Mission Critical

Written by Mark Greaney & Reviewed by Detective Dru

Another Grey Man novel, another action movie in pulp format.  Court Gentry aka Gray Man is on some CIA private jet en route to Langley. Doug Spano, CIA, boards with two prisoners bound for London from Luxembourg. He’s pissed he has to share with Court.  Think the beginning of License to Kill or Dark Knight Rises, but without the cool stunt.

Zoya Zakharova is back and under watch. She’s in a safe house and being interviewed by Suzanne Brewer nightly to facilitate her “switch” to an American asset after Agent In Place. In London, David Mars aka Mr Black receives a tip from a CIA mole named Barnacle that someone stateside just printed Zoya’s father’s files (KIA last book) He orders a strike on the safe house containing Brewer & Zoya where it occurred.

Back to Court’s travel woes.  A van with one prisoner, the Dutch banker Dirk Visser, scrambles to safety in a panic when the plane they are sharing is ambushed on the tarmac during a layover.  Most of the men are dead on both sides. Court commandeers a power glider that just happens to be laying around. Zoya conveniently escapes the safe house just as a Mexican cartel arrives to eliminate everyone inside.

David Mars gets the update that the woman at the safe house escaped. He’s not happy and doesn’t know the connection between Zoya and the former GRU director. (Spoiler:  he really should.  It’s just that he doesn’t know it’s Zoya specifically that was in the safe house)

Obligatory dick wagging chapters over failures at Langley. CIA alpha genital Matt Hanley is convinced someone is trying to frame a mole at CIA because a paper trail is too obvious. Renfro and Wheeler, two suits, seem anti Hanley. Brewer is unhappy with her Poison Apple assets (Court aka Violator & Zoya aka Anthem)

 And then suddenly…Four Years Earlier….this was very shoehorned, might as well have been chapter one or prologue. Won Jang-Mi of DPRK sneaks into Tehran via Greece to master WMD via biological strains, her specialty. She stations her research in Russia and awaits further instructions while Russia monitors her acumen.

Back to present day. Court and Brewer argue because she won’t assist him, citing mole concerns. Really, she wants Court dead because that removes her liability to Poison Apple. She was introduced as a by-the-rules character books ago, and now she wants Court dead for selfish and morally dubious career reasons? Amateur character arc, and lame as heck. Anyway, Court will hafta do it all alone. Again.

Two Years Ago, Won is questioned by Russian intel regarding her plague bio weapon, then sent to CDC Stockholm to learn of the west’s counter defenses for plague. Not really digging the structure here, but fun for the COVID nostalgia.

Roger Fox is a Russian spy posing as UK. He doesn’t get what he wants out of Visser despite his bodyguard’s punches, so they plan to fly away in the chopper they just arrived in. Court witnesses this and snaps pics for CIA before being forced to kill a sentry, alerting the other enemies.

After Court conveniently found a bike with keys to arrive at this hospital safe house he’s currently fleeing from, he conveniently stumbles into a parking lot with an Audi and readily available valet key box to escape.  What follows is an absolutely absurd car chase that ends with Court unlocking a lead’s phone right before he died in the middle of the road.

Brewer meets with Zack Hightower aka Romantic to tell him to shake the leaves of Hanley’s four mole suspects.  Zoya conveniently finds some ex Russian intel who just so happens to own a private jet who just so happens to be able to ferry her to London. Her story and Brewer’s arc are not engaging due to some foggy characterization and hasty metamorphisis.

Court learns the name Terry Cassidy. On to the next domino. Zoya reveals that the photos Brewer showed her of her father’s corpse were staged - he’s alive and the motive for her return to London. Hanley tells Brewer she’s going to the Five Eyes conference in Scotland now because she needs to appear to be doing normal tasks, not Poison Apple. Twenty-two was a super thin chapter to compliment an even thinner plot at this point in the book.

Court and Zoya magically get shelter and weapons in various towns through various contacts via discreet methods just like every other mediocre spy novel.  Zoya poses as a prostitute and gets into the bed of Vladimir Belyakov, her uncle – gross - who was also in the death photo (albeit alive) and accuses him of knowing about the fake dead dad. He denies it, then calls “Mars” for an emergency meeting as soon as she leaves.

Uncle Vladi meets with David Mars aka Veodor aka Zoya’s dad. They brief each other, then deduce she will go for Terry Cassidy’s safe because of Vladi’s texts that she saw the night before.

