The Orphan X/Nowhere Man series has been favorite of mine from book one and Antihero, the eleventh entry in the series, is amazing. It is also profoundly disturbing, but anyone who is a fan has come to expect this from Gregg Hurwitz. The first part of the story focuses on the kidnapping and assault of a vulnerable young woman. X becomes involved when his frenemy Luke Devine calls him to New York to save Devine from himself. Devine is extraordinarily powerful, with access to technology and information far beyond the bounds of imagination. In order to settle Devine into semi-sanity, X temporarily takes over his life. Joey, the young woman who washed out of the orphan program but is a tech genius, insists on joining X as a true partner, not simply his consultant and ward. He agrees. One of the loveliest aspects of the novel involves their developing “parent/child” relationship and business relationship.
X learns about the assault victim from a friend of Luke’s and is determined to locate her and ensure she is safe. Anca Dumitrescu. is a sheltered American-Romanian woman in her 20s. She has a seizure disorder. Despite her aura of innocence, she has a strong sense of self and of right and wrong. When X finds her, having learned the extent of the attack on her, she only agrees to his involvement if none of her assailants are killed. As X and Joey look for the assailants, and seek to identify them using Luke’s massive databases a much larger issue manifests itself. The work that those helping Anca take on requires Candy, a formidable ex-Orphan with a history with X to come in as Anca’s bodyguard. Without going any further due to spoilers, this is a powerful, well wrought book with amazing characters, both old and new. Even the bad guys are fascinating in some original ways. Well done. Highly Recommend.
They Called me Bookworm 