The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz
Evan Smoak is known as Orphan X to the shadowy government branch that trained him as an assassin. He’s known to people in need of assistance and who are out of options as The Nowhere Man. Someone who will come to your aid and in lieu of payment, all he asks is that you give his number to someone else who needs his help. Evan had the good fortune to be trained by a man whose goal was to do the near impossible. Turn Evan into an assassin without destroying his humanity. When Evan finds out that the organization for which he was killing as Orphan X has been lying to him, he leaves that life behind and attempts to atone by fighting for the helpless as The Nowhere Man.
A fellow “Orphan”, Charles Van Scriver, now heads the Orphan program and is determined to eliminate former members of the program with Evan is at the top of that list. Evan is skilled at remaining hidden, but when in the midst of helping someone as The Nowhere Man he is caught unawares and kidnapped, there is a clock ticking down. When it strikes zero, either an innocent victim or Evan could wind up dead. Evan’s captors think that they have captured prey, but they don’t understand what a dangerous predator they have caged. With Van Scriver closing in and time running out on a victim trapped on a container ship, Evan has to use every ounce of skill and experience to escape, realizing that even that may not be enough.
Hurwitz manages to do something that a lot of other thriller writers don’t, and that’s surprise you. He shows that it’s possible to do everything right and still lose. His characters have a lot of depth to them which he displays both through their planning as well as with illuminating insights into their pasts. The investment he makes in his characters makes their fates that much more impactful.
The action sequences in The Nowhere Man are second to none. They come fast, furious and full of twists whether they take place in a gritty urban setting or a posh, snow-capped retreat. Even at such a breakneck pace, Hurwitz manages to throw surprise after surprise at you. The ending manages to top the surprises placed along the way and elevates an already outstanding book to another level.
Great characters, action and pacing make The Nowhere Man an amazing book. Gregg Hurwitz belongs in the upper echelons of thriller writers and Evan Smoak can easily stand alongside such great characters as Jack Reacher and Mitch Rapp. This is a great series and one you don’t want to miss. Highly recommended.
I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book
Description: Spoken about only in whispers, the Nowhere Man can only be reached by the truly desperate, he can ―He will do anything to save them.
Evan Smoak is the Nowhere Man.
Taken from a group home at twelve, Evan was raised and trained as part of the Orphan Program, an off-the-books operation designed to create deniable intelligence assets―i.e. assassins. Evan was Orphan X. He broke with the Program, using everything he learned to disappear and reinvent himself as the Nowhere Man.
But his new life is interrupted when a surprise attack comes from an unlikely angle and Evan is caught unaware. Captured, drugged, and spirited off to a remote location, he finds himself heavily guarded and cut off from everything he knows. His captors think they have him trapped and helpless in a virtual cage but they don’t know who they’re dealing with―or that they’ve trapped themselves inside that cage with one of the deadliest and most resourceful men on earth.
Continuing his electrifying series featuring Evan Smoak, Gregg Hurwitz delivers a blistering, compelling new novel in the series launched with the instant international bestseller, Orphan X.
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