Yup - another Evan Smoak novel. Opening the book, it quickly became clear that Greg Hurwitz had not given his lead character any hesitation in launching his one man crusades against the forces of darkness that cross his path via a single phone call. If you’re new to the Orphan X novels think of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher character but with even fewer scruples about taking on bad guys and no hesitation at all about packing an arsenal that will ensure that those same bad guys are outgunned if at all possible.

There will be few doubts in the reader’s mind that he’s reading a Henry James masterpiece; it’s really not that kind of writing. But if fast-paced action is something that keeps you reading when you should really have turned off the light (or the Kindle) hours ago, this could be a book for you. Yes, there is the same mildly annoying need to keep disbelief firmly at bay as our hero stretches the bounds of plausibility way beyond what is reasonable. But the fluency of the narrative and the almost physical sense of being a silent witness to some of the mayhem that is being described means that the overall effect is very positive. No spoiler here, but in addition to the expected denouement finally arriving with explosive impact, there is a neat flourish on the final pages.
Strongly recommended.

Tense from the very beginning. A mix of Bourne and Batman ( without the suit ), a Super soldier tried to find peace in his soul by helping those in dire need of the services that only he can provide. A thrill ride of action set pieces, great characters that really suit there roles and a small dash of humour on top.

Another fantastic Orphan X thriller from the master of action and suspense, Gregg Hurwitz. This is the fifth book in the series, and I highly recommend reading the others before picking up this one, not just because the book will make more sense, but because they are excellent, and easily some of the best action thrillers I have read.
Once again we follow Evan Smoak as he comes to the aid of someone in trouble, in this case the hapless Max Merriweather. Max has not had the easiest of lives, so when his cousin asks him for a favour he's only too happy to help out. Unfortunately when his cousin is murdered, Max soon comes to realise that he's in a dangerous situation, and he ends up calling on the Nowhere Man, aka Evan for help. It's a deceptively simple mission, and Evan is sure he can help, but things are rarely as simple as they seem, and soon Evan is drawn into the dangerous world of the Armenian mob and the shadowy figures who are pulling their strings.
Fast paced and full of action, this book opens at a frantic pace and rarely slows down as Evan makes his way through the layers of intrigue. We get to see some familiar faces, most notably the teenage hacker and former Orphan project recruit, Joey Morales and Evan's neighbour Mia and her son Peter ,and we get to see more development in their respective relationships with Evan.
Has the time come for the Nowhere Man to hang up his Roamphone, and can Orphan X finally stop running? The ending of the book teases us with these possibilities before delivering a stinger that has me desperate for the next stage in Evan's story, because it certainly seems like its a long way from over.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Evan Smoak aka Orphan X aka The Nowhere Man returns in Gregg Hurwitz’s Into the Fire which is a full on action packed thriller that easily out Jack Ryan’s exploits.

Smoak specialises in helping lost causes but this time he is facing his most dangerous opponent whilst suffering from a dangerous concussion.

The action never stops and Hurwitz has created a great characters that this reader enjoys reading about

Definitely recommended

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this exceptional book

evan smoak aka orphan x taken as a child and trained to be a government assassin, though evan has left that life behind him has that life really left him...still hunted by the government, he takes on jobs from people that need his skill set when they have nowhere else to turn to

max has been given a thumb drive by his brother...but now the people that had killed his brother are after him and so he rings the nowhere man and so begins the tale

this is a high energy high octane book with twists and turns galore...evan has his work cut out for him as he makes headway into who is after max.. and with a nasty concussion to contend with evan struggles to bring it to a climax...

brilliant edge of the seat stuff i cant wait for the next installment of this series fingers crossed

There’s something scary in Max Merriweather’s neighbourhood. Who’s he gonna call? The Nowhere Man (dun nuh nuh nuh nuuuh)! He ain’t afraid of no crooks!

Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X books are fairly standard action thrillers where the hero is the usual Jason Bourne-type, an unstoppable special forces guy who’s taking on the world (Americuh, fuck yeah!). The specifics of Into the Fire don’t really matter as it’s just more of the same that’s gone before: someone needs Evan’s help so he helps them, which always takes the form of killing baddies like gangsters and corrupt public officials. Like the other Orphan X books, Into the Fire isn’t bad but it’s nothing that special either.

Up to about the halfway point, the story was unremarkable in that Evan was effortlessly pushing the fight back into enemy territory – and then he suffered a severe concussion and things got interesting as he became more vulnerable and less assured. Some of the scenes after that were good – the whole prison episode in particular – and I liked when he helped out his elderly neighbour who got mugged, especially as her reaction to being helped isn’t as straightforward as how he dealt with it was.

