I LOVE Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X / Nowhere Man / Evan Smoak series. They’re a go-to read for me and I was surprised we’re up to number 7 already.
Of course it means – sorry #spoileralert – that Evan doesn’t obviously die at the end of book 6 as could have been expected given his penthouse exploded and he was blasted out of his shatterproof window.
The Orphan X (Evan Smoak / Nowhere Man) series by Gregg Hurwitz is a must-read for me. His latest, Prodigal Son, takes readers on a slightly different ‘journey’. Although Evan has supposedly retired from helping the helpless – a promise he made to the US President because of collateral damage from memory – here he gets a request from someone he just can’t refuse.
It’s no secret I love this Orphan X series although I’m kinda astounded we’re up to the fifth book already. As each year rolls around and a new adventure appears in my mailbox I have to go back over past reviews to remember exactly what happened in the previous outing. And weirdly, I’m always a book or two out. This time around I’d completely forgotten the plot of book 4 and was thinking we were picking up after book 3. I suspect I’m in denial about the fact this might ultimately come to an end.
Having said that, it really doesn’t matter when you enter this series as Hurwitz does a great job of effortlessly easing new readers into the world of Orphan X. The Nowhere Man.
Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series is one of my favourites. I fell a little in love with former orphan-turned-assassin-turned-helper of the helpless, Evan Smoak, in the first book of the series. And this – number four – is probably my favourite since that first outing.
I’d usually grimace at a book blurb that talks about killing the president – my spy/espionage-loving days left back in the 1990s along with my spiral perms – but this book is less about conspiracy theories and government cover-ups and more about self-preservation and ‘doing the right thing’ delivered through clever well-paced action.
Naturally I was forced to read this in a sitting and finished the last page already eager for the next instalment.
I loved the first book in this series, Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz. It was one of my favourite books of 2016. I enjoyed the second but it felt a little different. Orphan X (aka Evan Smoak / The Nowhere Man) seemed as if he’d taken a detour from where we’d started and the novel was more an action-focused game of cat and mouse than its predecessor.
Hurwitz retains the action from both the first and second books in this third outing, Hellbent, but returns to where he started and builds on the humanity of the former assassin and – I ADORED this book.
Gregg Hurwitz’s 2016 novel, Orphan X made my seven favourite books of the year list. I loved it. I adored our protagonist – former assassin turned protector of the helpless, Evan Smoak (aka Orphan X, aka The Nowhere Man) – and enjoyed the unfolding plot focused around Evan’s backstory.
I was nervous about picking up the second in the series but needn’t have worried, as I raced through The Nowhere Man in a day.
Orphan X (aka Evan Smoak), is being described by many as ‘the next Jason Bourne or Jack Reacher’. Indeed many of my fave authors are attesting to the fact via quotes of endorsement on the book and / or via author Gregg Hurwitz’s website.
And—though I’m sometimes cynical about that kind of publicity—I’m relieved to say the accolades are well and truly deserved in this instance.
Follow me!