Len Deighton was born in 1929 in London. He did his national service in the RAF, went to the Royal College of Art and designed many book jackets, including the original UK edition of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. The enormous success of his first spy novel, The IPCRESS File (1962), was repeated in a remarkable sequence of books over the following decades. These varied from historical fiction (Bomber, perhaps his greatest novel) to dystopian alternative fiction (SS-GB) and a number of brilliant non-fiction books on the Second World War (Fighter, Blitzkrieg and Blood, Tears and Folly). 
 
His spy novels chart the twists and turns of Britain and the Cold War in ways which now give them a unique flavour. They preserve a world in which Europe contains many dictatorships, in which the personal can be ruined by the ideological and where the horrors of the Second World War are buried under only a very thin layer of soil. Deighton's fascination with technology, his sense of humour and his brilliant evocation of time and place make him one of the key British espionage writers, alongside John Buchan, Eric Ambler, Ian Fleming and John Le Carré.

Len Deighton

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Gregg Hurwitz

He was once called Orphan X. 
 
As a boy, Evan Smoak was taken from a children's home, raised and trained as part of a secret government initiative buried so deep that virtually no one knows it exists. But he broke with the programme, choosing instead to vanish off grid and use his formidable skill set to help those unable to protect themselves. 
 
One day, though, Evan's luck ran out . . . 
 
Ambushed, drugged, and spirited away, Evan wakes up in a locked room with no idea where he is or who has captured him. As he tries to piece together what's happened, testing his gilded prison and its highly trained guards for weaknesses, he receives a desperate call for help. 
 
With time running out, he will need to out-think, out-manoeuvre, and out-fight an opponent the likes of whom he's never encountered to have any chance of escape. He's got to save himself to protect those whose lives depend on him. Or die trying . . . 
 
The Nowhere Man delivers another masterclass in hi-octane thriller writing. A rare thing, The Nowhere Man is better than the original!

The Nowhere Man

To some he was Orphan X. Others knew him as the Nowhere Man. But to Jack Johns he was a boy named Evan Smoak. Taken from an orphanage, Evan was raised inside a top-secret government programme and trained to become a lethal weapon. By Jack. And yet for all the dangerous skill he instilled in his young charge, Jack Jones cared for Evan like a son. 
 
But Jack knew too much about a programme that had gone rotten - he was a loose end that needed to be dealt with. But if you go after the only person who ever treated him like a human being, you can guarantee that the Nowhere Man will be coming for you. Hellbent on making things right . . . 
 
With Hellbent, Gregg Hurwitz raises the bar again with a masterclass in hi-octane thriller writing.

Hellbent

A Dark Conspiracy. An Innocent Victim

As Orphan-X, Evan Smoak was trained to be a secret government assassin - until he quit. 
 
As the Nowhere Man he's the guy to call if no one else can help. He'll save you. 
 
But when a woman gets in touch claiming to be his mother, he can't know if his true family needs help or this is a trap. 
 
Has Evan's past reached out to claim him? 
 
Or is someone out to ensure he has no future?

Prodigal Son

The explosive and thrilling Sunday Times bestseller

Evan Smoak - former government assassin, 'Orphan X', turned white knight of last resort - is planning on hanging up his gun. 
 
Then he gets one last call. 
 
Max Merriweather has lost his wife, home and career. Now it looks like he's going to lose his life. A murdered cousin has left him a package and a team of assassins on his trail . . . 
 
Nothing Evan can't handle. 
 
If it weren't for the fact he's carrying a brutal concussion that's made him vulnerable. Or that the simple job of keeping Max safe quickly escalated into a mission unlike anything he's ever encountered. 
 
But as Evan's problems mount just one thing is clear: he is now in the most dangerous position of his life . . .

Into the Fire

THE HERO 
Evan Smoak: former off-the-books assassin - code name Orphan X. His world is divided into those who deserve his help and those who've brought his singular brand of justice upon themselves. 
 
