Book and Audio Review: Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz

Orphan X
Author: Gregg Hurwitz
Narrator: Scott Brick
Series: Orphan X (Book 1)
Publication: Minotaur Books (January 19, 2016); Brilliance Audio (January 19, 2016)
Length: 416 p.; 11 hours and 15 minutes

Description: The first in the international bestselling series!

Who is Orphan X?

The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It’s said that when he’s reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them. But he’s not merely a legend.

“Excellent…A smart, stylish, state-of-the-art thriller…might give Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books a run for their money.”—The Washington Post

Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He’s also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as an Orphan, an off-the-books black box program designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence asset: An assassin. Evan was Orphan X—until he broke with the program and used everything he learned to disappear. But now someone is on his tail. Someone with similar skills and training who will exploit Evan’s secret new identity as the Nowhere Man to eliminate him.

My Thoughts: Evan Smoak was taken from a foster home when he was twelve and trained to be an assassin. He was part of the Orphan Program which was an off-the-books government program. After some years and the death of his mentor, he goes rogue. 

To spend his time, he has become the Nowhere Man. When someone has a problem that they can't solve, the Nowhere Man steps in. But now, someone seems to have tracked down the Nowhere Man through some people who have come to him with problems.

Evan has to decide which of the people with problems is legitimate and which has been set up by his enemies so that they can get to him. 

The story was action-packed and very fast-paced. Evan is a great characters in the tradition of dark heroes of the past. He's a man who is alone because he doesn't know who he can trust. But people with smaller problems in the building where he has his tricked out condo are chipping away at his isolation by becoming people he can care about. But caring means putting them in incredible danger because his enemies don't care who they have to kill if they manage to kill him too.

Scott Brick did a great job narrating this one. He had distinct voices for the many characters and he had great pacing as the suspense and danger built throughout the story.

Favorite Quote:

The Post-It beside the wall-mounted phone had been replaced. The new one read: "Make friends with people who want the best for you."

He thought, What a goddamned luxury that would be.

I bought this one January 7, 2017. You can buy your copy here.