It was amusing how things kept escalating despite Evan thinking he’d cut the head off the snake - wait, there’s another head to cut off! And another! Etc. And my heart went out to Dog, the Rhodesian ridgeback Evan saves, in every one of his scenes – as a dog lover I’m an easy mark for that kinda stuff and I liked how that subplot developed.

The story ends on an almost comical note when Hurwitz mixes OTT Michael Bay-esque action with an attempt at a charged emotional climax that seemed too incongruously silly to take seriously. And any story where the main character talks to the President of the United States always feels plain daffy to me. Like every Orphan X book I’ve read, there’s never really anything too challenging or insurmountable that Evan can’t overcome, which makes for a predictable and, ironically, unexciting narrative - he’s far too powerful a character.

Hurwitz is still pushing the District Attorney single mom Mia as a viable love interest for Evan and it continues to feel forced, unconvincing and unnecessary. And the conclusion was much too neat with all but the cliffhanger wrapping everything up cleanly and conveniently.

But Hurwitz knows how to write well so his novels never become so boring as, say, a Lee Child novel, which feel to me like reading a manual on spanners. Hurwitz sets up Into the Fire as the final Orphan X book but, even without that cliffhanger, I suspect the books are too popular for him to stop writing them at this point.

It’s a smooth read that’s occasionally exciting but Into the Fire never really rose above your average action thriller – a genre story done well but nothing memorable, sensational or original either.

Gregg Hurwitz writes what looks to be his final addition to his excellent thriller series featuring his all action man, Evan Smoak, Orphan X, hero to the desperate who have nowhere else to go as he comes to their aid as The Nowhere Man. So right, you are going to have to park your sense of disbelief before embarking on this spectacular train ride of thrills after thrills, as The Nowhere Man steps for the last time into the fire in his efforts to gain absolution from his past as a assassin, hungering for a life more ordinary and more human. He is a socially awkward man, with OCD when it comes to his ultimate tech secure penthouse apartment, an oasis of order in comparison to the chaotic world outside, with the gnawing fear that perhaps he too damaged to fit in a world of intimate relationships that require the baring of your soul and open you up to the possibility of a world of pain that family and close friends can mean.

And his last client, Max Merriweather, a broken man rejected by his family and feeling an abject failure after the breakdown of his marriage to his beloved wife, Violet, illustrates to Evan just what love and being human means. Does he really have the strength and courage to open himself to this quagmire if he is no longer The Nowhere Man? Little does he know it, but he is already on his way, as can be seen in the snarky yet tender relationship the young hacker extraordinaire, Joey Morales, has with him, particularly as he gifts her a injured bait dog he rescues. Then there is the elderly irascible Ida, who is mugged for her necklace, where he just can't stop himself from coming to her aid. So okay District Attorney Mia Hall does not view him in the most positive of lights but then she is to find herself in circumstances where things become far less black and white.

Evan finds himself tested to his absolute limits as he suffers a concussion that mar his abilities to operate at his best, and where every time he thinks he has secured the safety of Max who is dropped into a horrifying scenario after his cousin Grant is tortured and murdered, he finds a more dangerous set of foes that he must confront. This is a fast paced, intense, riveting thriller where the non-stop action had me biting my nails and totally enthralled right up to the unbelievable finale. I am hoping that Hurwitz returns to Evan Smoak in the future, a protagonist that has managed to capture the hearts of so many readers. Highly recommended if you love your thrillers. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.

The best book so far in the series in my opinion. Our hero hard man wants a normal life, A life that doesn’t include action, drama and killings. He’s even looking to maybe have a life with Mia if he hasn’t totally ruined it by the end of this book. The book starts with the normal phone call from someone needing help and before carrying out his mission, Evan makes a promise to himself that this is the last mission but can he really turn his back on a life he has always known?. My reasoning for liking this book the most, is it certainly shows Evan’s softer side, he seem to become more sensitive with every new page I read. I loved the connecting between the two characters of Evan and Joey, it’s somewhat brother and sister like and full of great sarcastic human between them.. These kind of relationships between the characters are what makes this series of books so special and unique, it’s show a softer side to the action that surrounds the pages. I’m praying this is not the end for Evan and us readers get more from this brilliant author, it’s is then it’s a fantastic ending because it’s just makes me want more and the need to read them all again.

