Antihero

Following Nemesis, Hurwitz's 11th "Orphan X" novel dives into the conscience of Evan Smoak, a boy taken from a Baltimore orphanage and trained by Jack Johns to become an elite assassin for a government black-ops program. Yet Jack, the closest Evan would ever have to a father, also worked to teach compassion and moral restraint. Years after leaving the Orphan program, Evan tries to reconcile his past with the humanity Jack instilled in him. Now known as the Nowhere Man, Evan uses his skills to help those with nowhere else to turn. Here Evan is helping survivors of sexual assault, only to be unsettled when they forbid him from killing on their behalf. Torn between his lethal instincts and their moral boundaries but dead-set on justice, Evan gets help from his protégée, Josephine (whom he wants to save from the life he once led), and from law-enforcement allies--a test of the limits of his code and the redemption he still seeks. VERDICT A relentless battle between vengeance and virtue, where even an assassin must confront his own morality. For fans of Lee Child, David McCloskey, and Jack Carr.--George Lichman

The Nowhere Man crisscrosses the country to rescue a new crop of young victims. In East Los Angeles, innocent 15-year-old Lesandro Candella, mistaken for a gang member and brutally attacked, loses an arm. Johnny on the spot is--who else?--"Orphan X, the Nowhere Man, Evan Smoak." Very soon after, Anca Dumitrescu, a young woman who's been kidnapped in the Bronx, resourcefully fashions a plea on a note card in yarn: "Please help me." Evan, a former government operative, has outlived the defunct Orphan Program but still executes vigilante justice under a moral code that prohibits assassination. Readers new to Hurwitz's propulsive, muscular series are advised to buckle up for a wildly entertaining ride. After 10 big novels and six novellas, the author continues to satisfy fans by incorporating characters who've been introduced in previous volumes even as he throws everyone immediately into the middle of the action and hurtles forward at full throttle. Keeping the backstories to a minimum provides an effective tease that directs new readers to earlier episodes. Acting as Evan's sidekick is Josephine "Joey" Morales, a young former Orphan operative and Evan's surrogate daughter. Other returning characters include billionaire Luke Devine, a target in a previous installment spared by Evan's never-kill code, and Aragón Urrea, once similarly in Evan's crosshairs but now an ally. Hurwitz combines nonstop twists and punchy action with the ethical conflict that regularly arises from Evan's moral code. A dynamic thriller set in an imagined world that broadens and deepens with every new episode. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.