The Gray Legacy [Paperback]

Stuart Christopher Ballin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2009

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Steve Gray despises organized crime. He believes it?s a conspiracy to orchestrate the fall of Western democracies. Gray is determined to destroy the Gianni Scotto family whose businesses include drug running, protection rackets, gambling, arms deals, and smuggling. He knows it?s going to be a long, tough fight but the repercussions may cost him more than he realizes. From the mountains of Afghanistan to the ranchlands of Wyoming and through the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., the lives of a diverse group of people are entwined in Gray?s mission. When Gray?s journalist son Anthony is kidnapped, suspicion centers on the Scotto family. The terrorists demand that Gray resign from the attorney general?s office. Could this be payback for the Scotto verdict? Even as Gray accepts the position of Wyoming senator, he seeks to reconcile himself with his past?his ex-wife Lucy and his remaining twin son Jim. He is entangled in a deadly battle for love and a future with his new family.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (March 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440130671
• ISBN-13: 978-1440130670
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,859,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a roman-à-clef?, June 3, 2009

By 

Louis C. Vintro (DC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gray Legacy (Paperback)

From Candide's mastery to Brown's codes, angels, and demons of late, the implausible, the improbable and the verisimilitude-challenged plots have it. A friend recently reminded me that the stinginess-of- facts, and the rewards-of- instant- leisure make nowadays fiction the winner, hands down. The truth is that Voltaire's imagination, DaVinciCode's thrills or Ballin's `The Gray Legacy' maintain you -for sure at distant planes- on the edge : one has a hard time shaking loose from this swashbuckler.
TGL is well sewn up, gripping and imaginative with dynamic action and forceful and well appointed dialogue if connected by lesser narrative. Ballin manages to preserve a credible sense of local; a few slips - more stale than inaccurate: chained tires in NewYork, or herding bedouins in Lebanon- are no detriment to the spellbinding plot. The characters are on the genuine fenceside if a bit trite; you know: a tiny stretch of roles-for-dummies
If you are looking for effortless, unbookish, action-packed série-noire, it is tough to put down TGL: I'll leave name and address for anyone to vent their ires, otherwise. I'm looking forward Ballin's next: more serene and aspiring; tend to think that his potential would be better contested as dramaturge: Ballin has an earnestly forceful dialogue. Be sure: after all the caveats you'll enjoy this first serving, a roman-à-clef (?) that being weirdly unplausible, may one day surprise us revealing itself as a chaste biographical tract.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Compelling Read, April 24, 2009

By 

Patricia - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gray Legacy (Paperback)

I read THE GRAY LEGACY in one sitting. Taking us from Washington DC to Afghanistan and Lebanon to the ranches of Wyoming, the author skillfully weaves a fascinating plot while writing authoritatively about each setting and the politicians, mafia bosses and terrorists which inhabit them. All this in the midst of a family saga and its own politics. A realpage turner!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging read, April 2, 2009

By 

B. Kirk - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gray Legacy (Paperback)

The story is a good ride through the social threats, politics and international challenges of the day, while engaging the reader in the intrigues of personal politics of family and lovers.