740: The Nowhere Man Returns
In this episode, I was surprised by the latest mission for a principled man…
Friends, friends, friends.
Welcome back to Teatime Reading where there are books in progress.
Through the first six books in the Orphan X series, a common theme has been Evan Smoak’s code. Different examples of that code show up in italics at different points in most of the books, and I always got the sense that Evan Smoak was on a slow and gradual journey to regain some of his humanity.
After the explosive events of Prodigal Son (Book 6 in the series), I was excited to see how the story would move forward. After all, in the previous book Evan Smoak had been faced with the mother who had given him up for adoption as well as a half-brother he—, it’s complicated.
Anyway, in his latest adventure titled Dark Horse, I was surprised that the focus of this story was so narrow: help rescue the daughter of a very bad man. Obviously, there were complications, nuances, and twists along the way, but this was a surprisingly intimate action novel.
Aragon Urrea felt very different from the other people who asked for The Nowhere Man’s help, and I was interested to see how the always rigid and principled Evan Smoak dealt with such a complicated man.
The thrill ride that so defined this series continued in earnest with this new adventure, but I also appreciated how this most macho and brutal of protagonists continued to get broken down in a most surprising way. His inner humanity has been teased out of him for several books now, but there were some huge moments here, especially with his young charge Joey as well as his neighbor, prosecutor, and love interest Mia Hall.
Dark Horse was, in many ways, a good sequel with more of the same in the ways of action. I am a fan of the character work that author Gregg Hurwitz is doing with Evan as the Nowhere Man, but this title seemed very opaque and dumb to me.
Maybe, I haven’t thought about that enough. Either way, I could honestly care less about the title, because it was a good sequel to a really surprising series.
I hope you all check it out because from the first book to the most recent, this series thrives on its energy, intensity, and heart.
Until next time, keep your bookmarks close.
Peace, Love, Pages.
Note: As Always, Affiliate Links are here for your convenience at no cost to you. All reading was at my own expense.