#Review - Hellbent by Gregg Hurwitz #Thrillers / #Suspense

Series: Orphan X (#3)
Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Release Date: January 30, 2018
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thrillers / Suspense

Evan Smoak, from the international bestselling Orphan X and The Nowhere Man, returns.


“Do you need my help?” 

Evan Smoak, Orphan X, was taken from a group home at age twelve and raised and trained as an off-the-books government assassin. After he broke with the Orphan Program, Evan disappeared and reinvented himself as the Nowhere Man, a man spoken about only in whispers and dedicated to helping the truly desperate.

But this time, the voice on the other end is Jack Johns, the man who raised and trained him, the only father Evan has ever known. Secret government forces are busy trying to scrub the remaining assets and traces of the Orphan Program and they have finally tracked down Jack. With little time remaining, Jack gives Evan his last assignment: find and protect his last protégé and recruit for the Orphan Program. 

But Evan isn’t the only one after this last Orphan—the new head of the Orphan Program, Van Sciver is mustering all the considerable assets at his disposal to take out both Evan (Orphan X) and the target he is trying to protect.

In the latest work in his #1 International bestselling Orphan X series, Gregg Hurwitz delivers an engrossing, unputdownable thriller and one of his finest books yet.

Hellbent is the third installment in author Gregg Hurwitz's Orphan X series. Summary: When Evan Smoak was young, Jack Johns rescued him from a troubled life and trained him how to be an fully expendable assassin. Evan became known as Orphan X. The Orphan program was buried deep inside the Department of Defense where no blow back could reach anyone of importance. 8 years ago, Evan decided to go rogue. Today, Evan is the Nowhere Man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. No one knows who the Nowhere Man really is, but they know if they call him, he will help rescue them from a seemingly helpless situation.

To make matters more interesting, Evan's nemesis and the new head of the Orphan Program, Charles Van Sciver, has made it his mission to rid the world of Evan once and for all. Unknown to Evan, Charles has been given a mission by someone high up in the American government. His mission is to kill all Orphans but most especially, Orphan X. As the only Orphan to ever go rogue, he might be the most dangerous man alive to some very important people. Evan was taught a sort of 10 commandments by Jack. 

This time when Evan answers the 1-855-2-NOWHERE phone and asks “”Do you need my help?” he recognizes the familiar voice on the other end of the phone; it is Jack, Jack Johns. Jack, who turned him into an assassin, and the only father he had ever known. And, Jack answered the question with a single word, “yes.” When Jack meets his fate, Evan decides it's time to bring the game to Charles. Little does Evan know at the time, but Jack has a special package for him. A girl named Joey who washed out of the Orphan program and is now running for her life from Charles and his goons.

Joey will die unless Evan defends her. Both Jack and Joey are plants intended to make the elimination of Evan a fait accompli. Evan now finds himself with a partner of sorts. He is a lone wolf but there is something about Joey that opens a door inside of him. He sees himself as he once was in her and as the story continues his bond with Joey grows stronger. Plus, Joey has some skill sets of her own and isn't a weak character you can overlook. 

Evan lives by so called Ten Commandments: 1. Assume nothing. 2. How you do anything, is how you do everything. 4. Never make it personal. 5. If you don't know what to do, do nothing.  6. Question orders. 7. One mission at a time. 8. Never kill a kid. 9. Always play offense. 3 & 10 elude me.
As Evan learns more about those who are after him and how high up the orders are coming from that demand his demise, it's now become a race against time to see if Evan can find a way to take out the man responsible. Will Evan be able to once again beat the odds and succeed where everything is ever so stacked against him? 

As usual, there's another part of this story as well. We can't have the Nowhere Man not answering calls for help. This call pits Evan against brutal rapist, killers known as MS-13 who certain politicians believe are worth compassion instead of our scorn. MS-13 should be treated as terrorists and not cheered on by any politician of any party. Period. At the end of this book, several key story plots are left open and for good reason. My curiosity actually lays with Orphan C (Candy). I'm curious as to what happens next with her. She made a choice that could lead to a possible alliance with Evan.      

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