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jillyrabb101's review
3.0
Good
Enjoy a good book about treachery and revenge. Nice to have a bit of self realization in there too. The Mia stuff seems kinda cut and paste from the previous books though.
Enjoy a good book about treachery and revenge. Nice to have a bit of self realization in there too. The Mia stuff seems kinda cut and paste from the previous books though.
bchristian541's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Another amazing book in the Orphan X series. I couldn't put it down. As the series continues, the storyline becomes more and more interesting. I can't wait to read the next one.
stevem0214's review against another edition
4.0
Good page turner. Sometimes it's just a little over the top in the luck/skill/believable department, but it is interesting and is hard to but down. Took me so long to read because I was reading and listening to 4 books at one time due to V+Covid-19.
papidoc's review against another edition
4.0
Hurwitz is often compared to Lee Child and John Standford, but I don't think he is at that level...yet. I have enjoyed his thrillers, though. Orphan X is interesting, and I hope Hurwitz does more in future volumes to develop him as a more complete character, in addition to creating exciting stories in which X is featured.
bayleys's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
cojack's review against another edition
5.0
I ripped through this one. Probably my favorite of all the Orphan X books. (I would recommend reading them in order, just to get the background.) Great suspense, action, and cat & mouse games. I think Hurwitz’s writing is improving. This book and the previous one have a lot more heart than earlier books. The Nowhere Man plot line is pretty heartbreaking, and the Orphan X one is exciting. Hurwitz does a great job of balancing the stories. I’m not going to say any more because of spoilers.
bianca89279's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
After reading and loving the third novel in the Orphan X series, I jumped at the opportunity to read the fourth instalment.
Out of the Dark continues Evan Stoak’s journey as the Nowhere Man. But now, there are more complications added to the mix, such as Evan wanting to kill the President of the United States in order for the President not to kill him and the other Orphans. This scenario made me arch my sceptical, really? eyebrow, even though I enjoyed the tactical intricacies and other such details.
I wasn’t as charmed by this novel as I was with the previous one, even though some of the things that I wished to happen for Evan did occur.
In my opinion, Hurwitz went overboard with the action sequences, there was so much packed in, on the East and West Coast of America, oh, yeah, plus a quick trip to Europe. Evan never seemed to sleep. I know he’s some kind of superhuman, nevertheless, I grumbled about certain aspects of the novel I found incongruous. I did enjoy seeing Evan’s emotional growth, but that in itself would have taken a mental/physical toll on him, so it didn’t make sense to me that he’d still be able to do all the many things he did in this novel.
Even though this latest volume in the series was my least favourite, I’m looking forward to finding out what Hurwitz has in store for the Nowhere Man.
I’ve received this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this novel.
After reading and loving the third novel in the Orphan X series, I jumped at the opportunity to read the fourth instalment.
Out of the Dark continues Evan Stoak’s journey as the Nowhere Man. But now, there are more complications added to the mix, such as Evan wanting to kill the President of the United States in order for the President not to kill him and the other Orphans. This scenario made me arch my sceptical, really? eyebrow, even though I enjoyed the tactical intricacies and other such details.
I wasn’t as charmed by this novel as I was with the previous one, even though some of the things that I wished to happen for Evan did occur.
In my opinion, Hurwitz went overboard with the action sequences, there was so much packed in, on the East and West Coast of America, oh, yeah, plus a quick trip to Europe. Evan never seemed to sleep. I know he’s some kind of superhuman, nevertheless, I grumbled about certain aspects of the novel I found incongruous. I did enjoy seeing Evan’s emotional growth, but that in itself would have taken a mental/physical toll on him, so it didn’t make sense to me that he’d still be able to do all the many things he did in this novel.
Even though this latest volume in the series was my least favourite, I’m looking forward to finding out what Hurwitz has in store for the Nowhere Man.
I’ve received this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this novel.
jwillis81's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of my favorite series at the moment, and this book was by far the best in the series so far. This book really delved into Evan's personality and emotions more than any of the previous books, and both the main and side plot were both really compelling. Hurwitz is getting better and better with each one of these books and I can't wait to see where he takes Evan Smoak next!
pilebythebed's review against another edition
4.0
Orphan X, also known as the Nowhere Man is back for a fourth go round. For those needing a catch up, once again Hurwitz provides a primer early on. A deep secret American project to take orphans and train them to be killers. Evan Smoak, aka Orphan X, turned his back on all of that and has been on the run ever since. As the Nowhere Man he also helps people in trouble (usually in LA) as atonement for his life of killing.
Only someone is killing the orphans and their trainers off and it turned out in book 3, Hellbent (spoile alert) that the man behind this is the President of the United States. Former head of the Department of Defence, the President has some skeletons in his closet, somehow associated with Smoak’s first mission in 1997. Smoak’s personal mission now is to find out what the connection is and to kill the President. But the President knows he is coming and releases one of Smoak’s nemeses – Orphan A – along with the might of the US security services to stop him. Not only is Smoak’s plan constantly portrayed as impossible, at the same time he has a mission to complete as the Nowhere Man for a man who’s life has been turned upside down by a viscous gang of drug dealers.
Evan Smoak is a classic thriller hero. He has a Jason Bourne-eque way of using whatever is to hand whenever making his escapes (in one case this is a table, a handful of salt and a green tea cha), trying not to kill anyone who is not his target. But he is also incredibly well planned, so that everything that looks like a setback turns out to be some sort of contingency-planned fakeout. And he is constantly trying to juggle his personal mission with his commitment to solve the problems of his most recent client and try to have a normal relationship with his neighbour and her 9 year old son. Smoak, still a relentlessly effective killing machine, is slowly becoming more human from one book to the next.
Out of the Dark will delight thriller lovers. With its mix of weaponry technobabble, well written action scenes, a sly sense of humour and likeable but tortured main character and some great side characters, it ticks all of the boxes. While it can probably be read as a standalone, Hurwitz economically fills in the blanks when characters from previous books appear, but the Orphan X books are definitely better read as a series and in order.
Only someone is killing the orphans and their trainers off and it turned out in book 3, Hellbent (spoile alert) that the man behind this is the President of the United States. Former head of the Department of Defence, the President has some skeletons in his closet, somehow associated with Smoak’s first mission in 1997. Smoak’s personal mission now is to find out what the connection is and to kill the President. But the President knows he is coming and releases one of Smoak’s nemeses – Orphan A – along with the might of the US security services to stop him. Not only is Smoak’s plan constantly portrayed as impossible, at the same time he has a mission to complete as the Nowhere Man for a man who’s life has been turned upside down by a viscous gang of drug dealers.
Evan Smoak is a classic thriller hero. He has a Jason Bourne-eque way of using whatever is to hand whenever making his escapes (in one case this is a table, a handful of salt and a green tea cha), trying not to kill anyone who is not his target. But he is also incredibly well planned, so that everything that looks like a setback turns out to be some sort of contingency-planned fakeout. And he is constantly trying to juggle his personal mission with his commitment to solve the problems of his most recent client and try to have a normal relationship with his neighbour and her 9 year old son. Smoak, still a relentlessly effective killing machine, is slowly becoming more human from one book to the next.
Out of the Dark will delight thriller lovers. With its mix of weaponry technobabble, well written action scenes, a sly sense of humour and likeable but tortured main character and some great side characters, it ticks all of the boxes. While it can probably be read as a standalone, Hurwitz economically fills in the blanks when characters from previous books appear, but the Orphan X books are definitely better read as a series and in order.