An emotionally complicated story interspersed with amazing bursts of incredible violence, Dark Horse is a dramatic soul searching, ass kicking journey with depth, heart, and lots of dead bodies. Simply put…this book is my jam!
When Evan Smoak was taken from the orphanage and turned into Orphan X, his mentor Jack Johns taught Evan many critical lessons. But maybe the most important was that the hard part wasn’t being a killer. The hard part is staying human. And that has never been more evident than in the pages of Dark Horse, where Evan takes on a mission unlike any other that tests his humanity and moral compass.
A teenage girl has been kidnapped by a brutal Mexican drug cartel and her father begs The Nowhere Man to help get her back. However, this father is no saint. In fact, he’s a bad man who runs his own drug operation in Texas, though bad is relative and as Isaac Hayes once sang, “he’s a complicated man.” But the daughter is an innocent who is in mortal danger at the hands of a psychopath and his band of murderous men. So Evan accepts the mission and must figure out a way to infiltrate the cartel to save the girl. Meanwhile Evan’s personal life is in disarray – he’s rebuilding his penthouse, fighting with Joey and things get even complicated with Mia. All which challenge the seventh commandment: One mission at a time. If he’s able to survive the physical and emotional danger swirling around him, he will become the poster child for the old saying “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
The central theme of this book is a deep dive into self-exploration in search of redemption. For a drug lord, it’s figuring out how far he’s willing to go to save his daughter. Is he willing to burn his empire to the ground to save his own flesh and blood? And for Evan, it’s the continuation of a journey to make amends for all the killing he’s done in the past, seeking to determine if he’s worthy of, and able to have, meaningful personal relationships. Can he operate if he allows himself to connect with other people and therefore has something to lose? But conversely if he eschews those relationships, will he be able to remain human? It’s an emotional roller coaster with depth that will have you alternating between tears and fist pumps.
As much as I enjoyed Dark Horse and love the entire Orphan X series, I have a bone to pick with Gregg Hurwitz. These cliffhangers are killing me! I was hoping that the explosive ending of Prodigal Son allowed him to scratch that cliffhanger itch and this time the book would finish with everything cleanly wrapped up. Wrong! Boy, I was so terribly misguided to believe that would be the case. Because this time, the diabolical Mr. Hurwitz leaves us with multiple cliffhangers. That’s right. Not one, not two, but three huge storylines for which we now must wait another year to find out what happens. Which reminds me of a couple of quotes:
“Life is pain.” – Dread Pirate Roberts
“The waiting. Always the waiting.” – Gabriel Allon
Of course, I say all this tongue in cheek. I will gladly wait as long as it takes to find out what happens next. Because it means we’re getting more Evan Smoak and whatever Gregg Hurwitz has in store for him and the other characters promises to be glorious.
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