Cover Image: Orphan X

Orphan X

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I might have a secret, not so secret obsession with assassin stories. I think I like them more than I admit and I wanted to love this one. There were for sure parts of it that I enjoyed and overall this did not make me run away and hide. I plan to stick with the series but I had a tough time getting through this one. In fact, the beginning really tested my patience. I almost quit, a few times. BUT I forced myself to keep going because I was dying to see where the series (highly rated) was going to go.

Evan Smoak is taken as a child and trained in an off-books black op program for children. Seriously how does that not peak your interest?

It’s tough to get to know Evan because he’s very closed off, robot like and that can be tough to get past. I hate to say it but Jason Bourne does come to mind when I think of Evan. He isn’t a bad guy because he only takes out bad guys… He uses his particular set of skills (LOL) to take out people who hurt people who can not protect themselves, which I like. BUT he also comes across as very pretentious and rude, but he is who he is.

There’s a lot of guns, knives and fighting that may not appeal to all, I probably skipped over sections of those details just because I don’t need those exact details to get the picture in my head. BUT some probably really like that stuff. For me those details became to much.

In the end I will for sure be checking out book 2 because I want to see what happens next and like I said at the start, secret obsession…This ones not for everyone but those you dig it will dig it hard!


Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Deep State

We are introduced to a character created in dystopian modern times by a bizarre corruption of the concept of protection. Like many such thrillers currently out which explore the limitless reaches of power and concomitant corruption, author Gregg Hurwitz has found his own special niche, focusing on the concept of pulling orphans, basically abandoned by society and already outside its bounds, off the street and into an arcane training program to create perfect assassins. The idea of totally controlling another individual is not new--think post World War II's "Manchurian Candidate"--but the years-long training required seems an improbable task in today's "need it now" society.

Okay, given that premise, what can you expect? A far better than expected adventure with Orphan X, whose training may have been just a little different, although equally thorough. I don't want to give away anything so I'll just say I really enjoyed the story and am already queuing up book 2 in my reader!

Was this review helpful?

Exciting, action-packed thriller! From childhood, Evan Smoak was trained as an assassin as part of a covert US intelligence program. We get bits of his past and of his present as he goes on his assigned missions and also moonlights as the "Nowhere Man", helping those who have nowhere else to turn. I loved the training scenes and his efforts to do some good in the world to make up for the uglier parts of what he's had to do.


Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

Was this review helpful?

I loved the first three books in this series. I flew through them and enjoyed the suspense, characterization and plot.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley.

Was this review helpful?

Because Book 4 in the Orphan X series, Out of the Dark, is coming out at the end of this month, the first three books were offered on NetGalley. I jumped at the chance to catch up on this popular and exciting series. Many thanks to the publisher and Gregg Hurwitz for providing me with the opportunity.

In Orphan X, Evan Smoak is helping people in trouble who call him on a special phone line. In the first case, a young Hispanic girl desperately wants to protect her younger sister from a sexual predator. Evan's backstory is told in flashes and we learn how he became so highly trained from a young age and by whom and why he is now 'in the wind.'

In the next case that Evan takes on, a gambler in massive debt to the Vegas casinos is being hunted by a team of assassins who are holding her father as hostage. Somehow they seem to know Evan's every move. Who is the real target here?

Evan is a complicated, intriguing character. He is a highly-trained assassin but seems determined to carry on as normal a life as possible amongst his neighbors in a high-rise condo while living a double life. That of course leads to complications and some humorous, everyday situations: he gets chastised for not attending HOA meetings; is worried about handprints on his Sub-Zero refrigerator; and gets trapped into babysitting an eight-year-old boy. I love that he's a meditator to boot!

Exciting action, horrifying and relentless villains, and lots of plot twists keep the reader turning pages. A hero with a heart makes you want to come back for more. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Was this review helpful?

If you are looking for something that will have you rapidly turning pages, spending your day and part of your night reading a most enticing thriller, than this book is for you.

Evan Smoak is quite a guy. He has a multitude of skills and is on a mission to help those who have no where to turn. He takes on people who find themselves at the ends of their ropes, thrown into despair, with no hope in sight, and provides then with a way to find their life once again.

