Dark Horse (Orphan X #7) by Gregg Hurwitz
Publication Date: February 8th 2022 by Macmillan Audio
Pages: 432
Audio Book Length: 14 hrs 30 min
Narrator: Scott Brick
Source: Publisher
Rating: ★★★★★
Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads My
Thoughts:
I have been blazing through the Orphan X series loving every
minute! Evan Smoak was taken from his foster home and trained as an elite assassin
for a covert government operation and then left the program when his conscience
demanded it. Now Evan operates as The Nowhere Man helping the helpless when
they have nowhere else to turn. In Dark Horse the case is a little different
since Aragon Urrea isn’t a completely good man either. However, his eighteen-year-old
daughter is kidnapped by a ruthless and violent drug cartel and he’s desperate
to get her back.
Dark Horse, like the previous installments was exciting
and action-packed! Evan gets himself through seemingly impossible situations,
always coming out on top, but I wondered how he’d pull off this mission since
the drug cartel was a scary bunch of crazies!
Through all the books we’ve seen Evan help the helpless,
champion the underdog, all while he navigates life out of the Orphan program. Despite
trying to remain separate he’s established connections and I’ve loved seeing
them evolve and grow through the series. Tommy his weapons/gun supplier, Joey the
young cast-off from the Orphan program, and of course Mia and Peter from 12B. Evan’s
relationship with Mia is at times confusing to Evan, her life is so full and messy
with her nine-year-old son, Peter, but Evan can’t help but be drawn in by her. I
have to laugh at Evan’s “exchanges” with Vera II and III, his aloe vera plants!
Yes, there are bits of dry humor here and there that have me cracking up.
Each of the Orphan books has a mission/problem that solved,
but the repercussions of Evan’s decision to leave the Orphan program and his
relationships are ongoing and progressive, so I think it’s best to start the series
from the beginning.
From the first book I’ve been “reading” by audio. Scott Brick
is a fantastic narrator, bringing Evan to life. He IS Evan Smoak to me even now.
His female voices and accents are spot on, and his comedic timing is wonderful!
I listen at my normal 1.5x-1.75x normal speed.
5 Stars
Book Description:
Gregg Hurwitz's New York Times bestselling series returns when Orphan X faces his most challenging mission ever in Dark Horse.
Evan
Smoak is a man with many identities and a challenging past. As Orphan
X, he was a government assassin for the off-the-books Orphan Program.
After he broke with the Program, he adopted a new name and a new
mission—The Nowhere Man, helping the most desperate in their times of
trouble. Having just survived an attack on his life and the complete
devastation of his base of operations, as well as his complicated (and
deepening) relationship with his neighbor Mia Hall, Evan isn't
interested in taking on a new mission. But one finds him anyway.
Aragon
Urrea is a kingpin of a major drug-dealing operation in South Texas.
He's also the patron of the local area—supplying employment in
legitimate operations, providing help to the helpless, rough justice to
the downtrodden, and a future to a people normally with little hope.
He's complicated—a not completely good man, who does bad things for
often good reasons. However, for all his money and power, he is helpless
when one of the most vicious cartels kidnaps his innocent eighteen year
old daughter, spiriting her away into the armored complex that is their
headquarters in Mexico. With no other way to rescue his daughter, he
turns to The Nowhere Man.
Now not only must Evan figure out how
to get into the impregnable fortress of a heavily armed, deeply paranoid
cartel leader, but he must decide if he should help a very bad man—no
matter how just the cause.
