Into the Fire

In bestseller Hurwitz’s adrenaline-charged fifth Orphan X novel (after 2019’s Out of the Dark), forensic accountant Grant Merriweather leaves his cousin Max Merriweather an envelope to be delivered to an L.A. Times reporter in the event of his murder. But when Grant and the reporter are both killed, Max turns to Evan Smoak, the Nowhere Man, for help. The envelope contains a flash drive with spreadsheets that Evan and his hacker protégé, Josephine Morales, are able to determine contain a money laundering scheme that ranges through L.A.’s criminal underworld. Early on, Evan is surprised by a gunman, and, while Evan survives, he suffers a concussion that hinders his combat abilities, but not so much that he hesitates to rescue Max from a police station or get himself jailed in order to get to a kingpin behind bars. Meanwhile, Hurwitz continues to explore Evan’s nascent relationship with assistant district attorney Mia Hall, adding some complexity. By layering his nonstop action with character development, Hurwitz has created a terrific tale. 150,000-copy announced first printing; author tour. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary. (Jan.)