I’ve enjoyed the Orphan X series by Gregg Hurwitz since the very first book in the series. He is known for well researched, authentic, fast paced action, while also interlacing the personal lives of the various characters to give the book more depth. Evan Smoak, aka Orphan X, is known as the Nowhere Man, and helps people in dire situations with no one else who can help them. In Dark Horse, he is summoned by the head of a drug organization whose beloved daughter has been kidnapped.

My first thought upon reading the summary of the book was what?!? He helps out a bad guy?!? This can’t possibly be the same series. Did Gregg Hurwitz run out of material?!? This seems so far fetched. However, since I’ve read all the previous books and have loved each one, I decided to give this book a chance, and I’m glad that I did. People aren’t always who you think they are, and sometimes they may even surprise you. There was a lot of character development in this one and dare I say personal growth for Evan Smoak.

Towards the end, there is a reference to the book taking place over the course of one week. That gave me pause, and was the only thing that jumped out as incredibly unrealistic.

The book ends with a reference to a previous character we have met in another book in the series. I can’t wait for book #8 to come out, which if the pattern continues, should be January 2023.

Wow, what a ride! Gregg Hurwitz never ceases to create a story with many layers of plot, twists and progression that continues to surprise along the way. The detailed story line is amazing to me. The build up and final climax is exhilarating and surprising, just like his other books. The level of planning and training of orphan X continues to amaze me!

I highly recommend this read. This review is mine with no outside influence

I really enjoyed reading Dark Horse. The Orphan X series is entertaining, well written and hard to put down once you start reading. I really liked the unexpected twists in this story. I also especially enjoyed seeing the growth of Evan Smoak with respect to his relationship with others that are close to him. I think this story was the perfect vehicle to give him the opportunity to see why his past behaviors not only drive his current ones, but how the behavior of others can influence us to reexamine our own behavior and make changes even though they may be difficult. Definitely a must read and a perfect addition to this series! Evan Smoak is a character every reader should get to know!

Another great Orphan X book! Lots of action and surprises - I thoroughly enjoyed it! 😎

Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the free copy!

The Nowhere Man, Evan Smoak, ventures into situations he has no special skills to handle … matters of the heart. Trained assassin turned on-call do-gooder, Evan Smoak takes a call to help track down and rescue the daughter of an organized crime boss with ties to drug cartels. He finds that soft skills are just as valuable as his tactical skills. Great read & great series!

I agree with the majority of the reviewers who showed up on this page before i did: Gregg Hurwitz writes breathtakingly propulsive techno-thrillers, with all the agonizing suspense, digital wizardry, pyrotechnics and ordnance arcana a reader could wish for.

What keeps me coming back to Orphan X, however, book after book, is what Hurwitz skillfully slip-streams into the plot trajectory: real human beings, with deep and complicated -- often conflicting -- emotions, and the self-awareness to evolve.

In Dark Horse, Evan Smoak (Orphan X) has his moral code challenged, when he is asked for help by an unconventional drug dealer. It may be the Nowhere Man's most dangerous mission yet -- but the two men find they have some things in common, and they inspire mutual reflection and values clarification.

When I read, I collect the odd, profound nugget as if it were sea glass or an agate on the beach, and refer back to it (sometimes months down the road). While reading Dark Horse, I highlighted (so my Kindle tells me) no fewer than 16 such gems -- in an action/adventure/vigilante-crime-fighter story! Take a look:

"Change never comes in the perfect future. It comes in the messy here and now."
"If I confront myself for the fool I am without drowning in shame, then maybe I will be granted the wisdom to make things right."
"Maturity is graduating from the belief that the world misunderstands you to the awareness that you misunderstand the world."
"Sometimes I wonder if wisdom is nothing more than shortening the time before you realize how ignorant you are about something."
"You can either be the center of attention or pay attention. You can't do both."

So, if you read so rapidly towards the next cyber-invasion or brutal physical onslaught, you might miss out on Gregg Hurwitz's deep secret: Real. Emotional. Content.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance readers copy.

Absolutely love Orphan X’s character and and then way he comes to the aid of those who have no one else to turn too. This is the next installment of these wonderful characters. X goes to help a less than honorable business man to get his daughter back from the cartel. X goes undercover in the cartel to get to Angelina and get her out. But X is surprised to find Angelina was not kidnapped but left on her own because she is in love with the cartels son.

Will X be able to get her home? Enjoyable adventure with always the unexpected happening. Very enjoyable series.
Thank you to Netgalley for complimentary copy.

Really good Orphan X novel! Nice to see Evan embracing (if only slightly) his more sensitive side. Evan is growing as a person, still a badass, and this novel is just as great as past. Love!