Evan is powerful, he is trained, he anticipates and knows his way around the very worst of the criminal elements. Trained as a young child in all the arts of self defense, mind control, and resistance to pain, Evan was part of s secretive Orphan program, whose mission was to work undercover with a high level of plausible deniability. (in other words working for the government) However, Evan disappears and breaks with the program that trained him, including his beloved mentor/father Jack. He disappears and clandestinely offers his service to those in need.

However, someone is onto to Evan and he must use all his skills as The Nowhere Man to combat the evil that is at his door.

Told with multiple twists and turns and introducing Evan as a character that one can admire, Gregg Hurwitz has created a most thrilling thriller. The pages fly by and the level of tense action and situations push this book forward to a most satisfying conclusion. This book is the start of a series and it is already out for readers to enjoy. I know I will continue to follow Evan and his exploits in the next book.

Many thanks to Gregg Hurwitz for putting the zing into this thriller, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing this reader with a copy of the excellent, engrossing book. Onto the next book for me.

Was this review helpful?

So good, I read this book anytime I could find more than 5 minutes to read. Fast paced, exciting, and enough of a backstory/history of Orphan X to make the picture complete. I'm ready for book 2.

Was this review helpful?

Who, or perhaps more to the point, what is Orphan X? The juxtaposition of flashbacks with present day occurrences keeps the story in motion. Life's mundane complications put extra meat, and maybe a little far, on the bones of the story. My first impression was ORPHAN X is a take on "The Equalizer." For a lot of you, that would mean dreamy Denzel Washington, in the movie. For me, it's the 80s television series with distinguished Edward Woodward. Either way, you get my meaning. The gadgetry used would put James Bond's Q to shame.

ORPHAN X is a page turner. The writing is crisp, sometimes bordering on staccato, yet there is an underlying elegance of phrase that makes for a very smooth read. Here is a story inside an intrigued all tied up in a mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. It will make you consider what your own life might be like if everything was completely ordered and compartmentalized. Evan Smoak is one of the more interesting characters I've read. He is quite the enigma yet never appears to be a cardboard cutout. He's a superhero without a cape.

I'm really glad that I already have the next two novels in this series on my Kindle. I do love a good book binge, and I can't think of a better page turner with which to start the new year.

Was this review helpful?

This book is the first in a series of three involving Evan Smoak, an orphan trained as an off-the-books assassin. The book provides a complete story, and it sets the stage for the additional episodes. The plot is very imaginative, and the style of writing works well to give a sense of realism and define the characters. While the action and suspense continue throughout, much interest is evoked by the psychological issues Evan deals with as the story progresses. I read all three books before writing this review, but would not have given a different rating if this was the only book I read. The quality of writing and engrossing plot make this a real winner.

Was this review helpful?

With the fourth book “Out of the Dark” scheduled for release on January 29, 2019, it will be good to gift this trio of books to the suspense/thriller and action/adventure reader in your list. If he or she is a fan of Jason Bourne, then they won’t be disappointed.

Book 1 – Orphan X introduces Evan Smoak, an orphan recruited by a government-backed, black-ops squad of highly trained assassins. Evan became Orphan X, one of the best in the program. But when his handler and perhaps only friend was killed mysteriously, Evan went Rogue and became the Nowhere Man – a person who could help people out of hopeless situations.

Adrenaline pumping action reminiscent of Jason Bourne with the sentiment of the “The Equalizer,” an old CBS series circa 1985-1989, Orphan X is a great mix of high-octane exploit and heart.

Book 2 – The Nowhere Man is more cerebral than Orphan X as it develops Evan Smoak more. The pacing is slower but readers also see Smoak as a person not a super hero of sorts. The surprise is in the ending and worth the earlier slowness of the storyline.

Book 3 – Hellbent truly marries head and heart in the series. Now, readers see the depth of Evan Smoak’s humanity. He might be a trained assassin, but he still has a heart and that is the crux of this story. It will tug at your heartstrings! And it’s a suspense/thriller at that!

