Out of the DARK!

Out of the Dark: Gregg Hurwitz

Within the world there are those that would hide their misdeeds and hopefully eliminate anyone that can point a finger at them for what they know would destroy them. A group of Orphans each with another letter attached to the word Orphan, left alone in this world, sent to an orphanage were enlisted to give service to our country and then the same country had most of them eliminated. When one man known as Orphan X or Evan becomes the target of the President of the United States for elimination, it takes technology, careful planning and definite intelligence to escape the wide net that this President as created in order to silence him for good.

Naomi Templeton has been cast to take over the investigation to take out Evan Smoak/Orphan X, but will she manage to remain under the radar from him? Told by the President what he expects of her and since her father is high up in law enforcement, she is now the golden girl of this investigation, but can she meet the task?

Trevon is learning disabled and has been cared for by his mom and family. He goes to work, comes home and visits his mom. But what happens when he sees that his entire family has been killed and he is kidnapped by some dangerous men. Warned not to say anything to the police or anyone else about what they did to him or said, Trevon walks miles, tries to get a bus and finally winds up on the street scared and alone. So, why does Evan learn about him and how does their short interaction change things for Trevon who follows the rules and as Evan says sometimes you need to break them.

Mia is someone Evan cares for and her son Peter is special to him but seeing her allows him some vulnerability and leaving makes him wonder what is next for them both. Evan needed to leave and go back to figuring out his next move as Naomi finds herself in charge of many different facets of the operation to take him down and is giving orders as to how she wants things done when someone on her team questions her. She is tough, and yet will she realize that there might be other ways to catch this man and other methods to see where he is going using the technology available.

Evan finds himself watching two other young girls one supposedly dead and under another name while the other practicing her moves hoping to get her silks.

Even was taken at age 12 from a group home and was raised and trained as part of this Orphan program which as stated was an off the books operation to create these intelligence assets that would turn into killers or assassins. Even was named Orphan X a non-descript name losing his real identity and when the program was disbanded or broke, he became what the author relates as The Nowhere man but as this person he is kind, compassionate and helps those who need help and left with no one else to help them. But now the President Bennett wants him exterminated. Even’s mentor was killed, and the President is supposedly the most guard man in the world, but Evan finds someone that just might make it happen to infiltrate his network and hack into the government systems as we meet Vera/aka Joey. With both adversaries knowing they are coming for each other, Evan needs to find weapons to counter attack and yet the President has released Orphan A from prison and he had two others realized to take X down. Bennett is entirely corrupt and each one wants to take the other out as Secret Service Special Agent Naomi Templeton thinks she has the pulse on the situation but wait until you get to know our young friend Joey/Vera better and see what she has given Evan. Evan is called the Nowhere Man as we meet Trevon Gaines who learned his family was killed but kept alive because those that caught him thought him “retarded and yet he has the ability to notice the simplest details and Evan finds him, warns him to keep what happened to himself promising he will avenge the death of his family.

Evan is devious and smart and yet gets caught in his own traps at times but avenging the deaths of Trevon’s family is uppermost in his mind as the Deputy Chief of Staff delivers a message to President Bennett that would scare and alert him that there are more deaths on the way but Bennett does not buckle to this and intends to move on even if he has to appear in front of a committee answering for his actions. While Evan takes out one or more of the men responsible for the deaths of Trevon’s family the tables go back and forth but it’s a game of who will win first.

Orphan A’s team feels the wrath of Evan, but will anyone succeed in taking him down as Naomi is called to meet with Bennett and a new chief of staff is about to learn the unholy ropes of the job.

Death is the answer and revenge are the name of the game as Candy McClure contacts Evan knowing that there are 19 names on the Orphan list that are listed to be killed and she is one of them hoping that Evan will allow her to help take down Bennett before she is hit.

Evan has his own agenda and the author creates technology and weaponry that is so unique and original you wonder if he invented it or its real.

How far will Evan go to avenge what was done to others and to save those that have yet to be eliminated as he does the same with a prosecutor and the deputy chief of staff and as we learn three more in the prologue setting the stage for readers to get to know how he works and his mindset.

As the plot thickens and we learn more about what Evan plans to do the author shares with readers the type of security measures used to protect the President or any other official. Yet, Evan and Candy manage to infiltrate their web of concealment, but what about Naomi and Orphan A and his team? Lives are lost and held in the balance and the issues that come to light are both moral and ethical. Is it right to take down the President even though he wants to eliminate you? Would someone do the same thing, or would they enlighten the public? What about the President who headed up the Orphan program is it right to delete those that helped him succeed?

When Naomi focuses on the realities of Bennett’s actions and then Evan takes us to the Mystery Man, we learn the harsh and horrific truths about the significance of 1997 and the motives behind why Bennett wants to take out Orphan X.  What the Mystery Man reveals and what Evan does next do it warrant that he pays for his deeds or does it warrant that he continues? Death comes to many in this story as Evan goes after those who killed Trevon’s family, but will he succeed? The ending is filled with action, violence, artillery, technology and the facts that parts of his life might come to an end plus relationships that mattered might have to be put permanently aside as we come to the final ending and learn who survived: Orphan X or President Bennett and which one would eventually see the light and hopefully come OUT OF THE DARK? Compelling, heartbreaking at times, true to life, thought provoking and one man who stood tall, staunch and would not give up at any cost in order to avenge what someone put in place so many years ago. How far would you go to protect others that needed your help? How do you decide whether to handle their needs? How do you look in the mirror after committing the deeds you deem necessary? How do you go on when you are basically all alone? Will author Gregg Hurwitz bring anyone back in the next novel? Characters that are true to life and a story line that will get you thinking can this really happen as the dramatic ending will give readers wondering the answer to these questions and more.

Fran Lewis: Just reviews/mj magazine/mj network