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The Grey Man: Payback by [JL Curtis, Tina Garceau, Cara Thompson]

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JL Curtis

The Grey Man: Payback Kindle Edition

by JL Curtis (Author), Tina Garceau (Illustrator), Cara Thompson (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition

175 ratings

Book 2 of 6: The Grey Man

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Deputy Sheriff John Cronin and his granddaughter, Jesse, are preparing for Jesse’s upcoming wedding to her Marine when the Cartel decides to murder some South Texas cops as a payback for arresting their drug smugglers. They send a hit squad to kill Cronin, Jesse, and everyone close to the family. The only problem?

They missed the old man.

Leaving his badge behind, John Cronin, Francisco and a few others head south to teach them a lesson about what old school western justice really means.

Print length

374 pages
Language

English
Publication date

September 30, 2014
File size

892 KB
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Next 5 for you in this series See full series

Total Price: $17.95

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Books In This Series (6 Books)

Complete Series

The Grey Man

Kindle Edition

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

1
The Grey Man: -Vignettes-
JL Curtis

(243)

Kindle Edition

$1.99
2
The Grey Man: Payback
JL Curtis

(175)

Kindle Edition

$2.99
3
The Grey Man- Changes
JL Curtis

(137)

Kindle Edition

$2.99
4
The Grey Man- Partners
JL Curtis

(134)

Kindle Edition

$2.99
5
The Grey Man- Twilight
JL Curtis

(130)

Kindle Edition

$3.99
6
The Grey Man- Sunset
JL Curtis

(137)

Kindle Edition

$4.99

JL Curtis
243
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $1.99
JL Curtis
137
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $2.99
JL Curtis
137
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $4.99
JL Curtis
134
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $2.99
JL Curtis
130
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $3.99
JL Curtis
68
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $2.99

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JL Curtis was born in Louisiana in 1951 and was raised in the Ark-La-Tex area. He began his education with guns at age eight with a SAA and a Grandfather that had carried one for 'work'. He began competitive shooting in the 1970s, an interest he still pursues time permitting. He is a retired Naval Flight Officer, having spent 22 years serving his country, an NRA instructor, and currently works as a engineer in the defense industry. He lives in Northern Virginia. This is his second novel. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00O2P1M74
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 30, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 892 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 374 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 150022569X
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #262,228 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,894 in Crime Action Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #3,209 in Crime Action & Adventure
- #9,501 in Crime Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
175 ratings

About the author

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JL Curtis

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JL Curtis was born in Louisiana in 1951 and was raised in the Ark-La-Tex area. He began his education with guns at age eight with a SAA and a Grandfather that had carried one for 'work'. He began competitive shooting in the 1970s, an interest he still pursues time permitting. He is a retired Naval Flight Officer, having spent 20+ years serving his country, an NRA instructor, a retired engineer in the defense industry, and now a starving author. He lives in North Texas, He currently has four series out or in work. The Grey Man, a Texas based current fiction series revolving around LEOs vs. the Cartels on the border, and Marines (6 books and two novellas). The Rimworld Series, started with a short story that was an Amazon Best Seller for five days after its release, now with four books published and more in the works. Last but not least, an 1870s western series. He is also in a number of anthologies from various publishers.

Customer reviews

5 star		67%
4 star		24%
3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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James Nealon

Don't Mess with Texans

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is book 2 in the series. It's an interesting, easy-to-read modern Western, complete with taciturn, craggy, reluctant heroes; pretty and capable girls next door; and a mix of evil and honorable villains. Character development is good, building on book 1 (Vignettes) with more reveals. The Grey Man, the hero hiding in plain sight, has a complex and complicated past which leads to a message for the present: don't mess with him, his family or his friends; it'll just take him slightly longer to dispense Texas Justice because of his arthritis.

I've met quite a few men like the Grey Man, because of work and travels. You learn more from what they don't say, and from the people they value. It's a good life lesson, and one that's not easy to write about. This is written in and about the real Texas, so be prepared for extensive discussion about guns (sidearms and long arms), because these are necessary tools for the characters' lives and for the narrative.

The series is an easy set of novels to read, with good writing. I found the occasional typo, where a character or two got missed or where a homonym got entered. This doesn't affect the narrative or the story. It's easy to pick up and set down after a couple of chapters, and makes a good, relaxing read.

