Didn’t Evan say he was going into retirement or be forced into it? Maybe he’ll take it easy and help out the HOA in his building, Ha! The feds have already told him that after all that fun in Into the Fire he’s now on super secret probation. One more mission helping people and he could be locked up… or worse.
And then the RoamZone rings and a woman leaves a message claiming to be Evan’s mother. The Nowhere Man is curious. Curious enough to go to Buenos Ares, contact his “mother,” and try to get back to LA without getting on the President’s radar. Fortunately, he’s successful at keeping his head down and finds that Ms. Veronica is not just looking for a reunion but help for a young man who happens to live in the LA area. And thus Even has a new mission. Newly entangled with this “mother” and the feelings it regretfully brings, Evan has to get back in the game.
Several questions immediately popped into my head when I saw this title announced was: Do we need another Orphan X book? Can the characters and the series hold up over this many titles? The answer that I came up with is it depends. I know that’s a wimpy answer, ha! But it’s true. What are you looking for in a thriller series? Great close-quarters fight scenes, fantastic tech descriptions, a slowly evolving main character, and a couple really good secondary characters. The one item in the list that readers may get caught up on is the “slowly evolving main character.” Yes, we have learned and in Prodigal Son, we will learn a little more about the Orphan program and all the missions he has been on, and we continue to hear all about his Vodka obsessions (Ha!), but is there enough real character depth for you? This book gives you more than some when we get a chance to meet Evan’s mother, if that is really her… I won’t give up any spoilers!
I’m reading several different thriller series right now. Petrie’s Peter Ash series. The Department Q books. And Orphan X. I love these series because they are light and help me cleanse my palette between large SFF books… but I do love them. Great page-turners! Like this new Orphan X, Prodigal Son.
4 out of 5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and the author for an advance copy for review.
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