I received an ARC copy of Into the Fire by Gregg Hurwitz thru Net galley. All I can say is move over Tom Clancy, Ian Flemming, Dan Brown and Brad Thor.  Gregg Hurwitz knows how to weave a suspencful, thrilling, and engaging story. The only character I could see Evan (if he would ever need help) Jack Reacher may be the one for the task.  
	  This is the fifth book in the Orphan X series, and oh my, oh my, I love Evan Smoake. Into The Fire is a thrill ride from the very first page.
	Now that the man behind the murders of the other Orphans is out of the way, can Evan have a normal life?  Evan Smoak is sought out by a man who is truly in over his head, and does understand why someone would entrust him with something seemingly very important.  Max Merriweather was left a cryptic message from his brother. Max does fit in with the rest of the family, and is reminded of it over and over again.  Max is truly bewildered of why his brother would do this, or it something on the lines that if something happened to Max, it truly really would not matter. The moment Evan and Max delve deeper and deeper someone is willing to do anything and everything to stop them from finding out the truth of the flash drive, and what happened to Max's brother.  
	Thank you Netgalley for gifting this tale to me for an honest review.  Thank you Gregg Hurwitz for writing another show stopping, pulse pounding, thrill ride.

Evan or X...I am obsessed.  This character is multifaceted and so vividly complex. I never know what he will do, but I know and love how the books walk us through his emotions, memories and planning.  

This story is great. When I sat down to write this report I went to discuss my favorite scene or part and I couldn’t. My mind kept jumping from one moment to the next and there are just to many stand out moments for this book. Nothing is what it seems and relationships are evolving and characters are showing new levels to themselves and I am here for it all. 

This series shows a lot of violence and mayhem, but it also shows such goodness and loyalty in people.  Evans response to his neighbor getting mugged was touching, his  feelings for Mia and Peter are so deep you can feel that they are intrinsic to his core now, his bond with Joey is precious and I can keep going. The balance of those relationships with his success as Mr. Nowhere Man is mind boggling, it this series pulls it off brilliantly. 

As always I would love to see this as an amazon or Netflix series so they can focus on the details such as the penthouse, trucks, the testing lab he gets his weapons from, etc.  This is a great book and each book draws me more and more into this world and my love of X grows.

Thanks for the chance to read this book and share my opinions.

Minotaur Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Into the Fire. I voluntarily chose to review this novel and my opinion is freely given.

Evan Smoak is the Nowhere Man, known to help those who are truly in need. Word of mouth reference is the only way to find him, with a closely guarded phone number and an even more shrouded personal life. When Max Merriweather's cousin Grant is murdered, placing Max himself in the crosshairs, will Evan be able to help without putting himself in danger?

The Orphan X books are always a good read, with suspense and thrills all the way through. Into the Fire is more of the same, but that is not a bad thing. I do like how Evan has grown a bit, bringing closer those who support and help him on his endeavors. There is not a lot of realism here, but that is to be expected when the main character is a man who was taught to be an assassin when he was still a child. Overall, I enjoyed Into the Fire and would recommend the series to those who like mystery thrillers and suspense.

Evan has been battling if he wants to continue what he's been programmed to do most of his life. He has completed his personal missions and wants to settle down into a normal life. Everything seems to be falling into place until Max calls him for help. Max just lost his cousin who appeared to be investigating a very dangerous scandal. He left Max with something very important and winds up putting Max and everybody Max knows lives in jeopardy. Not knowing where to turn, Max lucks out by running into the last person that Evan helped. What seems to be a simple case turns into a very twisted ride.
This book gave very serious vibes like it was the last book in the series. I have rooted for Evan with every book. I know he's done bad things, but he's trying his best. He protects those he cares about. The fact that he's able to care about people with the way he's been programmed to be is amazing in itself. I was so mad about the ending. I won't say why. I refuse. Anybody who reads my reviews knows I refuse to give any spoilers about a book at all. I prefer the reader read it and then contact me so we can talk about it. But yes. If there's not another book in this series, I'm going to rage.
This book was narrated by Scott Brick. Unless I'm mistaken, he narrated all five books. I've loved his narration in them. There's something intense and terrifying about his voice. Well, not all the time. Just when he needs to pitch it in the right moments in books. I do not think these books would have been as intense had I read them and not listened to them. I hope I can track down other books he narrates to listen to them as well. I have recently learned that a person can develop a voice crush. I would say I'm pretty much there.
I really enjoyed this series. I've enjoyed this entire series. I'm currently working on talking my mom into reading it. I may do a buddy read with her. As if I need an excuse to read this series again. It's a fantastic and intense series. The whole book has made it feel like it's the last book in the series. I'm really hoping that my feeling on this is wrong. Other than subtle hints I've gotten, I haven't really seen any concrete evidence that it is. Especially with the ending of this book. We shall see. Either way, I recommend this whole series.