Helpful

Crucis

Curtis caught all those threads and wove them into a great followup to his earlier book

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is the border reality that all too many in the federal government ignore or prefer to dust under the rug. Some reviewers say that John Cronin isn't believable, that his reaction to events are not real-life. I've known many veterans and am friends and shooting buddies with them, too. Yes, this is how they react. One reviewer said Cronin over-reacted when confronted by the FBI at the hospital. Why should he not? His granddaughter had been shot, his closest friends murdered by unknown cartel gunmen, the threat continues against his life and a unknown---and unvouched person, approaches and assaults him? How would he not be expected to react? And, yes, grabbing his arm was an assault.

Payback is an accurate look at life on our southern border. The book was written before the large influx of illegal alien kids. With the number of illegals crossing the border, cartel incursions aren't getting the press they would have otherwise. It's difficult dealing with criminals, the cartels and coyotes all the while having to deal with the active interference of the federal government. J. L. Curtis caught all those threads and wove them into a great followup to his earlier book, "The Grey Man: Vignettes."

J. L. Curtis has made a few grammatical errors that were missed by the editors but those errors don't detract from the plot, suspense and readability of the book. I give it 5-stars.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Will

Movie magic in the making?

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is book #2. Very engrossing tale, in a continuing story about being on the front lines of the drug war in our Southwest, and how brutal the drug cartel members are toward anyone who gets in their way. A realistic portrayal of gun battles, and how people we care about can die, when sudden violence shows up at your door without an invitation. This is a story about personal retribution visited on some bad guys, and the results of that decision.
Well crafted novel. I was expecting a good read, judging by the author's first book, and he doesn't disappoint. Again, this ended up being read in one sitting, even though I wasn't planning on it. His writing is, perhaps, more addictive than the real stuff being smuggled across our border.
I think this book series would make an excellent movie base. I'm trying out various big name actors in my mind, to portray the lead character. (I don't normally do this). I think it would be easy to convert the books to movie scripts. Cutting it for time would be the only real effort. Actually, they could just run it as a tv-series, as each book might fill a season of episodes. Big screen, or little, this would be a winner. Just keep the overly PC types far away, as they would probably ruin it.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

John C Armerding

Entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2020

Verified Purchase

I bought Vignettes because I saw it recommended. Had trouble putting it down. When I finished I immediately ordered this one. The characters are believable and realistic. One of my pet peeves is in military/LEO fiction is completely hashing up the gun stuff. JL never does. The stories flow and there are enough different things going on that you won't start to feel like you've heard this one before. Buy them one at a time, buy them all. If you like this kind of fiction you will love these stories.

Helpful

Codex

An exciting page-turner with great characters

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2018

Verified Purchase

I didn't realize this was something like the 2nd book I the series until I was a few chapters in, and by then I was hooked hard. The tension is near-constant until just past the half-way point when it evens out. The end is satisfying, and I appreciated the leisurely wrap-up that gave me some lovely character moments. I imagine readers who've been following these characters through several books got even more of a "this is Just Right" sense of completion.

The closest likely-to-be-familiar comparison that has the same feel is early Tom Clancy, if he were better at doing characters you want to follow.

Helpful

Bob

Visiting Old Friends.......

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2015

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Seriously now, reading his books are like visiting old friends, you know when you read a series of books and you like the characters and wish the world had more like these. The storyline is based on the situation with the Tex -Mex border and the smuggling cartel wanting to continue moving product and people, and the ruthlessness of the cartel to squash all that stand in their way. On the other hand we have the main characters just trying to continue living their lives as a family....strange family with the cast of characters that are there, but a very good group of characters. Like I said, reading his books is like visiting old friends and watching them change as life takes them through the rivers of time and the eddies of life. Very enjoyable.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

FrankC

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

An excellent follow-up to "The Grey Man: Vignettes". When the drug cartels object to interference all hell breaks loose.

Scott Osmond

I'll Be Reading The Next

Reviewed in Australia on December 19, 2017

Verified Purchase

A western set in modern times. This time it's not Indians or squatters it's drug smugglers. Different time, same approach to those who think they are beyond the grasp of justice. Straight forward pros, good description. I liked the characters, they weren't superhuman in fact they were every day folks. The thing I liked most about this one is that there was a sence of community, people looked out for one another. That's rare in entertainment these days where the rule seems to be nothing matters.

julie dall

Love it!

Reviewed in Australia on October 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

Another engaging book by JL Curtis. Realistic characters, gripping plot and an easy read!!! When is the next book in the series coming out?

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