Having found the second Orphan-X book, The Nowhere Man, something of an exercise in wheel-spinning repetition that lacked the dynamic thurst of the first installment, I was hesitant to pick up Hellbent. Only when I was offered the chance to read it via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review did I grab the chance and even then it took me a while to shift it to the top of my reading list.

I now regret that delay, because Hellbent turns out to be a real return to form for the series. There is no repeat of the overly contrived and restrictive set-up of The Nowhere Man. Here Evan Smoak is back to doing what he does best; saving people and hunting down bad guys. Moreover, Hurwitz manages to set up not one but three intersecting plot strands to keep events moving, develop both existing and new characters and further flesh out the wider Orphan Program narrative. There is Evan's mission to avenge an attack on his mentor Jack, the unexpected task of protecting a former Orphan candidate called Joey that is thrust upon him and the usual Nowhere Man mission to help an innocent in trouble.

This mix of dramatic arcs keeps the story moving at a break-neck pace, and allows Hurwitz to inject plenty of twists and sharp turns. Add in plenty of action and constantly shifting locations and Hellbent becomes the same sort of engaging, propulsive thriller as the original Orphan-X book. This dynamism also helps paper over some of the more implausible plot developments by not giving readers long enough to contemplate them before some other incident grabs their attention.

Not that the book is all action at the expense of character development. By introducing the character of Joey, who he wisely doesn't allow to become just a stereotypical 'child in jeopardy', Hurwitz gives Evan Smoak the impetus and the room to grow as a character. This is important if the series is going to have a long term future; keeping Smoak as an eternally isolated, emotionally stunted former assassin would have become repetitive over time.

The decision to move the wider 'Orphan Program' narrative forward in very significant ways by the end of the book also bodes well for the future. Many thriller series become boringly repetitive by not developing their wider narratives quickly enough, leaving their characters going around in frustrating circles. Hurwitz by contrast, seems unafraid of shaking things up by permanently eliminating major characters and introducing significant new antagonists at a relatively rapid pace. There's definitely no sense of him trying to spin story-lines out beyond their natural breaking point or frustrating the audience by leaving too many plot-strands hanging.

It all makes for a very satisfying third entry in the Orphan series, whilst setting up even greater stakes for the next book Its certainly restored my interest in the series.

Gregg Hurwitz gives us another adrenaline fuelled thrill ride of an adventure in the third of the Orphan X thriller series with a wide and diverse collection of characters. The resourceful Evan Smoak finds himself on an emotional search for vengeance aided by others and still finds time to be the Nowhere Man, helping a man by taking on a ruthless LA gang. Orphan Y, Charles Van Sciver, is now the Head of the Orphan programme, he and other shadowy government forces are determined to get to and eliminate Evan, and all the other orphans no longer in the fold of the official programme. Evan gets a call from Jack Johns, his beloved father figure, mentor and handler, who helped to raise him as more than a mindless assassin, asking him to collect a package. Sciver has targeted Johns as a means to get to Evan, Evan is horrified at the killing of Jack, feeling desperate guilt and a sense of a responsibility. The package turns out to be ex-orphan, 16 year old girl, rootless and problematic Joey, who has him scrambling to cope but he is determined to protect and guide her. Joey is a fearsome and gifted computer hacker whose talents complement Evan and help him on the path to gaining revenge. She is the trigger for Evan to reflect on himself and what he has become, adding more emotional depth to his character. Hurwitz is on great form in this action packed thriller, with great characterisation, wonderful and compelling plotting, in a complex story with non stop tension and suspense. An entertaining series that I have loved reading. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.

Very fast paced but I think you need to read the whole series. That said I did read it super quickly and would recommend to all. It’s a book for people who like action thrillers and exciting chapters

Action packed from start to finish. The third in the Orphan X series (but can be read as a standalone). We get to see more of trained government assassin Evan’s personal side and his struggle in allowing people to get close to him.
Evan has always looked up to his mentor and father-figure Jack, but is now tasked with looking after the “package” in the form of Joey a teenage girl, a washout from the Orphan programme and targeted for elimination, by his nemesis Orphan Y.

A page turner of cat and mouse twists and turns, a highly recommended 5-star read.

Loved this book. It seems an incredible plot but at the same time it smacks of "this could happen" moments. The main characters are endearing despite their capacity for what seems unlimited violence. The technology was particularly fascinating and frightening in its application.
Fast, easily read and strangely plausible, it is a roller-coaster ride.

A wonderful story with great action and characters.
Although far fetched in places I really enjoyed it.
If you want action this is one for you.

