ANTIHERO

5 stars out of 5

Those who know me and/or follow my book reviews know I rarely stray from my favorite mystery/thriller genre, especially those with a legal or medical bent. Well, for the record, there’s one kind from which I typically shy away; those with mayhem that leaves body parts strewn all over four continents and humans who have unbelievable super-human capabilities. You’d think, then, that this series – which is loaded with all that “stuff” - wouldn’t have a lot of appeal.

Well, think again. From the moment I picked up my first – which in fact was the sixth in the series (this is the 11^th) – I couldn’t get enough of Evan Smoak, a.k.a. the Nowhere Man. Groomed from a young age through the Orphan X program to be a killer, he can (and often does) totally incapacitate a much bigger human opponent in 5 seconds flat with what appears to be the touch of a finger. These days, having broken away with the agency that taught him how to deal with danger and kill with no emotion before, during or after, he’s a sort of fixer-upon request for the downtrodden. He’s also wanted by the feds as well as that top-secret agency from which he escaped, so let’s just say life ain’t easy. But he’s got plenty of money, a virtually impenetrable penthouse and close friends who can infiltrate just about any system to retrieve information (or destroy it).

He’s got a few truly strange cohorts and friends, one of whom, Luke Devine, is a super-powerful hedge fund dude (actually, Evan once was charged with killing Devine, but he sort of took a liking to him and spared his life). The guy is seriously psychologically screwed up, though, and contacts Evan for help with getting back to his concept of normal. Evan complies, taking along his No. 1 sidekick, teenager and Orphan X program dropout Josephine Morales (Joey). Just as they’re assessing the Luke situation, Evan learns of a young disabled woman, Anca Dimitrescu, who’s been kidnapped from a subway and brutally assaulted. Helping people who have no one else to turn for help is Evan’s purpose in life, so he leaves Joey to deal with Luke (and use his wild array of tech tools to help Evan find Anca and the four young men who need to be, shall we say, prevented from doing anything that dastardly ever again). He finds her, of course, but she immediately reins in his fury by insisting that he not kill the boys when he and Joey identify and locate them.

Needless to say, from this point on it gets pretty complicated – and unraveling it all for readers is the author’s job, not mine. Suffice it to say it’s a heck of a journey that kept me on the edge of my seat – as always – right up to the end. What I can say, though, is thank you once again to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to get in on the plentiful action by way of a pre-release copy. And, once again, wow!

Antihero by Gregg Hurwitz (Minotaur Books, February 2026); 416 pp.

TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON

4 stars out of 5

You and your new husband are spending a couple of nights in Lisbon, Portugal, where he has business meetings scheduled during the day. You wake up the first morning to find him gone - with no clues as to his whereabouts. The police don't give much credence to your insistence that he's been kidnapped - even when his disappearance is caught on video and you're asked to pay a hefty ransom you can't possibly afford.

That's the situation Ariel Pryce faces, and as the police - and folks from the U.S. Embassy, the CIA and a pesky reporter - keep plodding along but getting nowhere, she knows the only person she can rely on is herself. Her ex-husband isn't wealthy enough to help find her missing husband, John Wright, but she knows someone who is: a very powerful man who is just about the last person on earth to whom she wants to be beholden. Asking for help is laden with visions of past experiences best forgotten, but Ariel has no other workable option.

As the story progresses, insights into the past lives and dark secrets of Ariel and (to a more limited extent) John are revealed by flashbacks - weaving in several twists that suggest that John's disappearance may be tied to one or both of their past lives. It is here, though, that I became a bit frustrated; the aforesaid flashbacks happened with regularity, but within chapters and with no warning - making it a little hard to follow when I suddenly realized I was reading about people and events that happened in a different time and place. Once I was well into the book it got easier to recognize the switcheroo, but I never totally adjusted to it.

Except for a fair amount of "filler" that sometimes reads like a preachy commercial for a specific hot-button issue, the action is pretty much nonstop and most of the twists are surprising. If you're one who believes the end always justifies the mean, you'll be satisfied with the ending; I'm sort of on middle ground in that respect, but overall I must say I enjoyed the entire experience and, especially as the end neared, really didn't want to put it down. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it.

Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone (MCD, May 2022); 450 pp.