I love all of Greg Hurwitz' books. His range of characters, settings and plots is impressive. If you were to read about Evan Smoak - the hero of the Orphan X series - the immediate temptation would be to write him off as a cartoonish caricature. Don't do that! The point of fiction is to push the boundaries and the author that can successfully make you suspend your disbelief is one to follow. I have been to Los Angeles countless times and the thought of the shenanigans that Mr Hurwitz has going on in the towers on Wilshire makes me smile. I can't wait for the next one!

Evan, the principal character, is the perfect assassin. Trained by a US black ops’ leader, now dead, Evan decided to leave his employer and is now hunting and being hunted by them. He has a need to find meaning in his life and pursues that by helping less fortunate members of society deal with criminal bullies.

In this book, Evan deals with a criminal cabal populated by opportunistic individuals at multi societal and big city political levels. Each layer Evan eliminates makes evident the next level. Having decided to end his savior occupation in order to get on with a relationship with female prosecutor who lives in his building, he is constantly anticipating the end to his current self-assigned war.

But, it’s difficult to get a personal sense of life direction without confronting life issues in those people around you. In helping his client challenge his life mistakes and self-loathing, Evan is forced to face similar conflicts in his own life. The book is chuck full of well-trained black ops operator action! However, by generating reader adrenaline in one chapter then eliciting tears in another. the peppering of self-evaluation humanizes the characters thus making the book a good read 

Into the Fire: An Orphan X Novel is an action thriller! But its humanizing subtext makes it appeal to the less action driven reader.

After five books, thrillers in the same vein of the Bourne series, I am fully involved in Evan Smoak's journey. His moral compass guides him to take up the mantel of the Nowhere Man, helping those in danger with no recourse but to look beyond the law for justice. Evan desires to redeem his perceived wrongs. He endeavors to convince himself, after one more job, he can begin a regular life. 

As the series moves forward, consequences escalate for Evan. Into the Fire is the most intense book yet. The level of conspiracy Evan encounters goes deep, and the mounting threats kept me on the edge of my seat. When this book concluded, I immediately wished for the next one. If crime thrillers are your thing, I highly recommend Into the Fire by Gregg Herwitz.

An excellent continuation of the Orphan X/Evan Smoak series. All the excitement one would expect from Evan Smoak and more character development than ever. Trust and relationships don't come easily, but is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

I hated this book because it was one violent gruesome graphic killing after another.  I got through 51% and just had to put it down.  I was bothered by the continual graphic violence in the book and could not get into the story or determine the message.  I'm sorry but I just had to stop reading it.

Evan Smoak was once known as Orphan X.  He was trained by the government to be an assassin.  He became one of the most feared men in the program.  Eventually he broke free and re-invented himself as The Nowhere Man, known for helping the truly desperate.

Max Merriweather is, indeed, truly desperate.  His cousin was viciously murdered, leaving behind a key for Max.  But someone, somewhere, really wants that key ... and will do anything to get it.

Max puts himself in the line of fire to not only protect Max, but discover who wants that key...and why.

This somewhat complex plot explores twists and turns that seemingly pop out at every corner ...breath taking at times.   Although 5th in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone. I would recommend starting at the beginning .... from Orphan X to The Nowhere Man is an adventure you  don't want to miss.

Many thanks to the author / St Martin's Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this thriller.   Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Published by Minotaur Books on January 28, 2020

The Orphan X series has evolved into an enjoyable interpretation of the tough-guy action thriller. The series began by combining two unoriginal premises. The first positioned the protagonist, Evan Smoak, as a hero in the Jason Bourne mold: trained from an early age to be a deadly force in the service of a shadowy program. The second had Smoak giving away his services to victims who find themselves in threatening situations, in the manner of the Equalizer and other vigilante heroes. Two eye-rolling premises is at least one too many.

Thankfully, Gregg Hurwitz laid the Bourne premise to rest, at least as a plot-driver. Smoak extracted himself from the clutches of his would-be masters in Out of the Dark, putting an apparent end to Smoak’s concerns about being assassinated by the conspiratorial forces of evil that created him.

What used to be a subplot — helping the unfortunate by smiting their oppressors — turns into the main plot in Into the Fire. The series benefits from the new focus.

