Readers are treated to an unusual opening scene when Evan, the former government assassin known as Orphan X goes to Iceland for some down time to seek serenity, sitting in a desolate bar in the middle of nowhere to sample his favourite vodka.
Evan’s backstory is unusually complex, and Hurwitz writes creatively and keeps the action moving.
Evan as a child, was taken from a home for orphans and trained by the government to be an assassin as part of a top secret, off-the-books programme. Lucky for Evan, he had a different handler from the rest of the Orphan operators, one who instilled in him a set of principles, along with 10 unique rules to live by.
Years later, Evan left the programme, deciding instead to use his set of skills as a vigilante fighting for justice, and hence, the 'Nowhere Man' was born. He has his own hotline for those who need his help. That did not stop the government from looking for him. Waging a one-man war, Evan goes after everyone who had anything to do with the Orphan Programme, except Jack Johns who'd rescued him and given him a new lease of life. But now, things have changed.
In the past seven books, Evan has helped those in need while staying off the government’s radar. Unfortunately, those days of hiding in plain sight are over. Now, the President of the United States wants Evan captured.
Instead of executing him on the spot, Evan is surprised when President Victoria Donahue-Carr presents him with an offer. In order to restore his “informal pardon”, Evan must agree to kill a man named Luke Devine, a billionaire who is on a mission to grab power. Luke has wide political reach and leverage, including two senators who would do his biddings and could sway the vote on a trillion-dollar environmental bill and that would pose a direct threat to the president, who is up for reelection.
Caught in a tight spot, Evan accepts the offer in order to stay above ground. But before he proceeds, he needs to check if the mission requirements align with his own core beliefs, which soon becomes an issue for him after new information emerges.
The reappearance of his nemesis, Special Agent-in-Charge, Naomi Templeton, and her tense meeting with President Victoria, now wants Evan for an assignment.
Capture and then escape in this eighth Orphan X caper, readers will be on the edge as they follow Even taking gritty action as he moves swiftly from Europe to Beverly Hills to various destinations in the New York metropolitan area.
Evan reconnects briefly with his ladylove Mia, then enlists the help of Orphan V aka Candy, his fellow orphan from the home, after a certain brutal killing, and eventually gets around to avenging Johnny Seabrook, the brother of a 19-year-old teenager who calls his helpline.
Hurwitz keeps the chapters short and the punchy but catchy titles of the chapters add another tongue-in-cheek layer to the story plot.
With frequent back references and recaps of characters from the past Orphan capers, this thriller feels like a finale. But given the skills and abilities of Hurwitz and the abundant ideas up his sleeves, there is a high possibility of Evan Smoak aka Orphan X making a comeback with another mission to delight fans.
