The Orphan X story continues as Evan finds he must fight Van Sciver, the new leader of the Orphan Program, on a personal level to retain his freedom and continue to assist those people who need his help. Many of the characters are carryovers from the earlier books, but this book certainly stands on its own so it can be fully appreciated without having read the others. The author includes specific detail on the weapons and the martial arts to give a strong sense of reality to the violence in the story. The style of writing is very professional and makes the book both easy to read and very engrossing. The Orphan X series is definitely one of the best I have read.

This is the third novel I have read featuring Orphan X, Evan. He is quite the super hero with amazing combat skills. He, along several others, had been taken out orphanages as children and trained as assassins for a dark US government organization. But now something has gone terribly wrong. The orphans are being killed. Even Evan's beloved mentor is taken out. Will Orphan X survive the purge?

Evan's mentor had once said that the hard part was not being a killer but was remaining human. This novel explores the humanity of Orphan X. He had been a killing machine, doing the government's dirty work. His mentor's dying wish was to protect a recent recruit, a sixteen year old girl, Joey.

It was interesting to see the struggle Evan faced trying to be somewhat human toward the girl with comfort and assurance, yet remaining the top notch operative he is. She is a very interesting character, an amazing computer hacker with a huge chip on her shoulder.

There is a secondary plot to keep readers interested in all that is going on in Evan's life. When he left the orphan program and went underground, he decided to help people who were beyond help from normal resources. This time he helps a desperate father try to get his son out of a horrible gang.

I recommend this book to readers who love a larger than life hero who manages to get himself out of seemingly impossible situations. There is lots of computer talk, special weapons and moves I didn't even know the body could make. A warning to queasy readers, there is description of some pretty terrible torture.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

With the fourth book “Out of the Dark” scheduled for release on January 29, 2019, it will be good to gift this trio of books to the suspense/thriller and action/adventure reader in your list. If he or she is a fan of Jason Bourne, then they won’t be disappointed.

Book 1 – Orphan X introduces Evan Smoak, an orphan recruited by a government-backed, black-ops squad of highly trained assassins. Evan became Orphan X, one of the best in the program. But when his handler and perhaps only friend was killed mysteriously, Evan went Rogue and became the Nowhere Man – a person who could help people out of hopeless situations.

Adrenaline pumping action reminiscent of Jason Bourne with the sentiment of the “The Equalizer,” an old CBS series circa 1985-1989, Orphan X is a great mix of high-octane exploit and heart.

Book 2 – The Nowhere Man is more cerebral than Orphan X as it develops Evan Smoak more. The pacing is slower but readers also see Smoak as a person not a super hero of sorts. The surprise is in the ending and worth the earlier slowness of the storyline.

Book 3 – Hellbent truly marries head and heart in the series. Now, readers see the depth of Evan Smoak’s humanity. He might be a trained assassin, but he still has a heart and that is the crux of this story. It will tug at your heartstrings! And it’s a suspense/thriller at that!

This is the third book in the Orphan X series featuring the character of Evan Smoak. It is much better than the second book in the series (The Nowhere Man) and compares favorably with the first one(Orphan X). It is face paced and the characters are more engaging than in the second one. This one does leave the door open for additional books in the series as the main protagonist escapes and survives.

I recommend this book to anyone looking to read something along the lines of Jack Reacher or Mitch Rapp with a different twist.

I received a free Kindle copy of Hellbent by Gregg Hurwitz n courtesy of Net Galley  and Minotaur Books, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as its sounded interesting and all three books in the series were offered up at the same time. This is the first book by the author that I have read.

Evan Smoak gets a phone call knowing that it is someone who needs his help. What surprises him is that is who the phone call is from. It is Jack Johns who was his mentor and the man responsible for Evan being in the Orphan X program. It is a video of Johns being thrown out of a plane in flight. Why was he killed? He finds out that Johns has left him a package which is a teenage girl named Joey. She is a fellow Orphan who tries to kill him. The director of the Orphan X program has decided to kill all the “Orphans.” Evan realizes that he must kill the director. Will Evan kill the director?

