The Chaos Agent by Mark Greaney

Published by Berkley on February 20, 2024

While Gray Man novels are about action, not deep thought, The Chaos Agent might be seen as a cautionary tale about the consequences of misusing Artificial Intelligence — specifically, by creating autonomous weapons that are guided by an AI. The concept of autonomous AI weaponry has been familiar to fans of science fiction novels and Terminator movies for decades, but The Chaos Agent offers a credible and timely look at how AI killing machines might threaten the world at a time when political leaders are asking whether it would be wise to regulate AI technology.

Granted, most of the concern about AI has involved pranksters creating deepfake videos and students using ChatGPT to write term papers. Autonomous weapons — machines that make their own decisions about when and how to engage in battles — could pose a greater existential threat than most other unfortunate uses of AI.

Court Gentry, aka Violator, aka the Gray Man, is traveling in South America with his dangerous lover Zoya Zakharova. They’re trying to stay under the radar of the many people who want to kill them. That plan is thwarted by a drone that happens to be watching a Russian who is watching Zoya. The Russian wants Zoya’s help to exfiltrate an agent in Mexico who has information about autonomous weapons. Zoya would like to help but Court wants none of it. He is nevertheless sucked into danger when the drone sends his picture to a bad guy who identifies him as a target.

More immediate targets are scientists and engineers who are being killed in countries around the world. Different intelligence agencies have different theories about how they are connected. Their connection to weaponized AI will be apparent to the reader, but why they need to be assassinated is less obvious.

One threat leads to another as Gentry is targeted by a former CIA assassin. After a series of action scenes, Gentry agrees to help the CIA get to the bottom of the murders and to thwart the risk of giving a tactical advantage to whichever nation is the first to develop autonomous weaponry. Machines that fight on their own initiative are faster and deadlier than humans operating weapons. As science fiction and thriller fans know, an AI that can train itself to adapt to changing battlefield conditions will eventually decide that the best tactic to assure its own survival is the eradication of all humanity. Gentry decides it might be wise to prevent that from happening.

One of the scientists who has been targeted is Anton Hinton. He has a lab in Cuba and a strong security team, but he strengthens the team by hiring Zack Hightower. Series fans will recognize Hightower as a former CIA paramilitary guy who once worked with, and later worked against, Gentry. Hightower and Gentry are fated to reunite in Cuba.

The plot is intelligent, although it is largely an excuse for action scenes. That isn’t a complaint. Shootouts, explosions, chases, crashing trucks through fences, all the good stuff that looks cool in movies is just as fun on paper, given Mark Greaney’s cinematic writing style. Greaney is one of the best action writers in the business.

Gray Man novels are a cut above most tough guy action novels because the plots are tight, intelligent, and surprisingly credible. And if a plot element might not be credible, Greaney makes the storyline seem plausible in the moment, even when Gentry is shooting at four-legged war machines that would be at home in a Star Wars movie. The Chaos Agent is an entertaining action story, but if it makes people think about the risks of using AI as a weapon, the novel will have served a higher purpose.

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