By Mark Greaney
TWELVE YEARS AGO . . .
Those three words are essential to Sierra Six, the eleventh book in the Gray Man series, but the precursor to it all.
Court Gentry, the singleton operative has been tasked to take the place of a team member on SEAL Team Six that was killed in action. Gentry is a solo artist. He doesn't want the mission. Zack Hightower and the four other men of Golf Sierra don't want him. Hightower and his rugged team, all former SEALs or Delta Force underestimate the diminutive Gentry, but orders are orders. Gentry will become Sierra Six, the sixth man on the squad -- or will he? Court must first prove himself to his disgruntled squad. Along the way bonds are formed, an enemy encountered, and twelve years of Court's life -- and his most illusive antagonist -- flash before our eyes.
This is a riveting tale. Greaney gives us the backstory to Gentry's character, to his on-again/off-again friend, Zack Hightower, to Matt Hanley, and a cadre of connections that tie the past with the present. Greany weaves the episodic events, narrates with his usual technical competence, and keeps us bound page after page or minute-by-minute, especially when the knives comes out, the bullets fly, and the conflict is the hottest.
Sierra Six is a thriller and as thriller's go, Greaney is at the top of his class. But there are life lessons tucked away in all that spy craft. Maurice, a crusty veteran has been Court Gentry's trainer and mentor. There's a love-hate relationship between the two. Early in the story, Maurice is sent (against his will) to deliver an assignment to the young Gentry; the assignment going against the young operatives own desires. Gentry is distrusting and cagey. Maurice says:
. . . And the reason you've been so successful is due to what I put you through in training." Flatly, Court said, "You almost killed me. Multiple times." "Exactly. And that made you hard to kill." Maurice added, "All that was out of love, not out of hate, although I know how building somebody up can seem a lot like tearing somebody down when you are the one on the receiving end." (79)
Here's another tidbit of Maurice wisdom Court lives by: "Stay ready so you don't have to get ready"(79).
Sierra Six lets us know that Gentry is ready . . . and that's because Greaney has remained at the ready.
