Orphan X

An Amazon Best Book of January 2016: Galvanizing and suspenseful, Orphan X performs a deft high-wire act between the current-day deeds of former black-ops assassin Evan Smoak and fascinating flashbacks to the training Evan received as a young teen in the government’s secret Orphan Program. Although Evan dove off the government’s radar years ago, he still practices the tradecraft that made him a top graduate of the Orphan Program--maintaining multiple safe houses, rerouting his electronic signals around the globe, avoiding emotional entanglements, and living his life by the Commandments his mentor/trainer Jack instilled in him to keep him alive. Evan also still practices his wetwork skills during rare vigilante acts to help those who are mercilessly preyed upon. When Evan is contacted by a woman in trouble with the Vegas mob, his attempts to help her literally put him in the line of fire. But are the bad guys after her--or is Evan the true target? As the plot goes deliciously serpentine, author Gregg Hurwitz peels back the layers of Evan’s psyche, developing a character with the potential to be the next Jason Bourne or Jack Reacher. An end-of-the-book shocker whets the appetite for Evan’s next adventure even at it adds a satisfying final note. —Adrian Liang