A special thank you to Net Galley for the ARC.
It does not get any better than Evan Smoak (Orphan X). The joy about this series is the growth in the character. X is a complicated man to say the least. But, you really could not expect anything less from the way he was raised. But, it is a joy to see a writer of Hurwitz caliber stretch what is the most dynamic character in thriller fiction.
After, the cliffhanger ending of book #6, Prodigal Son, it has been a tense year waiting to find out what is going on..
In Dark Horse, Hurwitz puts X in the most dangerous mission of his prolific career. He is asked by a cartel leader to rescue his daughter from a brutal, rival cartel. X, after taking stock and meeting the man asking for his help is surprised at the person he meets. He decides to help by infiltrating the rival cartel. What he finds there is a brutal, unhinged psychopath and an army of sicarios and fighters. He also finds something he never expected. Which almost does the operation in before he can begin it.

Added to this dilemma, back at home his love interest Mia finds out she has a serious medical condition which could mean her death and leave her little boy Peter motherless and well as fatherless. Throw into the mix tension with his adoptive niece Joey, and X has to figure out what it means to be family and just where caring and love can lead.

Fantastic book ! If you haven't read this series buy Orphan X today and get going. Every book of the 7 is better than the last. I savored this book even though I could have read it in a weekend.

Dark Horse, the 2022 Orphan X series release by Gregg Hurwitz was an outstanding read. This book, like its predecessor, the 2021 Orphan X release Prodigal Son will most assuredly be on my top 5 best reads list for the year. In this installment, Evan Smoak (Orphan X) takes on a case that will challenge him in a multitude of ways. I am so impressed with the continuing development of all the characters as this story has proceeded through the years, and the fresh ideas embedded in this story. Be sure to preorder (release date 2/8/2022) or grab a copy once released. You will be glad you did. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

One longggg, amazing, explosive book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There’s so much action and crazy situations in this story! The author had to have just poured himself into the creation process for a long time.

The plot is based smack dab in gang territory with all of the horrific crime, grit, horror, and distrust you can imagine, along with impossible situations that boggle the mind. Totally realistic, and at times, difficult to read. X has his work cut out for him in this book, for certain.

Hurwitz is on fire with his ability to craft this character with amazing mind control, strength, tactical abilities, yet obsessive qualities as well. The balancing act is delicate and sometimes extreme, but as the reader, you totally get it. It makes sense in a weird, wacky way.

Joey is also there and in her true form but all is not wonderful in the world as they still stumble and fumble, trying to find their proper footing together.

You never know what you are going to get an Orphan X book. Hurwitz continues to surprise us, enthrall us, keep us on edge as the tables turn 180 degrees in a flash. I never get tired of his stories!

So clear a weekend because you’re not going to be doing much once you grab this book. But be prepared as it’s extremely detailed and graphic in many areas. But that’s just who The Nowhere Man is.

I requested this book as I really enjoyed Hurwitz's previous book with Evan Smoak--Prodigal Son. This one NOT AT ALL [sigh].

Background: "Evan Smoak is a man with many identities and a challenging past. As Orphan X, he was a government assassin for the off-the-books Orphan Program. After he broke with the Program, he adopted a new name and a new mission—The Nowhere Man, helping the most desperate in their times of trouble.... Aragon Urrea is a kingpin of a major drug-dealing operation in South Texas. He's also the patron of the local area—supplying employment in legitimate operations, providing help to the helpless, rough justice to the downtrodden, and a future to a people normally with little hope....for all his money and power, he is helpless when one of the most vicious cartels kidnaps his eighteen-year old daughter [at her birthday party] spiriting her away into the armored complex that is their headquarters in Mexico. With no other way to rescue his daughter, he turns to The Nowhere Man. Now not only must Evan figure out how to get into the impregnable fortress of
a[nother] heavily armed, deeply paranoid cartel leader, but he must decide if he should help a very bad man—no matter how just the cause."

Sound intriguing? Yes. BUT--NOT. I am in the distinct minority of readers on this one--sadly so. And was it really believable in terms of what the Urrea had to give up as terms for Evan's help? Maybe.

The usual characters are back: Mia and Peter, Joey, Dog. And this time Mia humanizes him a bit more--but this sideplot--feh.

Story rotates between South Texas and Mexico and California.

Note: Evan is OCD in terms of neatness, his space/order [and for others--books should be shelved just so], and vodka preference.

I did enjoy some of the writing -- to wit:

"...Chucho slumped into a vinyl chair as if he'd been soft-served into it.] [ha!]

"Hugh's bird's-nest eyebrows hoisted."

"I want to stick her face to a window using her duck lips for suction."

"...arms pretzeling beneath her shoulder blades."

chinned used several times [as a verb] and heavied.

And as in his previous book, new words though I only wrote down one: splenius.

I did not suspect the worm turning at about 60 percent; perhaps this should have engaged me more--it did not.

And out of left field a sentence: "And yes, it would be worse if I were crippled or sick or begging for cigarette butts in Calcutta." This left me wondering.

Lots of violence and I realize integral to his character/plot/book, but...

What totally bored me: COPIOUS, detailed, information on weaponry and ammunition. I could have done better with a different approach--is there a way to summarize all that?

Would it be a neat and tidy ending? No spoiler from me.

I strongly believe this would be a better [action] movie than a book and 99% of the time, I think the book is better than the movie!!