Out of the Dark, book 4 of Greg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series seemed to wrap things up in a bow. Hero Evan Smoak had discovered the hidden secrets from his past and killed the man responsible (a man who just happened to be the President of the United States). At the start of Into the Fire, Smoak has decided that with his past behind him, he will also give up the mantle of the Nowhere Man, a persona that he developed to help people in trouble. Of course, before doing that he needs to complete one more job.
The very cold open involves the killing of Grant Merriweather, but before he dies he gives up the name of his cousin Max. It turns out that Greg is a forensic auditor and has entrusted Max with information to take to the media in case of his death. But before he can do that Max finds himself the target of a hitman and while on the run finds his way to Evan Smoak’s number and possibly the client in Smoak’s last case.
Into the Fire is a Russian doll of a novel. Every time Smoak thinks he has cut the head off the organisation that is targeting Max he finds another level deeper. And each time he goes deeper the level of difficulty for him goes up, this includes spending half the book battling a concussion which throws off his balance and timing. But Smoak will be Smoak, backing himself in a range of increasingly dangerous situations including being dropped into the middle of a dog fight and infiltrating (and then escaping from) a prison to kill one of his targets. This is, as always, suspend-your-disbelief and sit back and enjoy action from a master of this genre.
Smoak continues, slowly, on his journey to become a normal human being, a theme that underlies all of the books in this series. He continues to mentor the trainee orphan, computer hacker-whizz teenager he took on a couple of books back. His relationship with neighbour Mia goes cold and then becomes more complicated as he tries to help out his other neighbours in the only way he knows how. And he has to grapple with the real concept that shortly he will stop doing the only thing he has been trained all of his life to do.
Into the Fire is another great entry in this ongoing action series. Unsurprisingly, in the age of prestige streaming TV, it is also in development as a TV series. And not to disappoint fans too much, Hurwitz leaves a little dangling to set things up for a possible action-packed future.

As a great fan of the OrphanX series I was so excited to see this new book. Of course it did not disappoint. Fast moving with a twist. Throughly recommendation for X readers.

This is the fifth and (maybe) final outing for Evan Smoak, as he decides that it’s time to try to lead a normal life.
His help is requested by Max Merriweather, whose cousin has entrusted him with a secret that threatens his life and his family.
However, at every stage, as one danger is neutralised, a worse one appears, and the problems become more and more complex and dangerous, as levels of corruption are revealed.

Alongside this, Evan is struggling to have a “normal” life in his apartment complex, and trying to build a relationship with Mia and Peter, but can’t help interfering when one of the residents is robbed. Joey is also there to help him, and that relationships is beautifully drawn.
This is nicely contrasted with Max’s efforts to get his life on track.

I know he is some kind of superman, but when Evan is suffering from concussion, and manages to go for several days without sleep, yet still functions at full level, things get a little unbelievable.

Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and hope that Evan finds the life he wants.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for the opportunity to read this book.

It was a very insightful novel, with a strong cast of characters. I enjoyed the story line very much and would definitely recommend this book.

This is the fifth book of this series and I would heartedly implore you to start from book one and read in order as Orphan X / Evan Smoak / Nowhere Man is one of the most complex characters backstory wise that I have read in a while and, although the main story told within this book could be read standalone, I fear you would miss out on so much if you haven't already read the previous books.
Well, this book hits the ground running as Grant Merriweather presents at hospital in a really bad way. It appears he has suffered at others' hands. But there is a nefarious reason for wanting him to stay alive. A name. Cut to Max who has just learnt of his cousin's death and is toying with opening an envelope that Grant left with him some two months since with instruction to take it to a reporter on his death. But, as Max soon finds out, the envelope is just the start of things to come. Things that make him fear for his life. There is only one person who can help him...
Meanwhile Evan is having a crisis of conscience, as well as a bit of a fun time in his apartment complex with certain shenanigans that are once again going on therein. But - they call, he answers, he helps. That's what he does. And he does this very well indeed. Ably assisted in this case by a few familiar faces, when the proverbial hits the fan there is only one person qualified to both investigate and, at the same time, try to keep everyone alive. The Nowhere Man is back with a bang...
At the beginning of the book we learn that Evan is getting weary of the life he leads. He longs just to be normal. This worried me a tad but then what followed was pretty much the author throwing everything and anything at Evan - Captain Scarlet eat your heart out at how indestructible this guy is! And so very very clever to boot and, when he lacks the skill, he knows several others who have it... which means that we do break rules and reconnect with a face from the past. All bets are definitely off in this book as it provides action, intrigue and suspense galore, all wrapped up in an intricately plotted narrative that held my attention nicely throughout.
Earlier I mentioned that Evan was tired and wanted out of this life. Sadly, sometimes life don't let you get what you want. So, although his intentions... well... let's just say that the ending... well.. spoilers but so very exciting to see what happens next time.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book and I am really looking forward to revisiting it when the Audio book is released.

