The Grey Man: Vignettes (Volume 1)

Good story along the lines of Stephen Hunter's Bob Swagger stuff. I like the characters and developing relationships. But the book really needs a good editor: better use of language would improve the flow and feel a lot.

The story was interesting, but too much chasing rabbits down a new trail to suit me. The super-hero main character of the book was described in so many ways that I became very tired or bored with it. I am disappointed with the reviews of the book--they make it sound like the best book recently published, and it's not. But it is an okay book, and you will probably enjoy it. Just don't write a sequel.

Very disappointed in this and also in the following book written by Curtis, The Grey Man Payback. I had previously read to The Grey Man books by DC Stansfield and they were stories about a British spy and were extremely entertaining. The two books written by Curtis were very disappointing, the characters were West Texas sheriffs and the books were written in a very ameaturish manner. I do not recommend the books by Curtis.

an excellent first book.
I have been reading almost everything I could get hold of for the past 50 years. Finding Ebooks was a godsend as now new authors can get a shot at getting their books out where people can read them.
I really hope that we hear more from this author and that there is a sequel to this book. While I do not live right on the border,I travel there quite often as I, a 100% disabled vet retired to Texas, because not only was there lots of snow every winter, the state I used to live in was always picking my pocket, and in Texas they actually like Veterans(as a 100% disabled vet, I am exempt from paying property taxes on my house)high sales tax+property tax+state income tax=lots of state agencies[I worked for that state unemployment agency until they closed all the local offices and did all the claims by phone]) -I am only about 3 hours from the west Texas that he writes about-and it is very realistic. Altho I do not live in Houston or Dallas, I do live in a city of over 1 million and I must admit that in the 14 years I have lived here I have never seen a TV reporter or anchor talk about police that way.
and while he needed a villan, I have never, in my 65 years seen a US attorney act the way the author had this one act. While I am not finished with the book, I have to wonder what happened to that US Atty as he was just dropped like a hot potato, no information as to what happened to him, I would hope that he got his just deserts, but we do not know

First things first: this is not literature. It makes no pretensions about revealing some deeper truth. This is a yarn, and a damned entertaining one.

Jim isn't a writer, he's a storyteller, and a damned good one. The book suffers a bit from a few typographical errors and misspellings (ones I should have caught as a Beta reader, so rightfully part of that criticism should be directed at me) and his prose is a bit uneven, the dialogue is stilted at times, but overall it's an engaging yarn with characters you can like.

His protagonist, John Cronin, is a laconic west Texas sheriff's deputy, ex-Special Forces, ex-federal law enforcement type, and a thoroughly bad man.

And by "bad," I mean in the Western sense of the word, a bad man to tangle with. You f*ck with him at your peril.

I know a few of those types; quiet warriors ignored by most, but deeply respected by those with the insight to recognize just how formidable they are. Shooters and ex-military know what I'm talking about; beware the nondescript old guy with a well-worn gun, because he's apt to embarrass you in competition, and kill you if you lock horns.

John Cronin is just that sort of guy. Knowing Jim as I do, I see a lot of him in John Cronin, along with a few other old-time Texas lawmen, like this one. Walking history lessons, all of them, made of rawhide and grit, with a splash of Hoppe's #9.

If there's one thing that shines in the book, it's the gunplay. Jim Curtis knows his weapons and shooting, and he crafts those scenes with a shooter's eye. It pays big dividends in the realism of those scenes.

It's an easy and entertaining read with a dash of history and west-Texas flavor and realistic gunplay. I heartily recommend it.

This book blows time on things like character development and descriptions of the surroundings.

It shows. The characters are very well fleshed out so that you can understand why they do what they do. As I have met and spoken to Vietnam combat veterans at length, I can say that John Cronin and the other vets in the novel act precisely as the vets I have met act.

It doesn't candy coat the impact of combat on a person.

Excellently done. The facets of the individuals in the book may seem one dimentional to the folks who have never met combat veterans. The layers of subtely to them are profound at points.

I've never been to West Texas, but the author paints a vivid picture (which I could match up with places I have been in Utah and Arizona which seemed similar) and I could imagine the places he was describing.

I got this book two days ago. I've read it from cover to cover. It was a very easy read after you put the first 45 minutes into it for character development.

Very well written and the characters seem to come to life, and are very likable. I would like to see a sequel if possible. The author has written a story due to his background and experiences makes it believable. Well worth the read.

The story was interesting, but too much chasing rabbits down a new trail to suit me. The super-hero main character of the book was described in so many ways that I became very tired or bored with it. I am disappointed with the reviews of the book--they make it sound like the best book recently published, and it's not. But it is an okay book, and you will probably enjoy it. Just don't write a sequel.

