I received this book from Gregg Hurwitz, his publisher (Minotaur Books), and the fine folks at NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The premise behind the series is that the protagonist, Evan Smoak, having been taken from a children's home in East Baltimore and trained as part of a secret government initiative (the Orphan program, of which he was the twenty-fourth successful agent) buried so deep that virtually no one knows it exists. But he broke with the program, choosing instead to vanish off the grid and use his formidable skill set to help those unable to protect themselves as The Nowhere Man.

This is the tenth book in Hurwitz's Orphan X series with the synopsis being that Evan Smoak was a highly successful black ops assassin known as Orphan X, dedicated to a rigid set of operational rules. Now, even after breaking with the government program, going deep underground, and remaking his life, Smoak is dedicated to his assassin's Ten Commandments. But for the first time in his life, those principles have put him on a collision course with the man who might be his best friend in the world, Tommy Stojack.

As an aside, it is stated in Hurwitz's biography on Goodreads that he was also instrumental in writing for Marvel Comics for the Punisher starting in 2004. As an avid comic book fan when I was younger, I can easily draw the correlation between Punisher's armourer, Microchip, and Smoak's armourer, Tommy Stojack, and the relation that both characters shared with their armourers.

Stojack, a gifted gunsmith who has created much of Evan's weapons and combat gear, has crossed one of Evan's sharply delineated lines. When Evan decides to go to his workshop and have it out with Tommy, Evan finds himself under attack by a group attempting to ambush and kill him. But, with all his training and skills, Evan is extremely hard to kill―and the dispute explodes into open warfare between him and Tommy. Now Evan has no choice, in his mind, than to track down and face down his only friend.

In the meantime, Tommy is honoring an old promise to an Army friend and goes to help his dead friend's son. In a depressed rural area, with conflicts flaring up, that son is partially responsible for the death of a family of innocents. And while Tommy is trying to keep him, and his friends, alive, Evan arrives, with vengeance in mind. This novel features lots of introspection for our protagonist in this tale as he revisits his upbringing, and works through conflicts with his closest “friends”, Joey and Tommy. Along the way he deals a group of young militia wannabes, a corrupt sheriff’s department, and a ‘contract’ that has been placed on Tommy’s head.

This was a series that I only came to recently, having only read the last two books, that would be a definite favourite for those aficionados of the action thriller genre and is easily worthy of a four-star rating on a scale of five.

As with most of my literary ramblings, these are my five cents worth.

Wow what a book.!
I just finished and am sitting here trying not to cry.
In a weird way, I suppose, I think of these characters as real people. .And I'm shocked really. I found myself saying no no no please no.
This book was so good. I truly believe it is my favorite
I thought the meaning of.Tommy's comments and attitude toward Evan in the beginning was a.play.on the real people comments about Evan becoming more human less bad ass.
Like a... let's take a step back.. I'll show you who's soft. He definitely had a harder edge. Or so it seems when being looked at from somene else's perspective or experience.
The story as it circles around takes you on the full emotional spectrum. In the middle with Evan on the outside with Tommy. Who am I mad at Who's side should I take What?
The writing is exceptional as always
You are wonderful The book is wonderful I am so grateful for the opportunity to read it
Thank you truly.

A unique thriller featuring a war between 2 good guys. full of action, lots of description of the tools of killing, the Orphan X series is always wildly entertaining. Each book tells us more about how Ethan came to be Orphan X. Highly enjoyable.

Evan Smoak, Orphan X, the Nowhere Man...whatever guise author Gregg Hurwitz cloaks his protagonist in is a sure winner. Hurwitz is just a very talented writer and I have enjoyed his novels. Here we see a friendship that last years but appears to finally come down. The story is told with intrigue and excitement. I can't wait for the next one.
Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Great to have Evan (X) back even though his other persona, Nowhere Man, is only mentioned in passing. Lots of introspection for our protagonist in this tale as he revisits his upbringing, and works through conflicts with his closest “friends”, Joey and Tommy. Along the way he deals a group of young militia wannabes, a corrupt sheriff’s department, and a ‘contract’ that has been placed on Tommy’s head. A great addition to the series.

Nemesis by Gregg Hurwitz, is an action packed thriller that covers a wide spectrum emotions. From loneliness and despondency to anger and frustration, as well as vengeance, determination. friendship, and love. But more than anything, love and a determination to belong seem to be the overriding feelings throughout the book.

It starts with a man named Evan Smoat, being hell bent on getting revenge, believing that he had been betrayed by someone (Tommy Stojack) he had come to love and call family (or heaven forbid friends), if Evan was willing to admit someone like him had people he was willing to care about. Evan grew up alone and isolated, created to be the perfect weapon any government would be thrilled to exploit, and growing tired of the political games, the looking over his shoulder, and the threats by his own people, he pulled out, hiding from everyone until he befriends the person he feels finally betrayed him.

The hurt that fills Evan is evident in everything he does. The reader can feel the anger, the rage, almost as if it's palpable. When Evan starts to question if his friend did in fact betray him, his anger and sense of betrayal slowly morph into confusion, but Evan doesn't let that stop him from searching for Tommy through hell or high water, because one way or another he's going to get what he's searching for, whether that be retribution or answers.

High speed action, psychological warfare tactics (some), intense drama, the ability to get out of any situation almost makes you think of a cross between Mission Impossible, Jack Reacher, and Fast and Furious movie as you read this book. If you're looking for fun and excitement, and looking for a book that is a good plot as well, then I highly recommend reading Nemesis.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this Orphan X installment.

I've loved the Orphan X series since the beginning and have really enjoyed the Nowhere Man's journey. This latest installment is really forcing him to dig deeper into his self discovery, and into his relationships, both with Joey, and more so with his friend and arms dealer, Tommy Stojack. This was another great book in the series, and I can't wait for #11.

Gregg Hurwitz is an awesome author. I haven’t read a book of his that I haven’t loved. This book was no exception!