the end this was comical in presentation. I hate it that I had a great time.

4.4/5