Evan Smoak is just an average guy living in the penthouse of a high rise in L.A., riding the elevators with fellow residents and trying to avoid tenants association meetings—or so it seems. Through flashbacks to Evan's youth and training and descriptions of his current living space and projects, listeners learn that Evan was really Nowhere Man, a clandestine government operative also known as Orphan X before he broke with the program. As his freelance vigilantism runs into obstacles, Evan wonders whether he, not his client, has become the target of professional killers. Hurwitz's (Don't Look Back) latest features lots of intrigue, tons of electronic gadgets, secret safe houses, remote surveillance options, and a neighbor whose 12-year-old son causes Evan to reflect on his own youth and recruitment into the Orphan Program. In this tightly written novel, the exotic life of a contract assassin is continually contrasted with the dangers of everyday existence in the barrio or on the low side of the gaming industry in Las Vegas. Scott Brick does a terrific job reading. VERDICT This work is highly recommended for adult audio collections.—Cliff Glaviano, formerly with Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH

This series opener by Hurwitz (Don't Look Back) features as its protagonist a former licensed-to-kill member of the government's covert Orphan Program, who has been on the run from his homicidal ex-associates since he broke free. Known by his foes as the Nowhere Man, he has given himself a new name, Evan Smoak, and has constructed an elaborate technological security wall around himself. He has also decided to atone for past homicides by helping those in need—in this case Katrin White, a gambler whose father will be killed unless she pays her gambling debts. Considering his past life, it's understandable that Smoak is a dark, moody guy, a point underlined by reader Brick's chilly, no-nonsense approach to the character. Likewise, his sustained dramatic delivery effectively adds power to the action-filled and suspenseful moments. However, it also highlights the book's somewhat distractingly detailed descriptions of weaponry, technology and products; these undercut scenes such as Smoak having to deal with his condo board, which offer needed light relief from the novel's ultra-noirish mood. A Minotaur hardcover. (Jan.)