“Read the Orphan X series. You’ll thank me later.” — David Baldacci
Nearly ten years ago, I wrote “Three Don’t-Mess-With-Me Novel Heroes”, in which I gave brief descriptions/recommendations of three action/adventure heroes who star in their own book series. I have written a handful of similar posts (slightly modified format) but of different types of heroes/series. So, I thought it was about time I wrote a “don’t-mess-with-me” follow-up about three more heroes of the same type. (It took me awhile to finally read a sufficient sampling of each.) Maybe you will find one or more of them interesting enough to give ’em a try….
1) “John Milton” series by Mark Dawson
John Milton has spent a decade working as an operative (mostly assassinations) for Group Fifteen, a little-known, off-the-books kill-squad division of UK’s MI-6. When we meet him in the first novel, The Cleaner, Milton has become increasingly disillusioned by the moral grayness of his work, and the guilt has driven him to drink. He decides to take a “sabbatical” and disappear for awhile, but his boss has reluctantly decided to “retire” him. Fortunately for him, Milton is G15’s #1 operative and pretty good at staying under the radar… mostly. Meanwhile, he travels the world, trying to balance the scales, as it were, by helping people he comes across who are in dangerous situations and can use someone with his skillset.
I have read the first three novels (out of 23) in this series, as well as the first prequel novella. There are many similar series out there based on a current or former government assassin or other special ops type. Yet, this one feels a bit different from those I’ve read. Part of it might be that the main character is British (as are his former employers), but it has a very different feel from others I have sampled. In any case, I have enjoyed what I’ve read so far — both the character and the stories. They have a very street-level realism to them. The series has been called “a cross between James Bond and Jason Bourne,” but I think it is more of a cross between Bond (for the secretive and British aspects) and Jack Reacher (for the solitary and brutal parts), yet very much its own thing.
Btw, I belong to a fairly big city public library, but they only have the first novel of this series in paperback. (There are no hardcovers.) I finally bought three omnibuses, so I now have the first nine novels plus a couple novellas in print form. But, if you don’t want to go that route, you can get the Kindle versions, which are relatively cheap or free to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.
2) “Gray Man” series by Mark Greaney
Greaney’s character is Court Gentry, 36, who effectively trained with tactical officers at his father’s SWAT school. He was recruited by the CIA and worked in covert ops, earning himself quite a reputation. He was given the call-sign ‘Sierra Six’ (or just ‘Six’) when he joined an agency irregular rendition task force nicknamed the ‘Goon Squad’. Things went bad on one op (or maybe he was framed), and his old bosses marked him for neutralization. Gentry escaped before they could “render” him, killing a few teammates in the process. Nowadays, Gentry works as an assassin-for-hire in the private sector, and many in the biz would call him “the best”. He has a new nickname, too. He is now known as the Gray Man, due largely to his ability to “blend in” so well wherever he may be, and to seemingly slip in and out of the shadows.
Sometimes the Gray Man gets jobs through an Englishman by the name of Fitzroy, owner of Cheltenham Security Services, but that’s not always reliable. Other times, Gentry takes on work from shadier groups, though he does have loose guidelines for determining which missions to accept. If he can morally justify the assignment, he’ll probably take it, especially if he needs the funds. But, when Gentry’s old CIA employers close in on him, he disappears again, blending in and trying to stay out of trouble. Not surprisingly, trouble tends to find him.
I have only read the first three books in this series, but the thirteenth just came out last month. So far, each story is very different from the others. (However, I read Book #3, Ballistic, right after reading the second John Milton book Saint Death, which was somewhat confusing, ‘cuz they both involved our hero “hiding out” in Mexico and getting caught up in something with drug cartels.) The Court Gentry character is continually being fleshed out, there are fun/interesting plots, and good groups of supporting characters. Overall, an enjoyable read in the action/adventure, spy-thriller genre.
A quick note: If you watched Netflix’s “The Gray Man” film (w/ Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans), you have some idea of what the series is about. But, like most such adaptations, it was rather commercialized and, imho, has a very different feel than the original novels.
3) “Orphan X” (aka “The Nowhere Man”) series by Gregg Hurwitz
See that white guy coming out of the coffee shop, walking this way… in the black sweatshirt and dark jeans? I’d say he’s under 6′ tall, mid-30s, fit but otherwise average looks and build, right? He may not stand out in a crowd, but that works for him in his line of business. What business? If you ask him, he’ll say his name is Evan Smoak and he’s a salesman of industrial cleaning supplies to restaurants, etc. But, …
I have it on good authority that the dude is the urban legend known as the Nowhere Man. If you or a loved one is in over your/their head with some dangerous people — drug dealer, bookie, street gang, kidnapper, corrupt cop, etc. — he might be able to help. He’s got mad skills. But, you can only contact him if a former client of his knows your problem and passes his business card to you on the down-low. (They can only do it once.) If it sounds legit and he can help, he’ll arrange a meet to get more info.
How did Smoak get his skills? You didn’t hear it from me, but he was recruited out of an orphanage by some “mystery man” when he was twelve. He got special training from his mentor (the “mystery man”) and a select group of instructors. Eventually, he became a regular operative for the Orphan Program, an off-the-books, assassin program known by very few even in the U.S. intelligence community. He was quite successful as “Orphan X”. But, after a few years, he’d had enough and broke ties with the Program. (Sound familiar?) Then, new management decides to scrub the program altogether, and that includes eliminating currently surviving Orphans and those still in training. Orphan X refuses to cooperate. It helps that he was able to use certain resources available to him to secretly remodel a top-floor, city condo into a veritable fortress. And “they” don’t know where he lives… yet.
As of this writing, I have read Books 1-3, but there are currently nine in the series. Both the character and the setting are different enough to set them apart from similar action thriller series. There’s some humor, too, usually around Smoak’s dealing with a variety of neighbors, the Homeowners’ Association, his quasi-love interest and her kid. Very enjoyable! In fact, I’m in the mood for one now, but it will have to wait until I finish the Reacher book I’m slowly working my way through. Fun, fun, fun!
I hope you have enjoyed these write-ups. Let me know if you try one and what you think. If you enjoy another series of this sort, please share your recommendation(s)!
Heroes and Aliens 