He is known for co-authoring books with Tom Clancy, yet he has made a name for himself when it comes to the world of thriller books.
In fact, Mark Greaney’s Gray Man series has become so popular that the first book in the series was made into a film by Netflix.
This film saw Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling star as the main characters. Due to the movie being so popular, a sequel has been announced.
Since Mark Greaney has written so many books, it may be confusing knowing in what order to read them.
If you are finding yourself in this situation, then you have come to the right place. I have created this simple guide in which order to read all 14 of Mark Greaney’s books.
About Mark Greaney
With his talent for creating spectacular political thriller/action scenarios, Mark Greaney has gained popularity.
His most well-known and well-liked series, “The Gray Man,” was transformed into a hugely popular Netflix film.
These books follow the themes of politics and rebellion against the system. In addition to this, they are always full of twists and turns, involving stories and characters you wouldn’t expect.
Greaney is loved for his descriptive writing style, which helps to create a clear picture of the world and characters that he is trying to create.
As part of his study for his writing, Greaney has visited numerous intelligence agencies, the Pentagon, military sites, and dozens of other countries.
He has also received training in the use of weaponry, battlefield first aid, and close-quarters combat techniques alongside members of the military and law enforcement.
In addition to his most popular series, Greaney has written a few stand-alone novels that follow similar themes if you want to dip your toe into his writing.
These are all about secret agents that come across secrets that were never meant to be uncovered.
Below, you will find the order of all the Mark Greaney books that you can read right now!
This is the first book in the Gray Man series and the basis of the first Gray Man film. Court Gentry is known as the mysterious Gray Man by those who stalk and stay in the shadows.
He is seen as a legend who can slip away easily from every job he completes. He is known for being about to do the unthinkable and then walking away without a trace.
Gentry always gets his man. However, Gentry is not the only deadly force in the world, and other people have started to take notice of him.
Gentry is no longer beneficial to some forces, and they will hire the best to get rid of him.
However, Gentry will show the world that there isn’t a difference between killing to earn a living and killing to survive in his eyes.
Pros
Perfect introduction to the series and all the characters we are following.
Cons
Lots of foul language, which can sometimes be a bit over the top.
Four years ago, Court Gentry’s CIA superiors betrayed him. To live, he had to murder his own brother in arms.
His own life is in danger when a former coworker he thought was dead reappears.
The man asks Gentry to complete a mission, but there’s a catch. Instead of a difficult assassination, the task entails an almost unfeasible kidnapping.
Gentry will need to hand his victim over to the same CIA team that betrayed him.
With his stern masters on one hand, his blackmailing old friends on the other, and a deadly mission in front of him, Court Gentry will stop at nothing to survive this one.
Court Gentry believed he could find safety in the Amazon rainforest after being betrayed by his colleagues and being compelled to participate in a nearly deadly secret assignment by the CIA.
When an angry Russian crime lord drives him to flee once more, his past catches up with him.
Gentry travels to see one of the men in the world he can rely on but gets there too late. His friend is dead and buried.
Gentry’s life had been rescued by Eddie Gamboa years earlier.
Now, the infamous Mexican drug cartel Eddie fought to defeat, has assassinated him. Gentry is swiftly sucked into a war he didn’t intend to be involved in.
Pros
Great backstory with Eddie and character development.
Court Gentry has always taken great satisfaction in his innate ability to blend into the background, and fly under the radar.
However, he opens himself to something he’s never had to deal with before: a killer who is exactly like him when he exacts revenge on a previous employer who betrayed him.
Russell Whitlock, sometimes known as Dead Eye, is a graduate of the same top-secret Autonomous Asset Program that created and was formerly in charge of Gentry. Whitlock, a free agent, has been told to kill Gentry.
Knowing how Gentry thinks, he knows that forcing Gentry to flee for his life is the best way to accomplish the task—up until Dead Eye finally puts an end to it.
Pros
Plenty of detailed action to keep you engaged, filled with plenty of twists.
