I think, although I am not sure, that this is my favorite Orphan X novel. Evan Smoak, formerly “Orphan X” and now the “Nowhere Man” has sadly found himself at serious odds with his only adult friend and weapons provider Tommy Stojak. Early on, they meet and Tommy lets Evan know that he should never return to Tommy’s place. When Evan does go to Tommy’s, the message to stay away is plain. Tommy plans to kill Evan. Evan’s issue in the fight was that Tommy sold weapons to a person who harmed innocent people and tried to kill Evan. Tommy’s not willing to share his reasons for this behavior, but in talking to Evan, his point of view amounts to, “Just who is the bad guy?” What is moral and what is not. Who is Evan to question Tommy’s values? This theme continues in the story that evolve as each of them end up in a little town where some older teenaged boys ran a truck into a Quinceañera” being held on town picnic grounds. They killed several adults and an eight year old boy. There has been close to zero police interest in this crime. Feels like a coverup.
Evan is there in his capacity as the Nowhere man, who brings what justice he can to those who are wronged. In this case it means he will try to solve the crime and bring the murderers to justice on behalf of the little boy’s family. Tommy is in town with the culprits, one of whom who has asked for his help. He is the son of a man Tommy served with in Vietnam. He promised his now dead friend he would look after the sone. The boy he is helping lives with a ragtag group of would be white supremacist anti-Islam, anti-hispanic older teenagers with guns who spend too much time on their phones. Tommy seeks to work with them to get those who are accountable to be accountable and those who are not to do better. But none of them will listen to him when he warns them that going after Evan, who is in their way, will cause serious harm or death to them. Thus, Evan and Tommy are in an armed, real life battle about good and evil, each holding deep views of how to help those who have been hurt. Those who have been hurt are a family whose eight year old was murdered and a group of boys who grew up in abusive homes with no good role models, just at the brink of manhood where their beliefs could solidify or … not.
As usual, there are some themes with humor involving Joey, the computer wizard who Evan mentors and works with. They are in a fight because he criticized her for causing a meme to go viral, meant to be supportive to Islamic women, but in fact stereotyping and causing pain to many Islamic women. Joey doesn’t like that X is telling her she did something wrong and that she needs to dig deeper before she takes a mistaken or simplistic view of a subject. They are not talking when the new job arises. They agree to work on the murder and only communicate in a businesslike manner. Thus, we follow Joey’s continuing “coming of age.”
There are many flashbacks in this novel about Jack, the man who served as Evan’s handler and trainer in the Orphan X program, making him a killer that he hoped would retain some humanity. The burden on Evan was huge and the relationship complicated. As a result, we are considering the late teenage lives of Joey, of the ragtag group of teenaged boys and of Evan. I liked that juxtaposition very much.
In Nemesis, as Evan and Tommy sometimes talk, sometimes make clear either would kill the other, and sometimes actually communicate effectively, it becomes apparent that a far more sinister force is after one or both of them and steps must be taken.
I love the range of characters, issues they faced and the writing as usual. Remember that Evan and Tommy and that group of boys, as well as the villains who seek to harm some of them, live in a violent world and there is explicit violence in this novel. And I am addicted to Orphan X.
X forever!
They Called me Bookworm 