Mars reveals to Won that the target is the Five Eyes conference. After many chapters of the uninteresting and contrived mole hunt stateside, Fox and Mars find some secret tunnel under the castle that’s hosting the Five Eyes conference leading from the basement to nearby Loch Ness. Lame plot armor activated.

Court gets his old mentor Sir Donald Fitzroy to bug his neighborhood club, because you guessed it, a prime suspect just happens to hang out there and talk about secret illegal stuff that he does for a living.  Meanwhile, Feo aka David Mars aka Zoya’s dad aka Black Wolf, the Russian architect of London, arrives at Uncle Vladi’s house for a meeting with Zoya.  Zoya and Dad argue about who has abandoned Russia more through their covers. She realizes he’s insane now.

Wheeler aka Barnacle calls “Mars” demanding exfil. He ostensibly agrees. Court finds out Zola’s dad is the black wolf.

As the third act begins, everyone has plans to descend upon Scotland.  And that’s fine.  But what happens next is not.  Zack talks Brewer into assisting as a field op since she’s already in London (come on Mr. Greaney) Wheeler the traitor is leveraged for information.  Court is told by Brewer they think they found Feo under some garage in a lab. Go kill him.  But she also tells Zack (isn’t he busy torturing Wheeler?) to go to Court’s location to assist and be weary of Court prioritizing Zoya’s rescue over Mars and Fox’s apprehension. Feo leaves the building, then Court ignores his mission and enters for Zoya. He takes Won prisoner along the way instead and Zoya tries to escape her captivity (didn’t we already do this at the Virginia safe house?) Zoya goes Jason Bourne and jumps down the middle of a spiral staircase to escape.

Zack, Won, Zoya and Court all escape with some driver Jason.  They confirm the deep state killed Feo’s wife via car accident, but the son killed himself accidentally by ingesting polonium disguised as chocolate bars.

Zoya drugs Court and escapes their headquarters to find Dad. Firefight. Casualties. Zoya escapes the shootout when Mars and Fox squirt from the scene of the fight, but Zoya grabs a van and follows, making everyone but Court think she’s GRU. Court and Zack argue about killing her.

The real evil villain plan is to hold everyone hostage in the formal dinner room and make demands while secretly infecting the attendees. Then the demands will be met and infected hostages set free. Mars plans to escape with TNT and the secret passage underneath. Mars goes to the front gate and requests Brewer before being apprehended. Feo and Zoya are taken to adjacent interrogation rooms on the third floor of the castle. Fox and his team infiltrate through the secret tunnel underneath that somehow an entire building of intel super geniuses don’t know about and begin rigging the dungeon with TNT.

Hostages are secured in the ballroom and Fox demands the release of Mars (or else dead hostages) and Mars demands the release of Zoya, who has figured out his real method of infection - holding everyone past their reversible effect time limit, then releasing them with no knowledge of sickness so they are not quarantined.

Feo sets up in the banquet and monologues while Court’s team magically survived their assault and stumbled upon an armory. Hanley and Brewer also have an intel station set up again conveniently. The USA squad descends to the ballroom.

Court kills Hines the giant bodyguard like a Tatooine rancor and kills Fox with a ricochet bullet. Zoya catches up to Dad in the chaotic climax.  Court kills Feo before Zoya gets the chance. Now a mad hustle to disarm the explosive. Brewer has the opportunity to kill Court and wipe her hands clean of Poison Apple, but Zoya shoots Brewer because she saw her aiming her gun at Court! Court returned fire without knowing it was Zoya!

Zoya and Brewer go to the hospital where Zoya tells Hanley about Brewer. He believes her, but keeps Brewer on Poison Apple. Zoya wants nothing to do with Court because he shot Dad. All the hostages get antibiotics.  In the Epilogue, Court deliberately misses his CIA flight home and goes solo again. Zoya finds him anyway to say fuck you and I’ll miss you.

Unfortunately, this will be the last mission in this literary fiefdom.  Along with the lack of motive for the protagonist that has spawned multiple books now, the stories seem to be designed to be easily adaptable screenplays instead of engaging spy novels.  We bid thee farewell Grey Man, and a thousand thank you’s Mr. Greaney for all the pages we turned together.  What makes this breakup so hard is that I am indeed colorblind, so there will always be a part of me that believes we were meant for one another.