NEMESIS: AN ORPHAN X NOVEL by Gregg Hurwitz

5 stars!

Evan Smoak, known as Orphan X and the Nowhere Man, is back in rare form with an intense focus on a suddenly imperiled friendship with Tommy Stojack, his brilliant armorer. Tommy has, behind Evan’s back, been supplying weapons to an assassin who killed a teenager as well as a mastermind criminal involved in human trafficking. This breaks one of Orphan X’s fundamental rules of engagement. He sets to figure out whether Tommy deserves to die for these infractions or whether their friendship can survive it.

Amid repeat confrontations with Tommy trying to sort this out, Evan finds himself a target in a deadly ambush at Tommy’s headquarters, against a slew of professional killers and a sniper. Evan assumes Tommy has ordered the hit on him, and chases Tommy to a remote small town where Tommy has responded to an SOS by the son of a fellow war combatant who Tommy vowed to protect as the man’s dying wish. The son and his late teen friends have formed their own racist militia against the perceived invasion of Mexicans a town over. They foment conspiracy theories (aka Proud Boys) and have decided to take vengeful action on their own that leads to a death. All this rachets up to a breath-taking thrilling plot with danger lurking on every front.

Evan’s internal tug of war between the stoic deadly assassin Orphan X he was raised and the emerging more emotive man continues to powerfully play out. Unexpected emotions triggered over his friendship with Tommy ravage Evan, who’s slowly learning to manage instead of constantly suppress his feelings. Evan’s left wrestling between the commandments he’s lived by as an assassin and the fragile friendships he’s forged since stepping out of service to the U.S. government. With each evolution of the Orphan X series, we see the humanity bursting forth in Evan, which is exactly what his trainer in the Orphan X program hoped to preserve.

His protegee, Joey Morales, also finds herself in an intense, moving internal struggle between her roles as computer genius and Evan’s back-up to being a college student looking to make friends her age for the first time.

Another outstanding addition to this best-of-thrillers series by Hurwitz.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.