This is the third instalment in the series. It is a good read with a lot of action packed into it. This series is worth reading. Evan is a brilliant character and whole idea is well thought out and executed.

Action-packed thriller

“Hellbent” is the third in the Orphan X series but can be read as a stand-alone thriller without the reader feeling in any way disenfranchised.

Evan Smoak is Orphan X. There were 13 in total – children who had been taken early and trained to be killers to do the will of their masters. Those who failed the tests or escaped the training were hunted down and eliminated.

This is the story of Evan and Joey, an awkward, if dangerous, a 16-year-old girl, who operate outside the organisation. The problem is that their extermination has been sanctioned by those who pull the strings so no-one can be trusted to be what they seem. But just who ultimately is pulling the strings?

Although the idea behind the theme of the series is not new, the execution is first class. I admit that after a few pages I put down the book as I could not get on with the staccato-like sentences, no more than a few words long. However, on picking up the story a few weeks later I very quickly became absorbed in the plot and drawn inexorably into the action.

I found that I developed huge sympathy for both main protagonists, Evan and Joey, and wanted to learn more about their lives and whether they survived the inevitable climax. Clearly, there would be much bloodshed as the action progressed and it was just a question of whether any of it would be theirs.

All the characters jumped off the pages as three-dimensional individuals and the dialogue was realistic. The violence was evident throughout but was hardly gratuitous. All in all, it was a very enjoyable read and I will be seeking out copies of the first two in the series.

Thoroughly recommended.

mr zorg

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

This is a very annoying book - but not in an obvious way! Yes, it's shockingly implausible; disturbingly violent; irritatingly littered with references to upscale products that the lead character - Evan Smoak - drinks, eats or kills with; and flirts with scenarios that make many conspiracy theories seem like mild fairy tales. But - and it's a really big but - it is also addictively, compulsively readable and resists the demands from your thinking brain to put the book down to get some much-needed sleep. If you aren't put off by the comments above and are prepared to suspend disbelief for a few hours (and it won't take you long to read as you'll be anxious to turn pages quickly) then you will not be disappointed. It's not great literature, but it's a great read.

This is the third outing for Evan Smoak, the Nowhere Man, and it certainly delivers.

Evan’s mentor, Jack Johns, has gone, but has left Evan a “package” to look after.
The handling of this “package” gives Evan a chance to address what he really wants from his life, and how much he will allow his guard to drop among those he trusts.
He is also reaching the climax in his battle with Van Sciver, and helping a family in his Nowhere Man guise. And trying to see if he can have a normal relationship with Mia and her son.
The book comes to a suitably violent climax, when scores are settled, decisions made, and the scene set for the next adventure………which I will certainly read!

(I skip-read the technical parts about guns, etc, and computer hacking, but I’m sure some people find those sections fascinating!)

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the 3rd book in the 'Orphan X' series by author Gregg Hurwitz.
Evan Smoak was Orphan X, taken from a group home at twelve, he was raised and trained as part of the Orphan Program, an off-the-books operation designed to create deniable intelligence assets, assassins. He left the program, disappearing using the skills he had learnt to reinvent himself as the Nowhere Man.
This book is full of action and suspense and the excitement builds and builds to the very end of the book. I enjoyed this one even more than the 1st and that is no easy feat. Looking forward to more in this series as well as catching up on other books by this author.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Penguin UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Although this book is the third in the series it was the first book I had read but after reading this i am going to go back and read the first two.
This is a great fast paced action fuelled read that didn’t leave me disappointed. It is full steam ahead right from the start and doesn’t stop until the last page.
I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes their action based books with no let up of excitement. Although it is part of a series it can also be read as a stand-alone book but as mentioned after reading this I will be going back and reading the first two.

I absolutely loved this book and cannot recommend it enough! An outstanding third instalment in the Orphan X series that is on par with the previous 2 in regards to his thrilling the plot is and how brilliantly the novel is written. The character development between Evan and Joey is charming and at the centre of an action packed narrative. I loved the way the pair interacted and as Evan's fondness for Joey grew, mine did too, with her becoming my favourite character in the series! I am intrigued to see where the next chapter of Evan's battle against corruption takes him following the exceptionally well written cliffhanger ending. Please don't let the next book take too long!

OMG, I am a huge fan of this series and this didn't disappoint. High octane thrills from beginning to end and fascinating to see the evolution of Evan. Can't stop telling my customers how great these books are.

This is the conspiracy thriller at its best but with a bit of a difference. The Orphans have been plucked from children's home, moved under the wire and trained to undertake black ops with impunity with The Program.

