Mark Greaney's novel The Gray Man was published in 2009. The work features the eponymous gray man, a former CIA assassin who is now a world-class freelance assassin. Although he is typically called the gray man during work hours, his real name is Courtland Gentry. One day, Gentry discovers that his handler and beloved mentor, Sir Donald Fitzroy, has been kidnapped by a man called Lloyd, who is a former CIA agent and now member of a French corporation. Lloyd is determined to eliminate Gentry so that a billion dollar deal involving Nigerian oil can move forward, but Gentry will not let that happen very easily.
The Gray Man was adapted into a film of the same name in 2022 by the streaming platform Netflix. Starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas, the film was a massive success for Netflix and was one of the most-watched films of the year, which greenlit a sequel and prequel to the film.
The novel itself received very positive reviews when it was published in 2009. Among its supporters is Lee Child, the author of the famed Jack Reacher series, who said that the novel is "hard, fast, and unflinching - exactly what a thriller should be."