Very disappointed in this and also in the following book written by Curtis, The Grey Man Payback. I had previously read to The Grey Man books by DC Stansfield and they were stories about a British spy and were extremely entertaining. The two books written by Curtis were very disappointing, the characters were West Texas sheriffs and the books were written in a very ameaturish manner. I do not recommend the books by Curtis.

an excellent first book.
I have been reading almost everything I could get hold of for the past 50 years. Finding Ebooks was a godsend as now new authors can get a shot at getting their books out where people can read them.
I really hope that we hear more from this author and that there is a sequel to this book. While I do not live right on the border,I travel there quite often as I, a 100% disabled vet retired to Texas, because not only was there lots of snow every winter, the state I used to live in was always picking my pocket, and in Texas they actually like Veterans(as a 100% disabled vet, I am exempt from paying property taxes on my house)high sales tax+property tax+state income tax=lots of state agencies[I worked for that state unemployment agency until they closed all the local offices and did all the claims by phone]) -I am only about 3 hours from the west Texas that he writes about-and it is very realistic. Altho I do not live in Houston or Dallas, I do live in a city of over 1 million and I must admit that in the 14 years I have lived here I have never seen a TV reporter or anchor talk about police that way.
and while he needed a villan, I have never, in my 65 years seen a US attorney act the way the author had this one act. While I am not finished with the book, I have to wonder what happened to that US Atty as he was just dropped like a hot potato, no information as to what happened to him, I would hope that he got his just deserts, but we do not know

First things first: this is not literature. It makes no pretensions about revealing some deeper truth. This is a yarn, and a damned entertaining one.

Jim isn't a writer, he's a storyteller, and a damned good one. The book suffers a bit from a few typographical errors and misspellings (ones I should have caught as a Beta reader, so rightfully part of that criticism should be directed at me) and his prose is a bit uneven, the dialogue is stilted at times, but overall it's an engaging yarn with characters you can like.

His protagonist, John Cronin, is a laconic west Texas sheriff's deputy, ex-Special Forces, ex-federal law enforcement type, and a thoroughly bad man.

And by "bad," I mean in the Western sense of the word, a bad man to tangle with. You f*ck with him at your peril.

I know a few of those types; quiet warriors ignored by most, but deeply respected by those with the insight to recognize just how formidable they are. Shooters and ex-military know what I'm talking about; beware the nondescript old guy with a well-worn gun, because he's apt to embarrass you in competition, and kill you if you lock horns.

John Cronin is just that sort of guy. Knowing Jim as I do, I see a lot of him in John Cronin, along with a few other old-time Texas lawmen, like this one. Walking history lessons, all of them, made of rawhide and grit, with a splash of Hoppe's #9.

If there's one thing that shines in the book, it's the gunplay. Jim Curtis knows his weapons and shooting, and he crafts those scenes with a shooter's eye. It pays big dividends in the realism of those scenes.

It's an easy and entertaining read with a dash of history and west-Texas flavor and realistic gunplay. I heartily recommend it.

This book blows time on things like character development and descriptions of the surroundings.

It shows. The characters are very well fleshed out so that you can understand why they do what they do. As I have met and spoken to Vietnam combat veterans at length, I can say that John Cronin and the other vets in the novel act precisely as the vets I have met act.

It doesn't candy coat the impact of combat on a person.

Excellently done. The facets of the individuals in the book may seem one dimentional to the folks who have never met combat veterans. The layers of subtely to them are profound at points.

I've never been to West Texas, but the author paints a vivid picture (which I could match up with places I have been in Utah and Arizona which seemed similar) and I could imagine the places he was describing.

I got this book two days ago. I've read it from cover to cover. It was a very easy read after you put the first 45 minutes into it for character development.

Very well written and the characters seem to come to life, and are very likable. I would like to see a sequel if possible. The author has written a story due to his background and experiences makes it believable. Well worth the read.

Wonderfully written and very detailed thriller! Cronin is a likeable,genuine, strong character and not a perfect good guy. The dialogues in the book between the characters place you right there with them and bring them to life. The book is written by someone that knows guns and good stories. Excellent read and it is definitely a page turner! I can't wait for the next one in the series!

I Really enjoyed this book. I enjoy the vignette style with various scenes that aren't as connected as a normal novel. Some minor grammatical errors (I've seen worse in mass market books), but overall a well written and very enjoyable story.

I've read this book three times now, and the sequel twice, so that should tell you just how good I think it is.

Curtis writes about what he knows, and it shows. I found this first outing a little rough around the edges but engaging and I quickly got thoroughly attached to the characters and ended up galloping through it, with regret when I got to the end. I would definitely recommend it, particularly to anyone interested in shooting, law enforcement, and characters of strength and integrity.

After reading the initial stories on Mr. Curtis' blog, I've been waiting for this to hit the store. Well worth the wait! Very good read. Characterization was wonderful.

The only nitpick that I've got is over some of the editing. There are a bunch of places where words are left out and makes sentences hard to follow. Some are easy to get the gist of, but others were just incomprehensible. Otherwise, this would have been a five star book, without a doubt.

That's the plot, though it might be a description of the author. :)
I liked this story the moment I started it.
There is a sense of honor and ethics, capability and integrity portrayed.
The antagonists also portray the lack of those, but are not cardboard figures. They have depth also.

The story was disjointed and confusing. The characters were all very 1 dimensional. The men, except for the main character, were all insecure and unsure of themselves, and the women all talked and acted like men.

The book is a series of vignettes strung together to create the story. I will be very interested in seeing where future volumes might take the reader. I'm still not sure how well I liked the book. It is well-written and interesting, but did not seem to have a definitive ending, even one pointing to a continuing story. Still, a good read and very enjoyable.

Jim Curtis pulled this story out of his hat somehow, and I'm damn glad he did. The characters are of the sort they remind you of people you know, and what they do reminds of.....

Well, just get the book and read it. It's worth every penny and more.