Ratings34
Average rating3.9
"Who is the Nowhere Man? He is spoken about only in whispers. He comes to those in greatest need of his protection. There is no enemy he cannot fight. He lives by his own code. He takes no prisoners. His name is Evan Smoak. Taken from a group home when he was young, Evan was raised and trained as an Orphan, an off-the-books black box program designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence asset: an assassin. Evan was Orphan X--until he used everything he'd learned to disappear and reinvent himself as the Nowhere Man. But now, his new life has been interrupted by a surprise attack from an unlikely source. Captured, drugged, and spirited off to a remote location, Evan finds himself heavily guarded from everything he knows. His captors think they have him trapped and helpless in a virtual cage, but they do not know that they're dealing with one of the deadliest, most resourceful men on earth."--Page [4] cover.
Reviews with the most likes.
Orphan X appealed to me because I enjoyed the personal touch. Evan Smoak is seen to be heartless and driven to a point where he seems to only care for the objective. However, Orphan X introduced two people into Evan's life that changed his thinking. It also touched on his troubled past and his close relationship with someone else. This book defers away from that a little but definitely gives you a feeling of Evan as a character. I think Jack Reacher has left a bad impression on what I should expect from action heroes. He's a man of no personality. The likes of Evan Smoak and Scot Harvath have really opened up my eyes to action heroes with personality.
I'll continue this series and likely enjoy all of those 4/5 too
Nowhere Man, nowhere near as good as Orphan X. The author resorts to boring tropes, and there is no pace. The sole saving grace was the final 1/4 which zippped along. I won't bother to read any more of this series, which is sad because Orphan X was fun.
As soon as I finished the first book in this new series, I knew I needed to pick up this second one. Although I blazed through it and stayed up entirely too late finishing it, I didn't like it as much as “Orphan X.” I found Evan still to be an interesting and engaging character, but the plot veered early in a direction which surprised me. And then nearly all of the book was spent in a setting at points dangerous, mysterious, creepy, violent, and bleak. The plot kept my attention, but I wanted Evan out of the setting far sooner in the story. I will say that the danger Evan gets into near the climax was inventive and pretty darn cool. A good and fun read, but somewhat of a sophomore slump plot-wise for me.