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<v Speaker 1>This is Later with Lee Matthews, The Lee Matthews Podcast

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<v Speaker 1>More what You Hear Weekday Afternoon's on the Drive. We've

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<v Speaker 1>got one of my favorite contemporary artists, artists, authors and artists. Yeah. Sure,

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<v Speaker 1>Mark Greeney, if you're a fan of the gray Man

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<v Speaker 1>thriller series, his newest installment, Chaos Agent, just came out

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<v Speaker 1>in February. Mark, I gotta go get a copy. I

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<v Speaker 1>haven't read that one yet. He's got a new one.

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<v Speaker 1>He's got a new one out and it's a whole

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<v Speaker 1>new series that's called Sentinel. So we've gotten to know

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<v Speaker 1>and love Court Gentry in your gray Man series. Josh

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<v Speaker 1>Duffy is a different kind of protagonist.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, he's absolutely very different. Whereas the gray Man is,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, perhaps the best assassin in the world. Josh

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<v Speaker 2>Duffy is a very blue collar family guy who in

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<v Speaker 2>the first book in the series, Armored, was a civilian

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<v Speaker 2>military contractor who's in a lot of peril. But now

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<v Speaker 2>it's three years later. He and his wife, who's a

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<v Speaker 2>former author army officer, are working for the State Department

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<v Speaker 2>and they're in Africa and they find themselves there with

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<v Speaker 2>their family as a coup kicks off, So he's a

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<v Speaker 2>lot more grounded character than the Gray Man. He has

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<v Speaker 2>some vulnerabilities, but he's also very, very skilled at his

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<v Speaker 2>job very well.

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<v Speaker 1>It's almost reciprocal too, because Mark Greenie doesn't have family.

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<v Speaker 1>He's always on the go, he's always being hunted. Josh Stuffy,

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<v Speaker 1>sounds like he has more of a normal or what

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<v Speaker 1>we would think of as a normal life.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly. He's definitely he's trying to get out of

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<v Speaker 2>the peril that he's been in, whereas the Gray Man

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<v Speaker 2>goes looking for it. So in that respect, they're very different.

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<v Speaker 2>And you know, he's just a guy that wants to

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<v Speaker 2>pay his bills and keep his family safe and raise

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<v Speaker 2>his kids, and of course the world has other plans

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<v Speaker 2>for him.

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<v Speaker 1>He's set to Ghana, which doesn't sound like the best

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<v Speaker 1>assignment to me. You've worked with these people in real life.

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<v Speaker 1>When they get an assignment like that, is it more

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<v Speaker 1>of a duty calling kind of attitude, or is it

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<v Speaker 1>a man, I'm going to work through this and get

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<v Speaker 1>out of here as quick as i can.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's funny they look at it differently than we do.

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<v Speaker 2>That's the harder assignments are probably the bigger career builders

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<v Speaker 2>for a lot of them. But Ghana is actually a

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<v Speaker 2>relatively stable country, but it's right in the middle of

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<v Speaker 2>the African coup belt and there's been eight coups in

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<v Speaker 2>the last three years in this region. So you know

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<v Speaker 2>that I went there thinking, Okay, this is the place

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<v Speaker 2>a State Department person would bring his family because it

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<v Speaker 2>is safe enough, but it's still you know, there's still

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<v Speaker 2>a definite security situation they have to deal with. And

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<v Speaker 2>my hero, Josh is a diplomatic security officer, so it's

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<v Speaker 2>his job to keep people at the embassy safe. So

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<v Speaker 2>he's very much, you know, lined up with the dangers

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<v Speaker 2>that are happening in the country.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you'll forgive me as Josh a spinoff character

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<v Speaker 1>that appeared in some of the gray Man novels, or

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<v Speaker 1>is he he's a completely new character, completely new character.

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<v Speaker 2>I was doing research for gray Man, and I was

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<v Speaker 2>training at some firearms schools around a lot of civilian

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<v Speaker 2>military contracts, and I was just kind of taken by

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<v Speaker 2>their blue collar you know outlook. You know, their guns

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<v Speaker 2>are tools that they use in their job, just like

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<v Speaker 2>if they were a plumber or something like that. And

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<v Speaker 2>so I wanted to write a character about that type

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<v Speaker 2>of a character. But now he's working for the US

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<v Speaker 2>government and he thinks he's.

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<v Speaker 1>Got a stable job, somewhat stable, but at least he's

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<v Speaker 1>got a stable family, or does he.

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<v Speaker 2>He absolutely does. His wife, Nicole, who is very much

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<v Speaker 2>a center of the book. She's not just the wife

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<v Speaker 2>sitting home, you know, worrying about her husband. She's involved.

