By – Gregg Hurwitz
Gregg Hurwitz’ Orphan X presents an easily likable and relate-able lead character that is both larger than life and sympathetic.”Orphan X” begins with familiar, stock premise of modern thrillers: A highly-skilled assassin, after murdering many international bad guys for the government, discovers that he actually has a conscience and decides to quit the ultra-secret, black-ops program that trained him as a young orphan and devote his unique and deadly talents to the salvation of desperate innocents. Although you have likely read Novels or seen movies based on an almost identical premise, it must still intrigue you or you wouldn’t be reading this review to decide if you wish to try this one.
The answer is you should.
What distinguishes “Orphan X” from all the other “assassin turned paladin” thrillers you have read or seen is the fullness and pace of the narrative.Spy thrillers are a dime a dozen. But this one is better. More clever. More exciting. More fast paced. More filled with detailed action scenes. The hero is unique. He is not some hard, bitter veteran who’s seen it or and done it or, tired of life, living an existence filled with angst and weariness. Orphan X is actually, in some ways, like an alien. He never grew up with the normal life we all share. As he makes his way through his new life away from the program that created him, he is like someone experiencing the joys and pains of being human for the very first time. It is a pleasure to share his struggles as he struggles to learn to live a life that means more than being an incredibly skilled killing machine
The character of this book is as familiar as his origins and the nature of his work, but far less so is the supporting cast…particularly some of the villains, but the fixes he gets himself in are quite unique as are the ways he gets himself out of them…and there are loads of fixes from which he must extricate himself and those he seeks to protect.
Because the narrative is so rich with twists, turns, and separate conflicts, you may find yourself very surprised when it appears that the primary plot line has come to an end and you still have nearly a third of the novel to finish. Don’t relax though and keep your seatbelt fastened. You are not going to coast to the end of the line.
