A review by mojoshivers
Into the Fire: An Orphan X Novel by Gregg Hurwitz
5.0
After closing off its first major story arc with book 4, the Orphan X begins what looks to be a new arc with book 5. Given that the last arc had scope nationwide in nature, it only made sense this book would be more local—less Orphan X and more Nowhere Man.
To me this series always had dual focuses, one being the CIA top secret program cleaning up after itself by eliminating all its former agents and the other being the local Equalizer-style protection cases Evan took on as he sought to balance the ledger against all the innocent lives he took as one of those former agents. Both focuses had their place and it was always interesting how each book was kind of a balancing act between both the A and B plots.
This book was definitely almost all Nowhere Man, with Max’s case taking up 90% of the story. Gone for the most part were any other concerns outside of L.A. It took adjusting but I liked the change as it left room for the conspiracy against Max and the city to be bit more labyrinthine and take a bit longer to connect all the parties involved. And it made for the sustained concussion damage Evan takes early on to be more impactful. Had this been National in nature, he could’ve taken a few days off to heal. Keeping it local meant no break in the action and that Evan just didn’t have the luxury of time to heal.
I don’t expect this singular focus to keep up in the next book. The surprise phone call at the end of the book saw to that. But for now this was a good palate cleanser before we get back to the more traditional one plot for the assassin and one plot for the guardian angel set-up that is the hallmark of the Orphan X series.
To me this series always had dual focuses, one being the CIA top secret program cleaning up after itself by eliminating all its former agents and the other being the local Equalizer-style protection cases Evan took on as he sought to balance the ledger against all the innocent lives he took as one of those former agents. Both focuses had their place and it was always interesting how each book was kind of a balancing act between both the A and B plots.
This book was definitely almost all Nowhere Man, with Max’s case taking up 90% of the story. Gone for the most part were any other concerns outside of L.A. It took adjusting but I liked the change as it left room for the conspiracy against Max and the city to be bit more labyrinthine and take a bit longer to connect all the parties involved. And it made for the sustained concussion damage Evan takes early on to be more impactful. Had this been National in nature, he could’ve taken a few days off to heal. Keeping it local meant no break in the action and that Evan just didn’t have the luxury of time to heal.
I don’t expect this singular focus to keep up in the next book. The surprise phone call at the end of the book saw to that. But for now this was a good palate cleanser before we get back to the more traditional one plot for the assassin and one plot for the guardian angel set-up that is the hallmark of the Orphan X series.