Armored is an action thriller novel by Mark Greaney, originally released as an audio drama through Audible on December 9, 2021 and in book form on July 5, 2022. It is the first book in a new original series featuring main character Joshua Duffy, a high-risk security contractor. It was followed by a sequel, Sentinel, released in 2024.
Contents
Plot summary
Former U.S. Army infantryman Joshua "Josh" Duffy works as a bodyguard for a presidential candidate in Beirut, Lebanon. They run into an ambush after a campaign stop, killing the candidate. Duffy manages to rescue the candidate's wife from their attackers but loses his lower left leg.
Three years later, Duffy barely supports his wife Nichole (a former Army officer and helicopter pilot) and two children as a mall security guard. He runs into his former colleague Mike Gordon, who tells him of a job opportunity with the private military company Armored Saint in Mexico. Desperate to earn money, Duffy meets the agent-in-charge Shane Remmick, who hires him as team leader for the Charlie team providing counterassault. They are assigned with escorting the Mexican Deputy Minister of Interior, his assistant, and two United Nations officials on a peacekeeping mission with Rafael "Rafa" Archuleta, leader of the Los Caballeros Negros (Black Knights) drug cartel, at the Devil's Spine in the Sierra Madre mountains.
El Patron, head of the Guadalajara Cartel and Archuleta's rival, plots to disrupt the peacekeeping mission, which would cause the Mexican army to invade the mountains. He enlists consultant Oscar Cardoza with reaching out to other cartels such as Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel with providing sicarios to attack the UN delegation. At the same time, Cardoza meets with Archuleta and offers to sell surface-to-air missiles that the Black Knights had stolen from the Venezuelan army.
The UN delegation proceeds to Mexico. They are accompanied by cultural liaison Dr. Gabriella Flores, whose warnings about the mission are often ignored by the diplomats and Remmick, who later assigns Duffy to protect her. They are ambushed on their way to the mountains by Los Zetas sicarios, killing most of Gordon's Bravo team. Gordon identifies the Deputy Interior Minister's assistant as a mole working for the Sinaloa Cartel and incapacitates him.
The delegation arrives at the Devil's Spine to meet with Archuleta, where they agree to send a peacekeeping team to the area and allow him to continue his drug empire in exchange for surrendering the missiles. Remmick is revealed to be working with Cardoza, having framed the Deputy Interior Minister's assistant. He detonates a car bomb with the assistant inside into the municipal hall where the diplomats and Archuleta are meeting, killing them all.
Characters
Armored Saint
Joshua "Josh" Duffy: The security contractor; Charlie team leader (Charlie One); former U.S. Army, Eleven Bravo infantry
Shane Remmick: The agent-in-charge; Alpha team leader (Alpha One)
Mike Gordon: The Bravo team leader (Bravo One)
Dr. Gabriella Flores: The regional analyst
Scott Wolfson: Charlie Two; a former SEAL Team Three
Jean Francois "Frenchie" Allard: Charlie Three; a former French special operations
Tony Cruz: Charlie Four; a former U.S. Army Special Forces (Fifth Group)
Larry "Nascar" Evans: Charlie Five; a former Atlanta SWAT
Darnell "Squeeze" Brockington: Charlie Six; a former 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines
The peacekeeping team
Reinhardt Helm: The deputy director, United Nations Department of Peace Operations
Michelle LaRue: The Latin America field manager, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Hector Herrera: The Mexican Deputy Minister of Interior
Adnan Rodriguez: Herrera's assistant
Mexico
Oscar Cardoza: The consultant for Mexican drug cartels; the supervisory special agent in Mexico, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Rafael "Rafa" Archuleta: The leader, Los Caballeros Negros
Lobo: The lieutenant, Los Zetas
El Patron: The leader, Guadalajara Cartel
El Escopeta: The leader, Sinaloa Cartel
Other characters
Nichole Duffy: Josh's wife; a former U.S. Army officer
Max Henderson: The CEO, Henderson Aviation; a former Apache helicopter pilot, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade
Elias Khabbaz: The Lebanese presidential candidate, codename Panther
Rafka Khabbaz: Elias's wife, codename Tabby
Development
Greaney originally wrote Armored as a screenplay in 2011 before shelving it. He later turned it into an audio play for Audible before expanding it into a novel. “There are a lot of positive things about writing an audio book because it gives you a lot of creative tools that you don’t have when writing a book,” he said.
Greaney described the book as "one part Black Hawk Down and one part Apocalypse Now". He was also inspired by taking training classes with high-risk civilian contractors. “These are fascinating people,” he added. “It is a super blue collar job. There is a lot of super patriotism and sheepdog mentality.”
Reception
Commercial
Armored charted at number 14 at the Mass Market Books category of The New York Times Best Seller list in June 2023.
Critical
Publishers Weekly praised the book's "explosive action sequences" and its main character Duffy, who "proves to be more than just a hardened military tactician". Kirkus Reviews reviewed the book: "Greaney dumps a ton of trouble on the hero, and there’s never a dull page." Mystery and Suspense Magazine hailed the book for its "constant action, interesting characters, funny moments, and a high body count".
Film adaptation
Armored was optioned by Sony Pictures in 2020 before the audio play release for a future film adaptation to be directed by Michael Bay and produced by Erwin Stoff as of 2022.