Orphan X has rejected this way of life and now acts as a vigilante for decent people who have no where else to turn. However he cannot escape so easily and his nemesis Van Sciver is coming to kill him and his close associates. Enter Joey, a charming but somewhat deadly sixteen year old girl who has also escaped The Program.

This is a rip roaring tale of Evan (Orphan X) and Joey both escaping and going after Van Sciver (Orphan Y). It is also about the relationship which develops between Evan and Joey which is charming. A cracking thriller with a human angle.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

Last year I was tearing through audiobooks and I happened upon a brilliant action adventure thriller called The Nowhere Man. It was the second book by Gregg Hurwitz which featured Evan Smoak – a former Government operative codenamed Orphan X.

Smoak had been taken into Government service as a child. Recruited from an orphanage and raised by a mentor who turned the child into a deadly assassin who could live and work deep under cover and (most importantly) was totally expendable to the US Government who could deny the existence of Orphan X should he fail in his mission.

There were other Orphan’s recruited other than Smoak and through the three books in the series (Orphan X, The Nowhere Man and now Hellbent) Evan will cross paths with some deadly former colleagues. This is not a good thing for Evan – Orphan Y now heads up the Orphan programme and his primary focus is to end Evan’s life. With almost unlimited resources at his disposal Orphan Y is gunning for Evan Smoak and in Hellbent he shall gain new leverage…a showdown may be inevitable.

Hellbent sees Evan going directly up against the Orphan programme but his mentor, Jack Johns, asks Evan to protect the last Orphan who had been recruited. She is a young girl, alone and unsure where to turn – she has had training which makes her dangerous but lacks the survival skills of more experienced agents. Nor has she the benefit of a healthy bank account which the Orphans accrue through successful completion of missions.

Seeing Evan trying to keep one step ahead of his foes, whilst juggling the care of a teenager and trying to maintain a semblance of a “normal” life was hugely entertaining. Gregg Hurwitz writes gripping thrillers and I have thoroughly enjoyed all the books in the Orphan X series. There is a wonderful balance of action, tension, humour and adventure in Hellbent. Evan Smoak is a dangerous character but he is a wonderful creation and if you have not yet discovered the Orphan X books you are missing out on some brilliant reads.

Evan Smoak, aka The Nowhere Man, aka Orphan X faces his most important mission yet. Not only is he fighting to avenge the death of his mentor and father figure, Jack Johns but his own life and those of the other disavowed Orphans also hang in the balance.

This book surprised me, to be honest I expected an OK read, a bit of a romp - I haven’t read any of the other Orphan series, so thought it would be typical of its genre and felt pretty confident of what I was getting. I was wrong. Hellbent is a bit of a romp (not a bad thing), it is also relentlessly action packed (what I was expecting) but Evan Smoak definitely has a soft underbelly and in Hellbent it is exposed, he is out of his comfort zone and struggling with loss, love and life (not at all what I was expecting).

‘Find what they love. And make them pay for it’

I loved this book, it not only packed a punch, it was full of heart.

Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Having read the other two books in the series I was was excited to be able to read the third book. Sometimes the quality of writing can slip in subsequent books, but is anything the writing and story was better here after the first few pages, which seemed a little contrived (for example the description of his view looking at activities in the flats facing his). It was as if the author was settling into the story, which quickly developed into a multi-layered storyline.

Another brilliant read, Orphan X is a very favourite character of mine and this book as with the other two in the series did not disappoint, when is number 4 coming

So, I haven't read the first two books in the Orphan series, but it didn't take long to work out what was happening, the scene setting and backstory, supplied at the beginning and throughout the book is excellent and makes this easy to read as a standalone.
Orphan X trained as a killer from a young, impressionable age. His mentor contacts him as the final seconds of his life tick away. His message sets the scene for Orphan X to carry out Jack Johns last wishes. X undertakes a journey of revenge but finds it is also a voyage of self-discovery as he reacquaints with his humanity.
The pace of this story is breathtaking. Plot twists confound you, and there is plenty of adrenaline-fueled combat and violence. Painstakingly detailed descriptions let you visualise the action, not always a good thing. However, each violent act moves the story along and provides a vital piece in the puzzle that Orphan X and his young companion Joey must solve. The ending is explosive and satisfying and surprisingly poignant.
An addictive, action-packed, character-driven read that drags you into a dynamic, horrific world that is frighteningly realistic.
I received a copy of this book from Michael Joseph, Penguin UK via NetGalley in return for an honest review.