PRODIGAL SON

5 stars out of 5

Better late to the party than not at all was my thought when I neared the end of this, the sixth installment of the author's Orphan X series. So enjoyable was the adventure that I almost resented having to put it down long enough to open Christmas gifts.

It took a few chapters for me to really get into the swing of it as chapters shifted back and forth in time, but that actually helped bring someone like me who didn't read previous books up to speed in short order. In the here and now, Evan Smoak has retired from his job as a government assassin in the Orphan program, which carefully chooses and trains orphaned children like him. He remains at the ready, though, billing himself the "Nowhere Man" who is willing to help those in desperate need.

At an impound lot, his mentor is murdered, and the lot attendant, Andre Duran, manages to escape the same fate. Then Evan gets a phone call he'd never have expected - from a woman who claims to be his mother. He's both upset and reluctant to meet her (after all, it was she who gave him up as a baby), but curiosity wins and he heads for Buenos Aires for a face-to-face. There, she remains tight-lipped other than to ask him to help a man named Andre Duran.

With more than a few misgivings, he agrees; but when he gets back to the States and finds the man's house, let's just say it becomes clear that the man will need any help Evan can give. I could spend an hour writing about what comes next, but doing that would spoil it for others, so I'll say only that he seeks help from old friends - at least one of whom has a grasp of technology seemingly far beyond any mortal human - characters who I assume will be familiar to loyal readers. The action is nonstop and the aforementioned technology, especially when it comes to weaponry, is mind-blowing.

I was also struck with an overall feeling of sadness; when I read about the characters' backgrounds and why they've turned out the way they are, at times I almost got tears in my eyes. It was educational as well; not counting some very unique technological advances that, if they aren't already available, soon will be, I picked up on tidbits like this: There's enough iron in the human body to make a three-inch nail. Who knew?

Be forewarned: This one ends with the mother of all cliffhangers. All the more reason to anticipate the next one, I'd say - I'll be watching! Meantime, thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for offering me an advance copy to read and review.

Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz (Minotaur Books, January 2021; 432 pp.