However, I did enjoy the last page! {set up for the next book--maybe I'll like it more than this one.]

I think this is my favorite NoWhereMan book. He gets drawn into a challenging case to save a yo7 g woman who’s father is in the cartel. There is a lot about good and evil in this story which allows for the grey. Joey continues to take a larger part and she humanizes X as does his neighbor Mia and her son.

A page turner with some great character development.

I was given a copy by Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Another excellent installment of the Orphan X series. Action packed and written with wit; Gregg Hurwitz delivers another hit!

Evan’s next mission is to find the daughter of a drug lord who claims he is not one. Evan finds himself in the strange circumstances when Mia needs surgery and support and he is in the middle of a mission. He is learning how to balance his professional and personal life and is uncomfortable about how to do so.

In this installment of the Orphan X series, Evan is asked to help an admittedly bad man by rescuing a girl from the heart of a cartel stronghold, which infuses the tale with BREAKING BAD vibes. Meanwhile, Evan’s OCD rears its ugly head repeatedly and someone dear to him has a deadly problem Evan cannot solve.

This book is full of heart between Evan’s relationships with his mentee Joey, love interest Mia, her son, the neighbors, arms dealer extraordinaire Tommy, the damsel in distress, and the drug kingpin client. Yet, the action is on point, balancing the violence and physical peril with character growth and internal conflict. Looking back, I have to believe Hurwitz is a phenomenal physicist, somehow altering the book’s relationship to space and time to cram in extra goodness without slowing down the pacing. Even navigates the warring cartels while dealing with the reconstruction of his home and multiple interpersonal relationships. I may also have to add master juggler to Hurwitz’s impressive resume. And don’t get me started on his prowess at incorporating humor, for example in Evan and Joey’s witty banter.

So much of this novel has imprinted itself on my brain cells. Multiple times since I finished, I’ve thought back on the characters and how brilliantly they were brought to life as well as cool details related to dynamics of the rival cartels and their very different lifestyles. Other things such as the terrible effects of street drugs also made a lasting impression. There’s plenty of set up for the eighth installment, and I am super excited to see what happens next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group, for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of Dark Horse, due out in February, 2022. This is the 7th in the Orphan X series and a worthy entry, for certain. Once again, Evan Smoak, the Nowhere Man, is out to help someone sorely in need. This someone, however, is not the usual downtrodden soul. And helping in this case means taking on a cartel led by a psychopath. Dark Horse provides a lot of suspense and has you asking how he’s going to manage to pull off what he sets out to do. At the same time, he and his protege, Joey, are working through difficulties/differences of opinion but she still manages to provide some comic relief. This story takes on a slightly different tone when Evan allows his emotions to surface. “When I was young, I shut myself off to the world. It wasn’t safe to…to take in too much. It was like I was on an airplane and I closed all the windows. Everything blocked out except the view through the windshield. The way forward. There wasn’t much…light. Or color. Warmth. Comfort. Feeling. Just…darkness. I needed something extreme just to feel. To feel anything. Danger. Risk. Pain. But it served me to live that way. To keep everything muted. With the windows closed, there were no distractions to see. There was only….only the path ahead. It kept me alive.” Later, “I worry that if I let in the right, I won’t be able to do what I do.” And, “When I think about how much I’ve missed all these years, all my life, I feel…” He couldn’t find the word. Angry? Resentful? Vengeful? “Grief?”…offered. It’s a new dimension to the character that makes him even more interesting. Dark Horse, for me, is another great read from Mr. Hurwitz.

We follow Orphan X on another adventure and its full of twists.

Evan is back and helping the oddest person, a drug kingpin. His daughter went missing and the father is distraught. Even though it's a dangerous mission Evan is up for the challenge.

This book is full of twists, even some on the personal front. This series is one of my favorites and I can't wait for the next installment!!

Orphan X is back at it! After a stunning conclusion to the previous book, X realizes that he's in this world for better or for worst. He decides to help a good bad guy take on a bad bad guy, while also juggling his personal relationships with Joey and Mia.

As usual, lots of thrills and action. Fans of John Wick will thoroughly enjoy this entire series.

The epilogue leads nicely into the next one. It. Is. On.

ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Evan Smoak, aka “The Nowhere Man,” returns for another thrilling mission in this 7th installment to author Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series. As expected, the stakes are just as high as ever when Evan finds himself playing both ends against the middle between a drug kingpin and a ruthless Mexican cartel. Boasting an extraordinary exciting premise, “Dark Horse” might just be my favorite Orphan X book to date.

All the usual characters are back in play as the story picks up right where the previous book in this series had left us off. Entangled amidst a bizarre but very deadly scenario, Evan suddenly finds himself in a situation he feels strangely unprepared for. Couple that with a serious issue involving his love interest, Mia, and Evan finds his mission at odds with his personal life, pulling him in different directions all at once.

From start to finish, “Dark Horse” is a rollercoaster ride of thrills and excitement. If you are a fan of this series, you will undoubtedly want to add this one to the very top of your TBR list!!