Court Gentry was the CIA’s top secret agent five years ago. Then, suddenly, he was placed at the top of the Agency’s kill list by his superiors.
Gentry ran away from his nation and became the mysterious assassin branded as the Gray Man.
He intends to speak with the people who assigned him to Operation Back Blast in order to learn what caused the Agency to turn against him. Yet, he’s stumbled into a truth that important people want to keep hidden.
He has no idea that the concerns that were raised by his stint as an American assassin are still resonating throughout the U.S. intelligence community today.
Pros
Great character development of Court Gentry.
Cons
At 752 pages, this is one of the longest books in the series.
Court Gentry is back inside the CIA after spending five years on the run. However, Gentry is curious as to why his first operation involves two Chinese agents attempting to kill him in Hong Kong.
The high-stakes pursuit of answers by Gentry leads him to his old buddy Donald Fitzroy, who is being held captive by the Chinese and takes him across Southeast Asia.
Fitzroy was hired to track down Fan Jiang, a former worker of a top-secret computer warfare team tasked with testing China’s own security measures.
Due to the disappearance of the initial two kill teams, Fitzroy sent out to find Fan, the Chinese have chosen to “supervise” the upcoming operation.
They are unaware that Gentry’s task is to locate Fan first and give any intelligence to the US.
Pros
Well-thought-out characters and strong world-building.
Cons
Some readers felt the writing feels lazy at times, as the pace slows down.
Following his first assignment back with the CIA, Court Gentry is hired by a group of ex-pats in Paris to abduct the mistress of the Syrian dictator Ahmed Azzam.
In order to obtain information that could overthrow Azzam’s government.
Bianca Medina is given to the rebels by Gentry, but his work is not done.
Soon after, she makes it known that she is the mother of a son who will be Azzam’s sole heir and a formidable challenge to the Syrian president’s wife.
Gentry now needs to bring her child out of Syria alive in order to gain Bianca’s help.
Then, he goes off the grid in an attempt to put an end to one of the most ruthless dictatorships.
Pros
Fantastic details and a clever plot.
Cons
Lots of side stories that are not important to the main plot.
While on a CIA transport plane, Court Gentry’s journey is interrupted when security staff brings a hooded figure onto the plane with them.
CIA headquarters overrides their desire to remove Gentry from the plane. The unidentified man will be questioned about a mole in Langley by a joint CIA/MI6 team in England after being flown there.
When they touch down in a remote airbase in the United Kingdom, an enemy force attacks them and kidnaps the prisoner.
Only Gentry manages to get away. His superiors direct him to pursue the assailants, but it is one agent against a skilled squad of killers.
Pros
Plenty of action which is fast-paced to make you want to read more.
Cons
Lots of inaccuracies when it comes to describing the UK.
Court Gentry stumbles across a human trafficking enterprise during a mission to Croatia. The trail stretches all the way back to Hollywood from the Balkans.
Although Gentry is adamant about shutting it down, his CIA supervisors have other ideas.
A criminal mastermind is aware of a potentially devastating terrorist strike on the US and has access to valuable information.
Before having the information, the CIA won’t act. Gentry serves as the pivot in this moral balancing act.
Pros
Vivid descriptions of all characters and places visited.
Cons
Told in first person, which many readers didn’t enjoy. As usual, these books are written in the third person.
Around the world, intelligence agents are going missing.
Court Gentry is sent to Venezuela after a lost American spy reappears there, but a group of assassins has other plans. Gentry escapes with his life and some valuable information.
We meet Zoya Zakharova, a CIA operative who is currently in Berlin. Her objective was to penetrate a private spy agency with concerning connections.
She has a decreased chance of survival, the deeper she gets to the answers.
Gentry and Zoya are only two pieces on this chessboard of nations, but they are about to learn an unavoidable truth: occasionally capturing a king necessitates sacrificing some pawns.
Court Gentry was Sierra Six, the youngest member of a CIA action team, before becoming the Gray Man.
While on his first mission, he managed to kill a terrorist commander, but it came at a horrific cost: the life of a woman Gentry cared for.
