5 stars!
The BEST so far in this exceptional thriller series by Hurwitz – in which Orphan X gets challenged in the toughest way so far. Found and kidnapped by the government- the U.S. president demands Orphan X’s help to take down a billionaire who’s accumulated so much power that he’s threatening her administration’s key environmental legislative initiative as well as her re-election.
What also makes this great is that Hurwitz eloquently weaves in the whole back story of Orphan X- from getting picked out of an orphanage for extensive training as a black op killer for the U.S. whose very existence could be denied to his leaving the service of the U.S. to use his skills for those who find themselves in desperate circumstances in need of rescue- so that readers new to this series can easily dive right in.
Orphan X, not about to be bossed around by anybody, decides that he needs to figure out on his own whether the billionaire is truly a bad, immoral person deserving to be taken down – which in Orphan X’s line of work means being assassinated. This morality quest takes Reacher deep into the lives surrounding and impacted by the billionaire, and into a dangerous quest to understand exactly how the billionaire has amassed such control over powerful people worldwide.
The danger rachets up to a point where Orphan X’s life hangs in the balance – so don’t plan on going to sleep anytime soon after starting!! A magnificent read!
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy.