Loved the first Evan Smoak novel, HATED this one

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Maybe I listened to Orphan X too recently, but this novel was far too repetitive of Orphan X. AND, I got REALLY, REALLY tired of all the melodrama over Jack, Smoak's trainer and handler. For God's sake, the man's dead, let him rest in peace rather than bringing his specter back to drag the story down. While the story line in Orphan X stretched credulity, this one is unbelievably bad.

Would you ever listen to anything by Gregg Hurwitz again?

Maybe, but not another Evan Smoak ... perhaps I'd read one in print so I can skip over all the drama and read the story, but I don't think I'd listen to another Evan Smoak.

What didn’t you like about Scott Brick’s performance?

Brick, who I usually like, reads this as if he were a liberal psychologist ... one can just picture his wringing hands as he does the drama.

What character would you cut from The Nowhere Man?

Either Van Stier or Candy (think I have that right). Only purpose seems to be to increase the drama.

Any additional comments?

If you've recently read or listened to Orphan X, don't bother with this one (or at least buy the print edition so that you can read the real story).

18 people found this helpful

Very long ride to a let down.

What would have made The Nowhere Man better?

Take the entire middle of the book and remove it. Then rewrite it and make it to where it is,
1. More believable and more Smoak-like
2. If Smoak is ex-government as claimed- there are no less than 6 geo-synchronous satellites over that area at any given 6 hour period. His whatever phone would have told him that.....so would the author...
3. Limit the amount of failures.... it became so rote that I was laughing in my car and I do not believe the author's intent was to have the reader laughing at the protagonist's pain.

What was most disappointing about Gregg Hurwitz’s story?

The plot seems jittery and the past seems to not BE the past. There is one setting in the book that gets so quicksand like that the book seems to have moved in, set up utilities, did a change of address and told all of its relatives that it has decided to stay a while.

One thing that really did it in for me on the book was the idea that Smoak is supposedly this unbeatable type of Mitch Rapp-esque warrior/operative and he gets worked over by a septenarian drug dealer with a vampiric bent??? Seems to be a bit bent.

What didn’t you like about Scott Brick’s performance?

Oh my goodness that man's voice would make me walk over ten miles of broken glass in bare feet just to get a pair of ear plugs to stop his whisper!

He should be outlawed. He should only be allowed to read for public consumption with verified diagnosis of laryngitis or strep throat.

What character would you cut from The Nowhere Man?

I would change Renee. David the gay guy seemed overly superfluous, Dax the mute? the narcos...why did they have to be narcos? seemed to be pick and choose to me- but hey, artistic license.

Any additional comments?

I read the first one. I thought the second one would be ok, too. I will not read any third.

34 people found this helpful

Note to Self: Great Book 1. Not Great Book 2.

Hugely disappointed. I won't rant and rave here but I will not be buying Book 3 even though I am curious based on the ending of Book 2. I listened and more than 1.0 speed, because I sort of wanted to know what happened, but nearly stopped and asked for a refund. Oh well. On to the next book. P.S. Scott Brick tried but it didn't work for him either.

34 people found this helpful

Gregg needs to learn that less is more

What I mean is that Gregg puts to much conflict, drama and tension into the book.

Take the Expendable series. You watch it knowing it is just going to be a bunch of crazy stupid fighting, and you like it. It is expected and kind of fun. I think the Orphan X series had better potential, but then maybe there are a lot of others who liked it. But there were problems.

I believe there was only a slight reference to a non-combative or non-distressed person in the entire book. At some point, less than half way through I found myself saying "here we go again' another situation for Evan, he probably wont get out of this one yet, but he will survive. There were just too many of those situations. Gregg needs to find a way to fit in some normalcy, some people who aren't on one extreme of good or evil. I got to be honest, I started skipping chapters just because I was tired of the same thing happening again and again. This will probably be my last Gregg Hurwitz, it will certainly be my last Orphan X which is a little of a let down... such potential. One last comment, the narrator Scott Brick puts a little to much drama into ALL the situations. If he had toned it down that might have helped.

Gregg, you have talent, put it to good use.

27 people found this helpful

Liked the original, moaned over the second!

What would have made The Nowhere Man better?

A more believable plot relative to Evan's supposed skill set. Stop with the constant melodrama especially during captivity; this portion of the book droned on and on and could have been trimmed by half.

Would you be willing to try another one of Scott Brick’s performances?

The jury is out!

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The last two and a half hours of the book were more in keeping with what I was expecting.

Any additional comments?

A highly trained warrior, an expert internet hacker with vast layers of anonymity , and having sophisticated international banking skills gets trapped by a FEDEX delivery? Really? "Expect the unexpected", yet time and again Evan walks into the unexpected! Piling misery upon misery upon misery, the narrator at times made me want to cry out "ENOUGH"! Shorten the book, get to the point and get the job done next time.

63 people found this helpful

This book is awful!

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the first Orphan X book, it was well paced and action packed. This book was a real drag to get through!!! I can't stress that enough! It has an eventful beginning and fast paced ending, but 80% of the book is just excruciatingly dull and pointless. The main character is essentially locked in a room for the vast majority of the book, every chapter beginning the same way..."Evan wakes up... still locked in the room..".

I'd suggest skipping this one. It's infuriating and more trouble than its worth IMHO.

Beyond the fact of the majority of the novel being boring as heck, it felt as though all the negative aspects of the first novel have been amplified. The dramatic moralizing from the first book was really dialed up. My eyes are tired from their constant rolling.

If you do tackle it you'll be fine listening to the first hour of the book and skipping to the last hour. There's not much going on in between.

80 people found this helpful

Whiny, Whiny, Why me....

What disappointed you about The Nowhere Man?

The author needs to determine if his protagonist is a super hero created from his past or a boring, pitiful victim. This story line was not entertaining...

24 people found this helpful

Plods along like a mule in an endless desert

I recall enjoying the first in the series. So I bought the second. The author clearly hates his protagonist to put him through this book. Scott Brick does yeoman's service reading but even his talent doesn't help that the book goes nowhere very very slowly. I've given up with just over four hours to go. Cannot recommend this one, sorry folks

24 people found this helpful

I'm a fan & ready for book #3!!!!

I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that Gregg Hurwitz has decided to write a series again. I have enjoyed all of his other books and wish that some of the characters would have gone on to other books because I thought they were so interesting (like Shep from Your Next).
Anyway this book is action from beginning to end. Some of the are a little out there as far as Evan's improvisations but I've said it before about other series, of you like Greaney, Taylor, Thor , Coes and others of this genre then I think Evan Smoak is right up there with the best of them!! The book is great and fills in a lot of what was left out of the first book.
I thought it ended with a fantastic cliff hanger and I can't wait for the third book in this series to be released.
Scott Brick, as always gave an excellent performance.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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Thank You.

66 people found this helpful

Too Much

I enjoyed Orphan X, but this was just too much. Book took too long and I felt like stopping several times. I felt like the author was asking me to forgive too much with regards to story line and events. The narrating was great as usual by Scott Brick.

26 people found this helpful