February 2019

I love Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series, and I think this fourth installment is his best. In OUT OF THE DARK, Evan Smoak, who is Orphan X, is in a high-stakes cat and mouse game, as the President of the United States is out to kill Orphan X, one of the recruits from an elite project that the President ran years ago. He has Orphan A on the trail to get him. They both have the skills, so this is some game.

Gregg’s plotting is so wickedly well done. I appreciate his attention to every detail. When he describes the presidential motorcade at the start of the book, you will see why I love the sharp details that he is able to give his story. He has joked that his internet history could trigger law enforcement questions, but all those details make the books work. While Evan lives in Los Angeles, he spends a lot of time here traveling to Washington, DC, and its beat feels different from LA.

Meanwhile, since Smoak never has just one task at hand, back in LA he is helping Trevon Gaines, a kid who, without his knowing, ticked off a drug lord who is out for revenge. He has annihilated Gaines’ entire family, except for a sister who is out of the country. Gaines has a ton of emotional challenges based on a neurological condition, and quickly Smoak starts to juggle his case as well as working to keep himself alive, with challenges on both sides of the country.

The pace is fast; there is no letting up on that. And I confess to still having a huge crush on Smoak!