Mark Greaney's Blog, page 5
October 6, 2011
Locked On- by Tom Clancy with Mark Greaney
Here is my next project. It will be on shelves December 13th, and I could not be more proud!
Booksigning tonight (Thursday, Oct 6) In Memphis
I'll be at the Booksellers at Laurelwood at Poplar and Perkins this evening at 6pm for a discussion and signing on my new book, Ballistic. This will be my last local event for the books, so please come on down!
October 4, 2011
Ballistic is on sale!
Go to the book page and click on one of the links there to order a copy!
September 23, 2011
Ballistic Research Trip- Part 3
The yacht was called La Sirena, it lay at anchor here seven miles out in the bay, wide of the shipping lanes that ran to the port or the marina, but close enough to shore so that its owner and his entourage could enjoy all that Puerto Vallarta had to offer. It was long and sleek and beautiful, and crowned by a state-of-the-art black Eurocopter helicopter resting on the helipad above the upper aft deck. But Eduardo Gamboa ignored the style of the ship in front of him and focused fully on the substance. After forty minutes under water his night vision was tuned to its peak. With his naked eye he saw two guards on the upper sundeck standing near the bow. He imagined the same number on the opposite side.
A cluster of small, uninhabited islands sit in Bandaras Bay, just a few hundred yards off of Mismaloya. Collectively called Los Arcos, they are named for the archlike formations carved out of the rock by cen- turies of pounding surf. During the day the protected marine reserve around Los Arcos was full of scuba divers, snorkelers, and pleasure boats, but one hour before midnight the only creatures in the waters around the tiny islands were fish, lobster, sleeping blue-footed boo- bies and other sea birds.
Fifty yards closer to shore a pair of private boats bobbed in the water. In each boat four men sat with M16 rifles in their laps. Two men in each boat had a M203 grenade launcher mounted on their M16s.
He passed the two boats twenty minutes later, traveling sixty feet below them and breathing as slowly and as shallowly as he could to minimize bubbles above. Twenty minutes after that he was below the surf, the ocean floor crept up towards the beach, each wave that surged him forward was followed by an undertow that pulled him back, but he kicked to maximize his progress and, after ten minutes of heavy exercise, he worked his way ashore. He'd let the current push him south of the lights of the building, south of the beach and into the rocks.
September 19, 2011
Photos and excerpts from Ballistic- part 2
Three olive drab pickup trucks turned off the road from the plaza and onto Canalizo, the Gamboas' street. Standing in the beds and leaning on the cab's roof in each vehicle were two Mexican Army soldiers with bulky green flack jackets and large black G3 rifles. Behind them in the truck beds were two more armed soldiers facing the rear, their weapons trained on the street. Counting the driver and a passenger in each cab, Court realized eighteen guns and gunners had just arrived on the scene.
"Or the army." Court repeated, more to himself than to Laura.
His three .357 magnum bullets seemed so much worse than nothing now.
The army vehicles pulled to a stop, and the soldiers climbed out and jumped off, began speaking with the six San Blas cops, who now seemed ridiculously unprepared to protect anyone, outfitted as they were with Billy clubs and baby blue polo shirts.
There were only twelve in the second wave, but they had better training, better equipment, better intelligence, and a better plan of attack than that first failed attempt. All twelve were marinos, Mexican marines, and they'd driven up to the hacienda from their base in Guadalajara on orders from Spider Cepeda himself.
Though they were regular military men, they moonlighted as sicarios for the Black Suits. They were well trained in small-unit assault tactics and armed with HK MP5 submachine guns, flash-bang grenades, body armor, and olive drab uniforms that blended well into the green black predawn landscape of this part of the Sierra Madre Mountains.
September 13, 2011
Photos from the Research Trip for Ballistic
As the October 4th release date of Ballistic draws near, I'll start adding pictures from my research trip here on my blog, along with little bits of the book highlighting that location.
From Ballistic
Seconds later, the launch slowed and bumped against the rubber tires tied to the dockside. The canoe's owner made to turn off the outboard.
"No," said the manhunter. "Leave it running. I will only be a moment."
"Wastes gas, sir," said the local. Some sort of Indian savage. "I can start it again in five seconds."
"I said leave it running." The white man climbed ashore, started up the dirt hill towards a man idling by a shack raised on narrow stilts. The Dutchman would get some verification that this was the place, and then he would not wait around for the fireworks.
Court lay on his back in the water and kicked frantically while his head remained up and his pistol-grip weapon pointed in the direc- tion of the bank. It was an uncoordinated half backstroke that derived no speed from its efficiency but much from its intensity.
Crocodiles do not normally eat meals that are alive. Instead they kill their prey by biting down with their clamplike jaws to take hold and then spinning it in the water in order to drown it.
Court knew that he, as a fragile human being, would not be drowned. The bite would not kill him outright, but the spinning and the flailing and the whipping tail would shatter his neck and break his body, turn him into a lifeless rag doll, even before his lungs filled with the river's hot black water.
August 22, 2011
Brad Pitt is The Gray Man?!?!?!
This popped all over the Internet last week, and I have a little inside knowledge. I hope to know more soon. Please check back here or, by all means, "Friend" me on Facebook!
Brad Pitt to play Court Gentry in The Gray Man
February 9, 2011
On Target Nominated for Barry Award
Deadly Pleasures Magazine has just announced its 2011 nominees for the Barry Awards. On Target has been nominated for Best Thriller. The award will be given out in September at the fantastic Bouchercon Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller conference. I am really excited to be a part of this great group of writers, and I appreciate the good folks at Deadly Pleasures for once again nominating me!
On Target Nominated for Barry Award
February 6, 2011
Cover art for book 3
Ballistic, releasing as a trade paperback on September 27th.