The Gray Man sees a ghost while on a straightforward job after some time has passed. It’s the allegedly long-dead terrorist, yet he’s surprisingly alive and healthy for a corpse.
The Gray Man hasn’t changed despite ten years having passed. He never abandons a task incomplete or an unpaid due for blood.
The final book in the Gray Man series. You never know what will creep out of a rock when you kick it over. That’s something Alex Velesky is going to learn the hard way.
He has taken documents from the Swiss bank where he works in the hopes of exposing a criminal plot.
However, he quickly discovers that he has struck gold in the form of corruption. Before he knows it, the Russian mob and the CIA are both after him.
Court Gentry and his former girlfriend Zoya Zakharova are at odds with one another when it relates to Valesky.
Both of them desire him, but for various reasons. The two of them must survive in order to protect him, yet it isn’t looking promising.
Pros
Great world-building and insight into Gentry’s relationships, and what the future may hold for this character.
Cons
Certain chapters felt a bit long and slowly paced.
If you don’t wish to read a series, you may enjoy one of Greaney’s standalone novels. The first is Red Metal.
The Russians have woken up and they have a strong plan. Their tanks sprint across Poland, stomping on any resistance as they make a beeline for the center of Germany.
American forces are rendered blind by satellite-killing rockets. While Allied communications relays are destroyed by Spetsnaz teams.
Everything is done as part of a larger strategy to deceive and outwit America and her supporters.
An American tank platoon captain and a German sergeant fight to keep a small group of American and German tanks in the fight.
While a French Special Forces captain and his intelligence operations father, a young Polish female fighter, an A-10 Warthog pilot, and a Marine lieutenant colonel are all positioned against the Russian attack.
Pros
Chapters alternate between characters, so you can get a clear idea of what is happening on all sides.
Cons
For some readers, the first third of the book is slow and hard to get into, before the real action starts.
The second standalone novel by Mark Greaney to consider is Armored.
Joshua Duffy is a world-class assassin and a bodyguard in the private security industry. Until his last assignment in Lebanon, that is. Josh managed to escape alive, but he lost his left lower leg.
With such an injury, an elite bodyguard is not in great demand. Josh must therefore work as a mall cop in New Jersey to provide for his family.
Josh may be able to complete one final assignment in the field thanks to a fortunate encounter with an old friend.
The Sierra Madre mountains in Mexico, which are so hazardous they are known as the Devil’s Spine, are the destination of a UN peace expedition.
The idea that they could negotiate a truce between the murderous drug cartels is absurd.
Pros
Josh is a relatable character, with plenty of character development.
Cons
There are lots of moments of reputation that some readers found annoying, and some moments feel a bit far-fetched.
Final Thoughts
Mark Greaney is a fanatic author of thriller books, as you can see from the long list of books he has written so far.
Most of his books are part of the Gray Man series, which all follow common themes of rebelling against the system.
While a lot of Greaney’s books are over 700 pages, they are easy to get engrossed in.
Overall, Mark Greaney has written 14 books, which his loyal fans have enjoyed reading for years.
Recently, Greaney has received more recognition for his work with the Gray Man series, becoming a popular film.
I hope this article has been informative, as you now know the order of all 14 of Mark Greaney’s books.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should You Read Mark Greaney’s Gray Man Series In Order?
You should read the Gray Man book in order, even if each book has its own goal and mystery.
This is due to the fact that the series features tremendous character development throughout, which you could miss out on.
How Many Books Are In The Gray Man Series?
The Gray Man series is Mark Greaney’s most well-known work. In this series, there are 12 books to be read.
How Long Will It Take You To Read The Gray Man?
Since the average reader can read 300 words per minute, it is estimated that it will take someone roughly 5 hours and 44 minutes to read the first installment in the Gray Man series.
Hi, my name is Anna Davis and I have been working with books for five years now. I got a job at my local library, so I could be closer to all of the books! I created this website in the hopes of inspiring others to start reading again. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your new favorite book from my site!