The author’s writing is an excellent thriller writer, yet somehow it improves with each book he writes for the “Orphan X series.” Besides having bodies piling up, there is fun and humor in this book that I truly enjoyed reading.

Hellbent by Gregg Hurwitz #3

I can’t believe I read the 3rd book before the 2nd but it held together very well. As a matter of fact the book can stand alone but having the back story is better. Evan discovers his mentor, Jack, has left him a surprising legacy. That legacy turns out to provide Evan with a new perspective on his life.
Evan Smoak is a killer. Trained by a black ops government program to be an assassin. he is very good at what he does. Evan has gone off the rails and now is seeking his personal redemption by being a hit man for good.
A hit man for good sounds contradictory but Evan works at righting wrongs and a personal level as opposed to a government level. People who have nowhere to turn can turn to the Nowhere Man for help. Also note Joey isn’t just a name for a young kangaroo.
A secret government program made Evan Smoak the weapon they had hoped for with results they never anticipated. The story is packed full of action and intrigue. Evan Smoak is right up there with Dewey Andreas and Jack Reacher.
I really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.

Hellbent is the third book in the series. I enjoyed the first book, Orphan X, and struggled a lot with the second one, The Nowhere Man. I felt Hellbent fell somewhere in the middle. The plot and ancillary characters are strong.
The mystery is solid, and the book kept me entertained. If you like thrillers, this is certainly an entertaining one. I received this book to read and review from NetGalley.

Fantastic!! One of the best action/ thrillers I’ve read all year! As the third in a series, this one is definitely my favorite! And you could read as a stand alone and not miss anything. Reading the first two did give me a deeper understanding of Evan’s past relationships especially with his mentor/father figure.

The original villain Orphans are still in play and Evan continues his alternate life as the Nowhere Man. The addition of a 16 year old girl, Joey gives a rare look into Evan’s humanity and his moral compass.

I strongly recommend this book to all lovers of spy, undercover, crime stories. Definitely a 5 star read! ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the book in exchange for my honest review.

The third book in the Orphan X series and just as action packed as the first two books in the series.
Adding an additional main character - a 15 yr old girl brings more human interest to the storyline and a bit more variety to the storyline - now it's not just Evan running around guns blazing and miraculously surviving the huge odds against him.
There are a couple of storylines through the book that merge together in a surprise twist as Evan helps another person through his helpline.

The end of the book leaves some tantalising options open that will hopefully continue in a fourth book in the near future!

The third I’ve read in the Orphan X series and another thrilling ride. This time, Evan finds himself fulfilling a favor of his mentor, Jack, a man who fostered Evan from the age of twelve and turned him into a trained assassin. Jack is killed in the early pages and Evan is off to avenge his death, knowing exactly who is to blame - someone he knew well in his role in the Orphan program.

But there has been a wrench thrown in. The favor turns out to be Evan taking under his wing a 16-year old girl by the name of Joey. He knows nothing about Joey, only that she is kick-ass, smart as hell, difficult to manage and gets mysterious postcards from someone named ‘M’. Loved the great dynamic between these characters.

As before, this installment integrates many techie tools. Young Joey exposes fresh innovations and accelerated technologies. Surely though, some of things are still fiction? Information contained on a single eyelash? Radio-frequency id-tagged fingernails ?

Another action-packed installment in one of my favorite spy-thriller series. I was excited to recently learn that a production company has bought the book rights and will adapt into a tv series. Can’t wait to see who is cast as Evan!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

By far, my favorite in the series. I devoured this book!

This time around, our assassin with a heart finds himself torn between seeking vengeance and saving the innocence (and life) of a partially trained Orphan like himself. This means he also finds himself being forced to room with a messy teenager; a nightmare for his OCD. At first I wasn't too sure about how to feel about Joey, but she grew on me. I loved the snarky attitude that she hid behind. Ultimately, she became a very strong character and her relationship with Evan was surprisingly sweet. Plus, the scene where she forces Evan into a Target shopping trip was nothing short of fantastic. :-)

The showdown at the end was visceral and nail-biting. Again, Horwitz gives a little more depth to self-obsessed Orphan V, leading to an interesting twist at the end which leaves you wondering what this means for her in the rest of the series. The ending was satisfying and doesn't leave you hanging. But at the same time, you can't wait for the next book to come out so you can see how Orphan X plans to deal with the knowledge he gained at the end of this one.