The story begins with a fellow named Terzian (a/k/a “the Terror”) bringing Grant Meriwether to the hospital for treatment after torturing him. He resumes the torture after killing the doctor who patches Grant up. Terzian wants a name from Grant, which he finally gets: Max Meriwether, Grant’s cousin. In an effort to avoid the same fate as Grant, Max contacts Smoak, who goes by the name The Nowhere Man.

While Smoak started the series as a fairly standard action hero (the kind of tough guy who isn’t known for depth), he has become a contemplative, self-questioning tough guy, giving him a more interesting personality than someone like Reacher, who has never had a moment of self-doubt in his life. Smoak became the Nowhere Man to seek something like redemption, an “imperfect word” to describe his need to confront the world “with his own code, illuminating the darkness with the guttering light of his own morality,” a process of becoming “less sharp. More human.” To that end, he is thinking that helping Max might be his last mission.

Smoak is attracted to a neighbor named Mia, although she is appalled when she learns just how much violence he exercises to solve the problems he confronts. Mia is a law-and-order prosecutor, but she becomes more forgiving of Evan after he does her a violent solid involving her endangered son.

The attention that Hurwitz gives to characterization does not shortchange the action. The story moves crisply as Smoak unravels the mess that Max inherited from Grant. After stumbling upon the corpse of a journalist who had been communicating with Grant, Max gives Smoak an envelope that contains an object the Terror would like to retrieve. Smoak successively battles Terzian’s thugs, a dogfighting ring, Terzian’s boss, a couple of bent cops, and the top boss, who is safely imprisoned and not easily killable. Each time Smoak solves one problem (violently), another pops up. Along the way, he sustains a concussion, and then another, creating the practical problem of which bad guy to shoot when he’s seeing double.

Smoak’s young hacker friend (and former Orphan) Joey Morales adds some youthful snark to the story, while a dog rescued from the dogfights softens the characters of both Smoak and Joey. I always say that the addition of a dog makes every story better. Of the various ways to manipulate readers into caring about characters, portraying a character as a dog lover is the best.

Will Smoak give up being the Nowhere Man and retire to a life that doesn’t require him to kill people every day? It looks that way until Smoak gets a startling call in the last chapter. I assume that means the series will continue. In my judgment, that’s a good thing.

RECOMMENDED

4.5 stars.

The fifth book in Gregg Hurwitz's Orphan X series, Into the Fire is a pulse-pounding thriller with emotional heft to it.

Evan Smoak has been moving since he was young. Pulled out of a foster home and recruited into a super-secret government program, he once was Orphan X, one of the most lethal assassins ever.

When he had enough of killing because people told him to, he reinvented himself as the Nowhere Man, a guardian angel for those in the most desperate of situations. He’ll do whatever it takes to help those truly needing the kind of help he can provide.

Max is that person. Living a desolate, lonely life, his cousin, a forensic accountant, was just brutally murdered. The same cousin who once gave him an envelope with a key in it and told him what to do in the event he died. And now people are looking for the key, some who are clearly evil and some who hide their evil deep below the surface. Max may not be happy with how his life turned out but he doesn't want to die yet.

What seems like a dangerous but fairly simple operation for Evan turns out to be anything but. And as the puzzle becomes more and more complicated—and deadly—to solve, he is torn between this mission of the Nowhere Man he gave himself and the desire for a “real” life.

"'Redemption' was an imperfect word for what he was seeking. Confronting the world with his own code, illuminating the darkness with the guttering light of his own morality—that was a process of becoming. Becoming less sharp. More human."

This is one of the best thriller series out there. Evan Smoak is such an incredible character and Gregg Hurwitz has created an amazingly complex world, and in doing so, has written a thriller series that balances incredible action scenes with rich character development.

I can’t wait to see where Hurwitz goes with this series. My thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!

I think this may be my favorite Orphan X book yet. Evan Smoak is back, this time trying to save Max Merriweather from harm. Just when he thinks Max is safe, more threats show up. This is a tough, complicated case, even for Evan. 

Into the Fire is a fast-paced thriller with action galore. I love the character of Evan Smoak, and he is at his best in this book. His interactions with the people he is trying to help are always good, but the ones with the neighbors in his building take the cake! Those moments insert some levity into the tenseness of this thriller.

Great book!

Really enjoyed reading this book, when I finished found out it was number 5 in a series about the main character so now I'll have to  go back and read the previous novels.  The story is fast paced and keeps you guessing and on your toes .  The writing is excellent and I l look forward to reading more about this character.

This is the fifth book in the series, but the first one I read. It seemed to work OK as a stand alone but I definitely felt I could use some additional background at times. Evan is knows as NoWhere Man and his mission is to help others. I really enjoyed his character. The book is full of non-stop action with a few twists and turns. Now time to go start the series from the beginning. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy.