Very good. I’ve read and enjoyed the other books in the ‘Orphan X’ series and this one is slightly different but just as good. It is fast paced and other characters such as Joey and Mia are more involved. I won’t give the plot away, but it keeps increasing the tension as it it goes on. This book and the series are highly recommended.

I'm a huge Gregg Hurwitz fan and Orphan X or shall I say Evan Smoak is one of my favourite book characters. One of the things that sets the series apart is the amount of research that must go into producing it. Every single scene and description seems very realistic and informed.
The only thing I would love to change about the book is his love interest - it seems a little bit forced and that is why I gave it four stars.

I would also love the return of some of the other orphans, especially Candy, I feel like she is such a strong character coming into her own and could do with a series of her own

I love Orphan X series, I felt this took a while to get going though hence not my usual 5 stars. This book then explodes into life, Evan is helping Max who's cousin has been murdered and now he's next, he rings the nowhere man who has decided this is his last mission!! Every time Evan eliminates the threat a bigger one appears, he's dealing with concussion to add to all his usual drama, Joey helps him out and I love their relationship. We are left hanging at the end so much I was like nooooo you can't leave it like that!! But I'm hoping this means there will be another

Into The Fire is the latest in Gregg Hurwitz's very popular Orphan X series with and ending that suggests that it may be the last....or may not be.
The start of the book sees Evan Smoak considering his future and deciding to take one last job, ,protecting self-labelled "loser" Max Merriweather from the people who murdered his cousin Grant and are now coming after him.. Max is a person who hasn't had much luck in life but coming home to find a psychotic hit man trashing his apartment is a bad day even by his standards.

What appears to be a fairly straightforward "operation" for Smoak turns out to be only the beginning of a rapidly escalating situation who finds himself in ever more perilous situations after believing he's finally take out all of the the bad guys only for more to appear and a much bigger picture to emerge a bit like levels in a computer game .
Max's private life runs as a backstory , it is relevant to the wider tale and it quite moving which adds a touch of contrast to the ongoing mayhem that.as ever ,the main story is a litany of. What seems to a simple case turns into, literally, a bit of a headache for Smoak and a bit of arson in one scene proves that there really is no Smoak without fire.

For those who haven't read the rest of the Orphan X books there's enough back story to make sense of the whole thing while not bogging down with too much detail of previous events to a degree that would annoy those who have very sensibly followed Smoak's odyssey from page one of the first book..
Smoak is a bit of an amalgamation with touches of Jason Bourne, Jack Reacher (with more than a nod towards "One Shot" in one section) and even Batman thrown into the mix. Teenage sidekick and computer whizzkid Joey plays a big part in this story ,and is a great character,some great banter between them ,and new character Dog take s a bow. Dog is....a Dog,which I guess keeps things simple.

A very entertaining read and a book that has a lot of violence,plenty of humour and even a bit of a love story, Another best-seller for Gregg Hurwitz and a definite 5 stars.

Big thanks to Gregg Hurwitz, Penguin Books and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This is book is number 4 in the Orphan X series and It’s just as exciting, just as gripping, just as - everything - as the first 3.
Evan Smoak (Orphan X) is a great central character, putting himself in harm’s way to help people in trouble who can’t help themselves. He has all the must-have technology, weapons, vehicles, contacts etc that make his books so compelling and unputdownable (yes I know it’s an informal word but it says what it means!).
There’s a softer side story going on, with the people in his apartment building, especially Mia, a DA, and her 9 year old son Peter. It’s a great thriller - read it and see for yourself!

Evan Smoak aka Orphan X makes his reappearance in this super violent tale of high level corruption masked by various levels of low life! Assisted by the young hacker from the previous yarn it all rolls excitingly along, a passage in a high security prison is particularly striking. It seems that the tale has been brought to a conclusion but I hope that room has been left for more from this interesting and intriguing character!

I've really enjoyed all the 'Orphan X' books, so I was excited to be able to read 'Into the Fire' early. For those unfamiliar with the series this book can be read as a stand-alone book as all the main recurring characters are briefly introduced, but I'd say that reading the books sequentially makes a lot more sense and is much more satisfying.

Evan is still living in LA, and he is questioning his life when his Roam phone rings, starting another special mission. Concluding this mission however is a bit like peeling the layers of an onion, and this is complicated further by the fact that Evan is injured throughout the second half of the book. There are some great lines and twists in the story, some humour and as usual there are also political issues. Evan soldiers on through different settings, with action which is relentless, and without the solitude of his flat to recharge his batteries during the second half of the book.

I read it over two days, and was coming to the conclusion that it would be the last 'Orphan X' book due to the story when in the last paragraph something surprising happens........so now I have no idea if it's the last one, or there will be more but with his circumstances changed.....