I recently learned that this series is being looked as as a possible TV series. I could see that. But if it is picked up, I hope it's by a cable network that can do it justice.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“Do you need my help?"

I'd recognize these words as belonging to this series anywhere. Which is a *really* good thing. I'm a pretty prolific reader, all things considered, and if you can have a sentence that immediately makes me think of your character, you're doing something right. This series about Evan Smoak has been kind of up and down for me, but this book was more of an up. The pacing seemed better, the writing smoother, characterizations more nuanced and individual; just all-around it seemed to flow easier for me. Still a tremendously action-packed book, no shortage of violence. My only nitpicky thing was I could have done without the recap, however, I read these all relatively close together, so I didn't need one. 4 stars.

Despite having had problems with The Nowhere Man, I was inclined to hope for more with the latest installment. And Hellbent proved to renew my interest in the series.

Hellbent provides a little more background on Evan's relationship with Jack Johns, the father-figure and mentor who took the young boy and trained him as an assassin for black ops, but also taught Evan to remain human. Jack has recognized the corruption of the original Orphan Program and the attempt to terminate all of the Orphans and wants Evan to save his last young apprentice.

Joey, a sixteen-year-old girl and gifted hacker, is the current target of Charles Van Scriver, the Orphan in charge of terminating all traces of the program. Joey is a handful, but she becomes a useful partner and a means for Evan to develop more emotional depth.

This is my favorite of the series so far. There's a lot of action and emotion, and more than a little humor. The author did a great job of balancing everything. I found it very easy to follow what was going on, even though I don't typically read many books with lots of fight scenes. I wasn't that into the romantic parts (it's a little like watching a bug fly into a window pane over and over) but that's alright.

I underestimated the author when a new character appeared. I was expecting annoying, but there was a lot of depth there, and a good story. And I think Candy is one of the best characters in the series. I really hope she gets her own book sometime. I would love to know more about what made her who she is.

The ending was fantastic. Though the stage is set for the next book, this one felt complete. Oh, and having read the next book, I recommend that one as well.

Hurwitz continues to bring the action with the third installment of the Orphan X series. Filled with intrigue and tradecraft. We get a view into the Orphan program and learn there's more going on than just cleaning up loose ends. A great ending to the original story while leading into the next story.

Even Smoak is going to war. Not a battlefield fight, but the sort of black ops war that he knows so well. His mission is two-fold. He wants to avenge the death of the man who treated him like a son and he must end the life of the man who has been on his trail for years. His plans are sent awry when he suddenly ends up responsible for his mentor's last protege. Now Evan has to save a life. This book is face paced and very entertaining. If you have enjoyed the other books in this series then I definitely recommend that you pick up this volume.

Another great addition to the Orphan X series by Gregg Hurwitz. Just can't get enough of Evan Smoak and all the things going on in his life. Definitely recommend this series!

Another thrilling installment in the Evan Smoak/ Orphan X series sees Evan unwinding some more of the mystery that surrounds his past, and the beyond secret organisation that he spent much of his life working for. A real highlight is his new and somewhat unlikely, yet strangely likable travelling companion, Joey, a teenage washout from the Orphan X program, once trained and now hunted by Evan's nemesis Van Scriven. The unlikely paring works very well, and allows Smoak to show some further emotional development. I read a review copy courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own,

Another solid book in the Orphan X series! This one delivers all of the page turning excitement, violence, and action scenes readers have become accustomed to. Once again, Hurwitz delivers with ample character development and background stories. This book has alternate storylines to keep the story flowing, plus a look at the failed legal system regarding orphans.

I would recommend this book to fans of the series, along with fans of thrillers and suspense. I received this as a free ARC from St. Martin's Press on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The best of the Orphan X series (through #3). Evan Smoak is an interesting character - an asocial assassin who is trying to become human and fit into some kind of mainstream society. The book is very tightly plotted, with lots of action, and the bad guys are sufficiently evil while not becoming total caricatures. I absolutely recommend this book.