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<v Speaker 2>And he has two kids, a nine year old and

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<v Speaker 2>a six year old, and so they're all in Africa together,

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<v Speaker 2>and you know, he's got to protect the ambassador and

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<v Speaker 2>try and break up this coup and protect the kids

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<v Speaker 2>at the same time.

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<v Speaker 1>And so if you're a family person, this is going

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<v Speaker 1>to be a lot more relatable. I think the name

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<v Speaker 1>of the book is Sentinel. Mark Greeney is the author,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's about a zoo character Josh Duffy does is

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<v Speaker 1>his wife also an operative.

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<v Speaker 2>She is, she works for the State Department, but she's

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<v Speaker 2>a political officer. She's a polic service officer, so she's

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<v Speaker 2>not involved with security like he is. But they go

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<v Speaker 2>together out with the ambassador on a press junket out

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<v Speaker 2>into the country and they happen to be in the

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<v Speaker 2>wrong place at the wrong time when the coup kicks off,

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<v Speaker 2>so they are in equal amounts of danger, even though

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<v Speaker 2>they have different jobs.

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<v Speaker 1>We're talking about the newest character from Mark Greeney and

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<v Speaker 1>his book Sentinel that's out now. And Mark, you do

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<v Speaker 1>a great job of weaving a story. I think mainly

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<v Speaker 1>because you've been there. You've done that.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, I went to Ghana and I spent

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<v Speaker 2>days with the State Department there and the Marines there

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<v Speaker 2>and the diplomatic security guys, and I got up into

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<v Speaker 2>the countryside and went to some locations that are in

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<v Speaker 2>the book and got to meet a lot of very

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<v Speaker 2>interesting Gunans and you know, learn about it. I usually

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<v Speaker 2>have six seven months to write a book, so I

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<v Speaker 2>do as much research as I can, and the time

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<v Speaker 2>that I have, I always wish I could do more,

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<v Speaker 2>but it really does help make it a better story.

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<v Speaker 1>And firearms, You're always very good about the details of firearms.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm an enthusiast, so that's why I enjoy it. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's usually if there's going to be a mistake made

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<v Speaker 1>in one of these types of novels, I'm going to

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<v Speaker 1>catch it and it's going to be a firearms mistake.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Yeah, And I get those mistakes someone will write

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<v Speaker 2>me and they'll be like, yeah, the mulbile velocity is

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<v Speaker 2>five pounds or whatever, five miles an hour faster than

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<v Speaker 2>you said it is or something like that, and you know,

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<v Speaker 2>you get it as you get it, as correct as

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<v Speaker 2>you can. I don't want to belabor the points on bombs,

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<v Speaker 2>but no, yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>I have friends who are like that, right right, right, right,

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<v Speaker 1>shut up? Oh, shut up? Did the gun doll off good?

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<v Speaker 1>Speaking of which, how often do you get to the

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<v Speaker 1>range these days?

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<v Speaker 2>I've kind of had a pretty good state of going

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<v Speaker 2>pretty recently. I got a staccato pistol, which is a

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<v Speaker 2>really nice handgun, and so now I just want to

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<v Speaker 2>get up the range all the time. But I mean

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<v Speaker 2>it's probably probably been the range a half dozen times

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<v Speaker 2>this year, so let's say once a month. But that's

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<v Speaker 2>a lot for me with my writing schedule.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I imagine. So I've been very interested in a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of the full sized twenty two long rifle pistols

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<v Speaker 1>we have been seeing, and I've been firing a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of them. Makes a trip to the range a lot

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<v Speaker 1>less expensive.

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<v Speaker 2>That's the first thing I thought. I always tell my

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<v Speaker 2>wife when we watch an action movie I'm like, I'm

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<v Speaker 2>the only person that's watching this movie and thinking every

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<v Speaker 2>time somebody pulls the trigger, I'm like, that's a dollar,

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<v Speaker 2>that's all.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, or worse more than that, a dollar thirty

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<v Speaker 1>eight or dollar thirty The Sentinel, an African coup may

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<v Speaker 1>force Josh Duffy, the main character, to choose between his

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<v Speaker 1>mission and his family. I have my guest as to

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<v Speaker 1>which he chooses, but you need to read Mark Greenie's

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<v Speaker 1>book Sentinel, which is out now everywhere you get books.

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<v Speaker 1>I think you've done it again and I'm looking forward

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<v Speaker 1>to this as a summer read. Thank you so much, Lee,

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<v Speaker 1>thanks for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee

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<v Speaker 1>Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive Live

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<v Speaker 1>weekday afternoons from five to seven and Iheartsmediadentation