Out of the Dark

Gregg Hurwitz only gets better. I really liked, "Out of the Dark". 4.4 stars. I recommend you start your Evan Smoak journey with "Orphan X", which made Mr. Hurwitz one of my favorite authors. Then get through "The Nowhere Man", then put on your seat belt for "Hellbent" and "Out of the Dark".

Four books into a series even the official sales blurbs are spoilers, so if you want to enjoy this book without preconceived impressions from this review, it's time to move along. If spoilers only encourage you, lets get with it.

Hellbent

Hellbent by Gregg Hurwitz

Hellbent is the 3rd Orphan X novel. I really liked this one. 4.2 of 5 stars. I recommend it. Yes, you can read it alone, I think that would be a horrible idea and may spoil the 6 book experience (as of Jan 2020).

Evan Smoak has become one of my favorite characters. I think the molding of Mr. Hurwitz's character, Evan Smoak, is being done with a hammer on an anvil — and I'm confident Mr. Hurwitz has been required to routinely open a vein and pour some of his writing heart and soul into the character. He didn't pour the Orphan X books into the genre mold, tweak it here and there, and then put some extra meat or bones into the plots. By the end of Hellbent, if you're a seasoned reader, you know that our author has spent countless hours with Evan Smoak, and he knew what Evan was going to do in book six before he was half finished writing book one. I may be wrong…

What would it take for you to become "hellbent"?

Movie goers may recall when Jason Bourne's girlfriend is murdered. Bourne was hellbent! Similar excitement junkies clearly understand "Hellbent" when John Wick's dog is killed and his car stolen.

The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz

I liked The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz: 3 Stars. Recommend 👍.

I thought book #1, Orphan X, and book #3, Hellbent, were better. This book seemed to lag and become tedious several chapters before the climax.

The Nowhere Man is the 2nd "Orphan X" novel. The novels are "Secret Agent" type of action thrillers. In these novels orphans vanish into the "Orphan Program"-a CIA type of agency where these select orphans are trained from childhood to be invisible and extraordinarily dangerous. Orphans are one person Mission Impossible agents. Evan Smoke is Orphan X a designation similar to 007. For reasons established in the first book, he has gone rogue. As our protagonist he becomes a John Wick type of Ray Donovan except he fixes the nightmares of desperate folks who have nowhere to turn for help.

She stops sleeping. She starts plucking out her hair in patches. She cuts herself at school, hoping the pain will wake her from this nightmare.

Father of one of her classmates see the signs. He finds her sobbing in a 7-Eleven bathroom when she should be in homeroom. With a cane and fresh limp he goes and gives her a phone number: 1-855-2-NOWHERE. "He'll answer. He'll help," the injured friend's father says. She dials.

Buy a Bullet by Gregg Hurwitz

Buy a Bullet by Gregg Hurwitz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

FIRST, FAIR WARNING: This is a long short story. Not even Novella.

I am so disappointed when I miss a book in a series I truly love, like I did with "Buy a Bullet".

The Orphan X series by Gregg Hurwitz was in instant favorite of mine. I actually spent a little time considering why, which is uncommon for me. I usually dissect a book in terms of an editor or writer and then grade the book like I would if it were a manuscript submitted for comment.

Some authors can instantly get beyond my inner editor and get to my pleasure centers and when I finish their work I'm usually just happy. I am happy with this short book!