There is a line you don’t cross
By Gregg Hurwitz
Evan Smoak is a lone wolf operator. It goes with the territory for a former off-the- books government assassin. He certainly can’t afford to go up against one of the few people he likes and trusts in this world.
Nemesis: a world of trouble
But Tommy Stojack, a gifted armorer and gunsmith whom Evan relies on, has crossed a line. And when Evan confronts him, instead of clearing up a deadly disagreement, he comes under attack. Now it’s war.
Tommy’s got problems of his own though. He promised a dying comrade that he’d be there for the man’s son and now the boy’s in a world of trouble. The very last thing Tommy needs is Evan showing up with vengeance on his mind.
The scary thing? Evan isn’t even the most dangerous threat to arrive on the scene.
About the author
Gregg Hurwitz grew up in the Bay Area. While completing a BA from Harvard (’95) and a master’s from Trinity College, Oxford in Shakespearean tragedy (’96), he wrote his first novel. He was the undergraduate scholar-athlete of the year at Harvard for his pole-vaulting expertise.
Hurwitz is the critically acclaimed, international bestselling author of The Tower, Minutes to Burn, Do No Harm, The Kill Clause, The Program, Troubleshooter, Last Shot, The Crime Writer, Trust No One, They’re Watching, You’re Next, and Tell No Lies. His books have been nominated for numerous awards, shortlisted for best novel of the year by International Thriller Writers, and nominated for CWA’s Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.
- PUBLISHER | Penguin Random House SA |
- ISBN | 9780241598979 |
- Recommended Retail Price | R380.00 |
- Classification | Thriller |





























“What a mistaka to maka” … Ian Fleming didn’t know what a secret agent really was! Fleming dubbed James Bond a “secret” agent yet simultaneously depicted 007 as an employee on MI6’s payroll. You may say “so what” because Bond is fiction. So is Postman Pat but his creator John Cunliffe never called him an Uber or Deliveroo courier.
Now an MI6 secret agent would never have: (1) been an employee on MI6’s payroll who took holidays and submitted expense claims etc; (2) reported directly to the Head of MI6, had annual appraisals and been on extremely familiar terms with many other MI6 employees such as Q or Moneypenny; (3) been a frequent visitor to MI6 HQ and other MI6 buildings; and (4) even used his own name when he met ministers et al in Whitehall.
Given Ian Fleming’s background in British naval intelligence in World War 11, that contradictory classification of 007 was about as absurd as calling a Brain Surgeon a Hair Dresser or a Navy Seal a Coastguard as noted in the latest intriguing news article in TheBurlingtonFiles (advert free) website.
To quote from the article … “As for 007 being “secret”, … since everybody knew … his favourite drink was shaken not stirred, I’m surprised he wasn’t poisoned more often … especially as he insisted on letting everyone know his name was “Bond, James Bond”! Perhaps Bond’s true skill lay in being so conspicuously ostentatious that no one believed he could genuinely be a spy!