Was this review helpful?

Interesting read. Steady pacing (not too fast or boringly slow) and kept me on my toes with every turn of the page. Looking forward to finishing out the series.

Was this review helpful?

I found this book to be an engaging and fast read. It is along the lines of the novels by Lee Child and Vince Flynn (the solo ones, not the continuing under his name) with a different background for the main character - Evan Smoak. The author does a very good job in developing the main character, but passes over somewhat lightly what transpired between his training and what he currently is doing.

I recommend this book to anyone looking to read something along the lines of Jack Reacher or Mitch Rapp with a different twist.

I received a free Kindle copy of Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz n courtesy of Net Galley  and Minotaur Books, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as its sounded interesting and all three books in the series were offered up at the same time. This is the first book by the author that I have read.

Was this review helpful?

Evan Smoak is an orphan who is trained to be an assassin under the government’s secret Orphan Program. He has become a rogue assassin known as the “nowhere man.” He does only good now as he help those that have no one else to go to. He is careful as there are those who want to capture him. Why? What would they do if they capture him?

This is a thriller that is non-stop. It is a book that kept me reading as I wanted to know what would happen next. I never wanted it to end and look forward to the next title.

Was this review helpful?

Evan is a killer. He was trained by the government to be a killer and he is very good at what he does. Evan has gone off the rails and now is seeking his personal redemption by being a hit man for good.

A hit man for good sounds contradictory but Evan works at righting wrongs and a personal level as opposed to a government level. People who have nowhere to turn can turn to the Nowhere Man for help.

A secret government program made Evan Smoak the weapon they had hoped for with results they never anticipated. The story is packed full of action and intrigue. Evan Smoak is right up there with Dewey Andreas and Jack Reacher.

I really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.

Was this review helpful?

NetGalley has allowed access to his previous books so here is my honest review. This was a good book, had exciting twists and I enjoyed the characters. It was very well written and I think a lot of people would enjoy this read.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am so thank to NetGalley and the Publisher for making this series available to read prior to the release of the fourth book this winter.

OMG! They were such fun to read and I'm happy for the chance to discover them just in time for the new book. I will definitely be keeping up with this series.

I would characterize Evan as a non-sociopathic Dexter. He actually has a moral compass that he lives buy and is not just following a "code" to survive. But he is extremely lethal.

The stories are violent and action packed, but there is a surprising amount of humor, too. The parts of the story where Evan must interact with the normal, unsuspecting people in his apartment building are a riot.

Again, thank you. This series is a blast.

Was this review helpful?

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a different book than I usually review. Action, action and more action. I adored the author's note, it made my little superhero-loving heart sing. The book itself was good, the comparisons to other mainstream action books/movies was fairly heavy-handed though, which did dim my enjoyment a bit. The quality of writing was top-notch, the character development quite good as well. The small cliffhanger did push me further so that I would continue onto the next book, even though I might not have otherwise. 3 stars.

Was this review helpful?

I really liked this over the top thriller. What's not to like? There is a great hero, Evan. He's a super trained secret black ops assassin for the government. But he is a man with a conscious. When he realizes his latest assignment is one that should not be, he wants out. He thinks he's made it safely and takes up doing good for others in desperate need. But soon a betrayal puts his life in danger and he has no idea who is after him or why.

Evan has been highly trained so he has all kinds of high tech gadgets. It's almost like 007 on steroids. There are so many suspenseful scenes I had to stop and take a breath from time to time. And just when I thought Evan was all machine with no emotion, a hint of romance drops into his life.

I recommend this novel to readers who like a high tech, well trained assassin type of thriller. Some of the action might have been over the top but it was a good read.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Was this review helpful?

started out slow for me but the more i read the more i begin to enjoy it can't wait to read books 2-4 when i get to them to see what happens , with at said i would love to say thanks to Netgalley

Was this review helpful?

What a crazy fast paced thriller!!! The action was wonderful, plenty of good twists and excellent character development. I immensely enjoyed the plot to this book! I found it imaginative and refreshing. The authors writing skills really hone in on this genre and i cant wait for book 2.

Was this review helpful?