Thank God I finished this book so I can finally get some sleep instead of reading well past my bedtime because I just have to read one more chapter ... and then another and oh, just one more! I have read all the Orphan X novels and just when I think they can't get any better, along comes Into the Fire. Once again, Evan Smoke is a fascinating character who manages to extricate himself time and again and again and again from situations that have no escape. I love the excitement and the action, but also I love seeing Evan be that perfect balance of human as well as assassin. Gregg Hurwitz has created a masterpiece ... yet again.
Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an Advance Reader Copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Into The Fire by Gregg Hurwitz is the fifth novel featuring Evan Smoak, the Orphan X character, along with the usual supporting characters previously introduced. Hurwitz's Orphan X novels and short stories are very well assembled and are certainly among the top tier of this type of thriller genre, with Into the Fire continuing that consistency.

Readers may wonder how Hurwitz could follow with a compelling tale after the explosive ending in the previous Orphan X novel, Out of the Dark, and somehow finds a way to do just that with Into The Fire.

Again, Orphan X answers a cellular telephone call from a person needing help. Max Merriweather is a young man spurned by his family and is put in danger when a relative hands him a sealed envelope to pass along to a woman in case something happens to him. Two months later the relative is murdered and when Max realizes he is in mortal danger, he comes into contact with Orphan X's previous case who passes along The Nowhere Man's telephone number Max.

As Orphan X slowly finds out, helping Max is like peeling an onion - one layer dealt with only reveals another deeper layer of trouble more dangerous than the previous layer.

Hurwitz keeps the story moving forward while keeping his series fresh without growing boring or stagnant.

Hurwitz's Orphan X's series is highly recommended to those that enjoy novels by Lee Child featuring the Jack Reacher character.

Review of ‘Into the Fire’ by Gregg Hurwitz

Where have I been? I just read my first Orphan X, aka Nowhere Man, novel.
I had heard of Orphan X but had never read any of the first four books in the series. My bad.
The plot has the hero on a quest to retire yet events continue to arise with each one more dire than the last, leaving his goal in constant doubt. The cast of supporting characters adds dimension to the story.
Next time I need a quick read with lots of life-or-death action, I know which author to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book, which RELEASES JANUARY 28, 2020.

Evan Smoak, Orphan X, is back in a terrific new novel. He seems to be ready to get out of the business of saving the downtrodden, but gets sucked in one last time (or is it). Just when he thinks he has solved it and can quit, more layers start to unfold, and one of the more fascinating conspiracies is revealed step by violence ridden step. And his neighbors and friends play their role as well. This is another can’t put it down book with this new type of hero. You can’t help but admire and pity him at the same time. Lots of interesting new technical detail as well, and always great reading for vodka lovers. A real triumph.

An ARC from NET GALLEY was provided for this review

Boom, Boom, Boom, and I am a guy that hates series work in general but Hurwitz still pouts the HURT down thru Orphan X aka Evan Smoak.

This installment continues the "smoke-down" as Smoak tries to help Max who opened Pandora's box by doing a little favor for a friend (relative). The action never stops and there is even a puppy in the second half. Great work as usual

Another winner by one of my favorite authors! If you have never read a single book of the great Gregg Hurwitz then don't bother reading this review because it won't mean a thing to you. LOL I love the story of Evan and Mia! They are a super couple and I want them to get together so badly!! I don't want him to retire but yet I do so they can be a couple. Her son Peter is the smartest little fella. Please try this author if you want some action and adventure! plus a great story. I love you Netgalley!! Thanks so much!!

I can't get enough of Evan. The Nowhere Man is such an original and totally intriguing character. This time out, Evan is helping a man who has reached the bottom of his existence and has nowhere else to turn. Once again Evan is there to help with his incredible ability and his personal moral code. I had a jolt when Evan decided this would be his last outing. The thought of not following his life and adventures is not something I look forward to. After all this time, he seems so familiar and reliable that he's become part of the fabric of my reading life.. Another great chapter in this magnificent series!