THE VICTIM 
A desperate father reaches out. His teenage daughter Anjelina has been kidnapped by a brutal criminal cartel and spirited over the border into Mexico. And while money is no object, Evan soon realises that his prospective client's past is as clouded and compromised as his own. 
 
THE MISSION 
If Evan is going to put his life on the line to rescue Anjelina, he must first decide whether he can act on behalf of a bad man. And even then, up against the men who are holding his daughter, there will be no guarantee of success...

Dark Horse

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
The electrifying new ORPHAN X adventure in the bestselling series - Evan Smoak returns with a mission which could cost him everything . . . 
 
'A stellar series, and the stories get better with each instalment' DAILY MAIL 
 
'[A] witty, satisfying thriller' SUN 
__________ 
 
A heavily-armed counter-assault team, a convoy of tactical vehicles plus decoys, air support, a sedative more commonly used to knock out large animals, arm and leg restraints, a hood, mouthguard and a Secret Service Agent asking for a selfie. 
 
This was not your average invitation to meet with the President. 
 
But then Orphan X is not your average guest. The last survivor of the off-the-books programme that raised and trained him, Evan Smoak was sent around the world to do his government's dirty work. Until he escaped. 
 
Now once again in need of his particular skill-set, the President tracks him down and offers him a deal: kill a man she deems too dangerous or be executed himself. 
 
Evan must decide whether to accept. He's spent years trying to atone for his former life. But if by taking on the mission he must betray the very principles he now lives by, what is left? 
 
One thing becomes clear to the President soon enough: no one should ever try to force Evan's hand. Because putting Orphan X in an impossible spot only makes him more dangerous . . . 
 
__________ 
 
'As a crafter of wham-bam action and suspense, leavened with a healthy dose of humour, Hurwitz's abilities are as fine-tuned as ever' DAILY EXPRESS 
 
Praise for the Orphan X series 
 
'Feels like a missile launch' DAVID BALDACCI 
 
'Outstanding in every way' LEE CHILD 
 
'Weapons-grade thriller writing' GUARDIAN 
 
'An immensely entertaining adventure' THE TIMES 
 
*The Last Orphan: On The Sunday Times bestseller list February 2023*

The Last Orphan

The Thrilling Orphan X Sunday Times Bestseller

'Do you need my help?' 
 
It was always the first question he asked. They called him when they had nowhere else to turn. 
 
As a boy he was taken from an orphanage, then raised and trained. As part of a top-secret programme, he was sent out to do the things his government denied any knowledge of. 
 
Then he broke with the programme, using everything he'd learned to disappear. He wanted to help the desperate and deserving. 
 
But now someone's on his tail. Someone who has issues with his past. Someone who knows he was once known simply as Orphan X.

Orphan X

THE PRESIDENT 
For President Jonathan Bennett, reaching the White House was the realisation of lifetime's ambition. He's leader of the free world and the most powerful man on earth. But public support for his administration is wearing thin. And if the truth about his rise to the top was exposed it would bury him. 
 
THE ASSASSIN 
As a boy, Evan Smoak was taken from his foster home and inducted into a top secret Cold War programme. Codenamed Orphan X, he was trained to become a lethal weapon, then despatched around the world to do whatever was required to keep his country safe. When Evan discovered the mission was rotten to the core he got out, using his skills to hide in plain sight while helping those left behind by mainstream justice. 
 
THE RECKONING 
But Evan knows about the President's dark past. And that's dangerous knowledge. To save himself and his country, Evan must ask himself one simple question: how do you kill the most well-protected man on earth? And, when he knows you're coming for him, how do you stay alive long enough to try? One thing is certain: a desperate call for help from another unfortunate in urgent need of Evan's protection isn't going to make it any easier ... 
 
Breathtakingly bold, brilliantly accomplished and blisteringly fast-paced, Out of the Dark is The Day of the Jackal for the twenty-first century.

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