Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Sierra Six by Mark Greaney

Book Description

It’s been years since the Gray Man’s first mission, but the trouble’s just getting started in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

Before he was the Gray Man, Court Gentry was Sierra Six, the junior member of a CIA action team.

In their first mission they took out a terrorist leader, but at a terrible price–the life of a woman Court cared for. Years have passed and now The Gray Man is on a simple mission when he sees a ghost: the long-dead terrorist, but he’s remarkably energetic for a dead man.

A decade may have gone by but the Gray Man hasn’t changed. He isn’t one to leave a job unfinished or a blood debt unpaid.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Sierra Six by Mark Greaney is not one story but two stories in one book.  Readers are treated to a double helping of the Gray Man, told from a dual point of view, today and 12 years ago. Both stories per usual are compelling and dramatic where readers are treated to a rollercoaster ride of vivid action, a lot of intrigue, and fantastic dialogue.

Twelve years ago, after the Special Activities Division of the CIA loses a man on an assignment, Court Gentry (The Gray Man) is called in as a replacement and given the designation Gulf Sierra Six. Because he had no military background and always worked alone, the members of the team resented him at first.  But overtime he proved himself and gained the respect of the team and its leader, Zach Hightower.

Twelve years later Court is hired as a freelance intelligence operator to infiltrate the Turkish embassy property in Algiers and plant a listening device. There he comes face to face with Murad Khan, the head of KRF who is responsible for death and destruction years earlier. This terrorist had been reported killed at the time. Now Court is once again on the hunt to stop Khan as he plans another major attack involving dirty bombs in India.

The story and ending are typical Gray Man, a lot of action, suspense, and tension. As with all his books there are scenes that put the reader in the middle of the intense fight. This book shows why Greaney is one of the best thriller writers today.

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Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  Netflix series?

Mark Greaney: What I hear is that it’s coming out in July.  They already have done a test screening in LA, last week.  They bring in those who sign up for it and have them fill out a questionnaire of what they liked and did not like.  I have only seen fifteen seconds of footage, but I did read the script.  I thought it was terrific.  It is based on the first book, The Gray Man, but bring in elements that were in later books. 

EC:  How did you get the idea for the story for this book?

MG: I had talked to my editor for years about writing an origin story where readers could see Court Gentry as he develops.  I decided to write something that relates in the past and present. Readers can see Court as a younger man and then twelve years later.  The stories have two different timelines, two different objectives for the hero, and two different ticking clocks.

EC:  How would you describe the young Court versus the older Court?

MG:  The young Court is 25 years old. He has been trained his entire life to operate firearms and move tactically, without any other skills.  He has no people skills and is not James Bond with the ladies. At this stage of his life, he does not have a lot of world experience, yet comes across cocky and sure of himself. He gets brought down a few pegs in this story. He does missions he is told to do by the CIA. He is a soldier and a spy.

In the present Court is older, wiser, a little laid back, but not as sure of himself.  He seeks justice.  Now he will go against the wishes of his bosses.  He will break away if necessary, playing to his own tune. He has expanded his skill levels with a lot more years and tradecraft behind him. He is much better at what he does.

EC:  Zach was in the past story, but not the present story?

MG:  I do not want to ever be tied to having to bring all the secondary characters into every story.  There are some books that will not have Zoya, and some not to have Zach.  In the present Court is very much on a solo mission although he does call Hanley and Brewer for some help. I do not want to get into a trap into designing my story surrounded by a cast of characters.  Instead, I want to pick and choose.

EC:  How would you describe Julie Martinez, part of Court’s team as a CIA analyst?

MG:  Chatty, nerdlike, direct, attentive, persistent, has integrity.  She feels like an outsider. She is focused and has attention to detail.  Like Court, she does what she feels is right.

EC: Julie, his first love versus Zoya, his recent love?

MG:  I think these two characters are so different. Julie is a young CIA officer analyst who is incredibly intelligent.  She is also on the Autism spectrum.  She and Court become friends and then more than friends throughout the course of the novel.  His naivety and her directness were interesting aspects to put together.  Zoya on the other hand is in the same profession as Court, an operative. She is older and a rougher personality.  Because he has changed in the past twelve years Julie and present-day Court would not have worked out so well. Both women and Court feel like outsiders. Zoya has integrity but gets there only at the end.  She and Court both live lives where they must be distrustful, paranoid.  She is a different version of Court, but both are attracted to one another.

EC:  Why the War on Terror returning?

MG: I wanted to showcase how different things are today than twelve years ago.  Many Gray Man books did not deal with Middle East terrorism.  This was a conscious decision because almost all other thriller writers wrote about the ticking timebomb.  Now I feel we are removed from it. I wanted to take a recent pass and see how my hero deals with it.

EC:  How would you describe the bad guy, Murad Khan?

MG: He is a Kashmirian who went against his own country. He is a member of their intelligence agency but has also created his own organization to fight. Now he is fighting India, his true passion. When I write a villain I must get into their head.  He is against humanity and very cruel, a terrible person.

EC:  The setting also dealt with CIA bases in Khost and Chapman?

MG:  I did some research on where we were twelve years ago regarding the War on Terror. The geography was important.  Camp Chapman was a place where very terrible things happened.  The other bases including Bagram, Jalalabad, and Salerno are all close to the Pakistani border. I wanted to show how Pakistan is not a real ally of the US. 

EC:  The Indian Mafia?

MG:  The biggest one is D company, which I changed to B company.  The real head lives in Pakistan, not India.  He has a real chip on his shoulders, bombing government buildings and airlines.  They did most of their stuff twenty years ago. I thought that my mafia would form an alliance with a Muslim group. I saw the movie “Hotel Mumbai” and read some books about the terrorist attack there. It played into my story, where a terrorist attack happens at a shopping mall in India.

EC:  How would you describe Priya Bandari?

MG:  She is someone Court teams up with, out of necessity. She is very wet behind the ears as an intelligence specialist and reconnaissance technician on Court’s freelance job.  She is directly out of college.  She is motivated for personal reasons to stay in the fight. I hope readers begin to understand her and see her point of view.  I hope to use her character in other books. She is brave, somewhat defiant, and daring.  None of this comes naturally to her but Priya does rise to the occasion.

EC:  Next book?

MG:  I am currently plotting out the story. It will come out this time next year.  Court, Zoya, Zach, and Brewer will be back along with Hanley to some degree. In July I have another book coming out based on an audio play that was released in December. It is titled Armored. It is about military contractors in Mexico fighting the drug cartel. Josh Duffy is a wounded veteran whose job is to protect a UN delegation that is trying to negotiate a peace deal with a drug lord. There will be a second book, but I do not know what happens after that.  Duffy’s wife, Nicole, is a former army officer and a helicopter pilot.  I could see Duffy and Nicole taking a lead in another book.

THANK YOU!!