Lou Jacobs's Reviews > Into the Fire

Into the Fire by Gregg Hurwitz
Into the Fire (Orphan X, #5)
by Gregg Hurwitz (Goodreads Author)
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review Sep 29, 2019 · edit
it was amazing

OK... I admit it!!! Reading Hurwitz' Fifth novel of Orphan "X" is a guilty pleasure. It's like eating eating a whole box of Godiva chocolates without coming up for air. And, like chocolates, you can never get enough. This continues the saga of the delightfully, dangerous vigilante ... not a superhero, a kind-of Batman.... a highly skilled assassin who just wants to help people.
Evan Smoak, Orphan X, was a 12 year-old boy rescued out of the projects of East Baltimore.... only then to undergo a 7 year grueling training course under the tutelage of his handler... Jack Johns ... who was the closest thing to a father he would ever know. Evan was part of a black ops "Orphan Program" created by the Department of Defense ... creating a cadre of trained assassins that where deniable and expendable. Each sent on a mission to destroy a high-value target. As his trainer said it was easy to train him to kill, but hard to have remain human. Evan eventually escapes the program to become a pro bono freelancer, helping those who could not help themselves.
Grant Merriweather is brutally murdered ... massively tortured then the coup de grace with bullet to the brain. Just prior to his demise he contacts his somewhat inept cousin Max Merriweather and intrusts him with an envelope to deliver to a reporter in the event of his death. Max becomes the locus of an onslaught of attempts for his capture or killing ... assuming he is in position of damaging evidence that would bring down a cabal of highly placed individuals. Max while fleeing , inadvertently
crosses paths with a previous victim who was saved by Evan and obtains his contact info.
Once Evan is contacted he unselfishly jumps "Into The Fire" to save Max and unravel the motivation of this byzantine organization pursuing Max like a heat seeking missile. Each time Evan eliminates the seeming head of the organization, another threat emerges like a Greek Hydra.
Gregg Hurwitz explodes with another barn burner thriller with a riveting and well plotted narrative jammed with unexpected twists in this deceptive plot. Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press - Minotaur Book for providing an Uncorrected Proof of this gem in exchange for an honest review. I can barely contain my desire for more of the same from Hurwitz!!

Into The Fire by Gregg Hurwitz
Another great "Orphan X" Evan Smoak novel! I am a huge fan of this series and after reading the latest installment of this series I must say I am once again waiting for the next book to come out! Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for this ARC and letting me leave my opinion and thank you Mr. Hurwitz for hours of great reading!

The fifth book in the Orphan X series continues to deliver the fast-paced action and excitement that people have come to love.

I've read the previous 4 books of the Orphan X series and enjoyed them all, Into the Fire may be the best one yet.

It will draw you in and won’t let go.

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

An arsenal of credit's due Hurwitz for unspooling another Nowhere Man adventure in which the propulsive storytelling and Smoak world-building kept me shaking my head (with a smile) through the vodka fetishism. (And dog named Dog, which the Walking Dead TV show should've caused him to come up with an alt-name.) One of the best ongoing action-adventure-etc series of its ilk going, in spite of these minor, minor quibbles.

I enjoyed this book as much as I have enjoyed every Orphan X book in the series. Throughout this latest adventure, there was the underlying story that Orphan X was thinking of putting an end to the Nowhere Man by quitting. Evan Smoak is wrestling with changing his life and living as a regular human being. The beginning of a relationship with Mia and her son, Peter, have brought forth conflicting emotions in a man who has been trained to be emotionless. And this latest case, helping Max Merriweather who has relationship issues that mirror Evan’s own, only serves to underscore what he begins to realize he has been missing in his life. The Nowhere Man and helping others is no longer fulfilling his life. As I read this latest adventure of the Nowhere Man, I was disappointed to think the series was coming to an end. But then, Gregg Hurwitz gave all of the Orphan X fans a reprieve with the possibility of another story line. Thank you Mr. Hurwitz. And thanks to Minotaur Books and Macmillan for providing this ebook.

Really a challenge for Evan and the reader. Just when Evan thought he was done, another head of the hydra comes. Evan manages to chop off this and, you got it, another one emerges. Very well written

Evan Smoak, aka Orphan X, is determined that the Nowhere Man will help one last person before he retires from a life of violence and vengeance. His new client, Max Merriweather, was tasked by his dead brother to deliver a mysterious flash drive to a journalist. Max and X discover that the data contained therein leads to multiple hierarchies of villains, all wanting Max dead.

X navigates all the numerous targets with his usual McGyver-like ingenuity, sophisticated weaponry and the genius hacking abilities of teenage Joey. During this challenging mission, X has an almost supernatural effectiveness in killing all his targets, even when suffering the affects of a concussion. He never slows down, barreling on through exhaustion and pain, to finish the job, even after he discovers layer after layer of villainy he must dispose of.

None of this turned me off, however. I’ve enjoyed all the Orphan X books and this one is no exception. X is the badass hero for the 21st Century. To create his anti-hero, Hurwitz combined the paranoia of Jason Bourne with the muscle of John Wick and the advanced weaponry of James Bond.

And though this might have been X’s last mission, the book ends with a surprising cliffhanger, revealing Hurwitz is not yet done with X. That makes me very happy.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

A great continuation of the series. I will recommend this title and series to anyone looking for a well written, suspenseful read with original storyline and compelling characters.