Into The Fire is the fifth book in the Orphan X series by best-selling American author, Gregg Hurwitz.  With perhaps the idea of having something like a normal life, Evan Smoak vows that whomever Trevon Gaines sends him, it will be his last Nowhere Man mission. 

When forensic accountant, Grant Merriwether is murdered, his cousin Max quickly realises that the “in the event of my death” envelope Grant gave him is going to spell trouble. Max narrowly escapes walking in on a thug ransacking his apartment, and the LA Times journalist to whom he was meant to take Grant’s letter has been brutally slain. Desperate, Max clutches the straw he has been offered: the Nowhere Man’s number. 

Evan is, as always, efficient and dispenses with the threat quick smart. So why is someone still shooting at him and making threatening phone calls? Is there another tier to this mission? He needs to get this sorted so Max (and Evan?) can start living a normal life. Although if a normal life involves Home Owners Association meetings, he might have second thoughts: “A familiar feeling of unease resurfaced, that Evan was a traveler in a foreign land, observing native customs and rituals without understanding their purpose. Being concussed didn’t exactly clarify matters.”

In this instalment, Evan: inflicts a designer wound to facilitate tracking; gets into a dog fight; has a bedroom magnet mishap; rescues a puppy; provides a form of crudités to a meeting; mugs a mugger; goes to jail, and escapes, and does much of it while suffering concussion. It’s no surprise to readers of Out Of The Dark that Trevon Gaines makes a reappearance, and Joey Morales’s participation is virtually a given. 

As always, it’s a good idea to suspend disbelief when reading this series, or you’ll start thinking that it’s as well Evan Smoak doesn’t have a paying job because when would he get time to maintain all his safe houses and vehicles, and who cleans his house? Washing clothing and cleaning shoes seems to be a moot point as they end up in the fireplace, replaced by an endless supply of identical new items. Another entertaining action thriller: bring on number six!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and St Martin’s Press

I read and enjoyed the first book in the series, Orphan X and although I usually don’t read a series out of order, I decided to jump into this latest release. It worked well as a standalone, and now I have the pleasure of going back and reading the three I missed.

Evan Smoak, AKA Orphan X, AKA The Nowhere Man, is a man with a troubled childhood, saved by the government as a 12 year old and trained and used for their own dark purposes. The same government who then wanted to eliminate him. Now his mission is to help others who need his particular set of skills, which are numerous.

Evan is at loose ends and wanting out when he is contacted for what he expects will be his last case. What fun to immerse myself in this story and enjoy the suspenseful wild ride with Evan as he finds himself in ever more dangerous and precarious situations. Watching him get out of these scrapes using his significant intellect and skill set is fantastic. Adding to the fun is the snarky humor.

This is pure page-turning fun – highly recommended!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. A full review will be posted on Amazon and Goodreads

Orphan X is back and I couldn't be happier. Evan Smoak is known as the Nowhere Man and is committed to helping anyone who calls.

Enter Max Merriweather and he has trouble coming out his ears. He agreed to help his cousin but after his cousin is murdered, Max finds himself a marked man. He needs Evan to not only keep him safe but to help him figure out who wants him dead.

Evan wants a normal life but he is trapped by his past and can see no way out. He'll get no help from the government that created him and Orphan X wants a clean slate. He gets help from a cast of characters that are interesting and really well developed.

Gregg Hurwitz is a fantastic writer and I will always read anything that he writes!

I needed to binge read the previous books in this series in order to read this one for review. My ratings for the previous books: 
Orphan X ★★★★
The Nowhere Man ★★★★★
Hellbent ★★★★★
Out of the Dark ★★★★ 

This is a fabulous series and you should absolutely read it. You definitely need to suspend your disbelief at times, but it is worth it. I find the writing to be engaging and I love the characters. 

Once again, our MC, Orphan X, is helping out a person in trouble. He is engaged in nonstop action from beginning to end. This makes for an exciting ride, but it is Evan's thoughts and underlying story that make the books even better for me. Also, I think some of the best parts are some of the giggles to laugh out lot moments. Hurwitz does an admirable job of adding in some humor to his stories without going overboard. All of this leads to a multilayered story hidden in an action novel. 

The end of the novel threw in a little twist that I'm not sure I love, but I am really curious to see where it goes. I will be impatiently waiting for the next release, but in the meantime, I am certainly going to have to go back and read the short stories that go along with this series! Due to binge reading this series, I think I may have some Nowhere Man withdrawals.