Evan Smoak, also known as Orphan X, also known as the Nowhere Man, is a killing machine. He knows all kinds of hand-to-hand combat fighting techniques and every weapon ever made. But he only kills bad people, and I find him to actually be an inspirational character, strangely.

Hurwitz is great at getting his readers to sympathize with his characters immediately. They are good people with some serious life-or-death problem that Evan Smoak as the Nowhere Man can help out with. In this fifth, and I guess last book of the series ( ☹ ), Nowhere Man gets a call from Max Merriweather, a man whose cousin has recently been murdered, and now some men are after him and the item his far more financially successful cousin left with him. I like Evan, I like Max, I like the cast of supporting characters.

As with the other books in the series, the reader has to figure out how Evan will get himself out of seemingly impossible situations, often without any weapons other than himself. This makes for a fast, page-turning read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book, which RELEASES JANUARY 28, 2020.

For more reviews, please visit: http://www.theresaalan.net/blog

Orphan X, the Nowhere Man, Evan Smoak, receives a call he’s come to expect. “Do you need my help,” he asks, and the answer spins him into battle against a hydra of crooks and killers.

Peeling back layer after layer, Evan fights to neutralize the threat while fighting off a devastating concussion. This will be his last mission; he is desperate to try to live a normal life. But when the woman he loves, Mia, and her son Peter are threatened by the hydra, he will risk everything to save them.

Hurwitz’ explores the depths of human attachments, and what people will do for those they love. A totally satisfying — if violent — thriller. Highly recommended.

I began this book with the certainty that I would enjoy it just as much as I had all of the previous titles in this series, I can't believe how wrong I was. This book is Hurwitz's best yet! I keep anticipating some kind of let down, because no one can hit a grand slam every time at the plate but then I begin and my heartbeat starts to race, and I'm hooked. I'm not sure what I was expecting after Evan took out the President of the United States, but I never imagined anything like this. It starts out as a simple job which Evan decides will bring a close to the Nowhere Man chapter of his life, now that he's eliminated those who wanted to erase his existence and that of the other Orphans. But like life, Evan's plans go awry, circumstances spiral out of his control and it takes every ounce of his considerable skill to set things to right, or as right as he can make it. I began reading these books because I enjoy the action displayed by our hero, but I've found that I look forward to delving into Evan's attempts at social interaction more than the action. His stumbling over his complex relationship with Mia, his playfulness with Peter, his loving bond with Joey and even how he falters in sympathizing with his clients hopelessness; the strength in the story is when Evan isn't being a superbly trained operative, but when his human side is lain bare and exposed. Jack (and Gregg) made him into a finely honed weapon but kept the spark of humanity ignited in Evan which makes this series one of the best written, and one I still hope to be reading twenty years from now. I looked forward to reading this and felt sad when I finished, knowing the next installment won't be for at least a year. To those who haven't read these books, I envy you, if you're wise you'll begin a journey that will leave you breathless and demanding more. I received a copy of this book for the purpose of writing a review, I went into this expecting a great novel and was completely blown away by the incredible gift I was bestowed. #IntotheFire #NetGalley

I have not read the first four books in the Orphan X series, but that doesn’t matter with this novel. It can be read as a standalone without knowing what happened in the past. This is a fast paced, thriller that had me not want to stop reading. The Nowhere Man, Evan Smoak gets a call from Max Merriweather whose cousin was murdered but beforehand left Max an envelope. What happens next is a series of escapades as the Nowhere Man tries to give back Max his life. It is like the layers of an onion, as Evan finishes with one bad group, another higher up the ladder tries to go after Max. Slowly, but surely Evan works his way to the head of the snake. It kept me on edge and I really felt for Evan, Max and the others. Now I want to go back and read the first four novels!

OMG I just love this series, I was fortunate to be allowed to read this before it's release. Thanks to Net Gallery. Gregg Hurwitz has created some wonderful characters. You don't have to read the first 4 books before you read this but seriously it just adds to the story. I'm not going to redo the summary, others do such an amazing job. This is why I like these books. I have to like the main character...check, love Evan, just enough broke to love but with a whole lot to love. Has to be action....oh boy is there a lot of action, I think this book tops that and then some. The book has to grab me, the whole premise of these books really makes me want this as a TV series, I can see this! I enjoy, but don't have to have surprises. YES! I have to say this book left me with wanting to call Gregg Hurwitz and say "do nothing but write pretty please" I'll be eagerly and I mean EAGERLY waiting for book #6 and #5 isn't even for sale yet.