Cover Image: Prodigal Son

Prodigal Son

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Member Reviews

Can't get enough of Orphan X books by Gregg Hurwitz. This one is probably the best. Don't miss this series.
Recommended it to my Dentist and he loved it!

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In what has proved to be my favorite book in this exciting series, Evan Smoak, aka The Nowhere Man, or Orphan X, gets a call from someone that claims to be his mother! Evan cannot believe this. He was abandoned at only a week old, later trained as a child to become a government assassin. Eventually Evan became burnt out and retired. He cannot refuse the opportunity to meet his mother and to find out things about his early life. What is more is that she asks him to help someone named Andrew Duran.

Andrew has managed to attract the attention of a brother and sister assassination team and if Evan doesn’t help him he definitely will not survive. Yes, another action packed book! Evan has his gadgets, including his RoamPhone, his skills and his wit. All the while, he deals with his OCD. Let the reader not forget his love of vodka, and his wonderful relationship with Joey, the hacker and programmer that Evan wants to keep out of the Orphan program. He becomes an excellent father figure to Joey. I love the fatherly role he has taken on with her and how while she continues to humanize him, and he tries to keep her on the right track in life so that she never has to experience her first kill.

This was the most personal, sentimental and emotional book in the series that’s far. We learn more about Evan's childhood and how difficult his life was once he was pulled into the program. Readers also meet and get to know Andrew, who is not only an alcoholic, separated from his daughter, but who lives in slovenly conditions that completely clash with Evan’s highly OCD nature. In this book we even see that Evan was able to find out more about why his mentor and handler was killed.

I have to say that microdrones that looked like dragonflies in this book kind of made me laugh. Meanwhile, Evan’s softer side, his more human side, definitely comes out in this book. Of course we see his relationship with Joey growing, him drawing closer to neighbor Mia and her son Peter, how he interacts with other neighbors in his building, and his reluctant connection to Andrew.

The finale was thrilling and gives me great hope and excitement for the next book in the series. I am on pins and needles waiting for that book. Excitingly, I will be getting it as a print ARC and cannot wait for that to arrive in my mailbox one of these days.

Many thanks to Minotaur Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

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I really struggled with this book. It is part of a series and I have not read any of the others, I think that would help. It is not a stand alone book.

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Gregg Andrew Hurwitz is one of my all-time favourite authors and I loved this 6th book in his "Orphan X" series!
Forced into retirement as the Nowhere Man, assassin Evan Smoak receives an urgent request for help from someone he didn't even know existed. Smoak finds his past tangled up in his current mission and his extremely interesting back story is revealed.
Fast-paced and thrilling with a jaw dropping ending!
With each book I love this series more and more and can't recommend it highly enough!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

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This is the first I have read of the Orphan X series and will go back to read them all. The Prodigal Son is about Evan, who has been involved in the experiment using orphan children. I usually don't read this genre, but this book has me hooked. The one thing I don't like is the book leaves us with a cliffhanger, and one that will ensure readers will continue with the series.

Thanks very much to NetGalley / St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of Prodigal Son in exchange for an honest review.

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Prodigal Son was book six in the Orphan X series by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz, I have not read any of the previous books but this was in one of my favorite genres so I decided to give it a try. I did find it kind of hard to get invovled in the book probably because I didn't know any of the backstory of the books. I will have to say that the book was action packed, and some of the characters were enjoyable not sure if they had been in of the previous books before or not. From reading over a few of the reviews, it seems like this is more of a preview of the storyline of how that Evan became the Nowhere Man. When it is hard for me to actually make a straightforward recommendation because I don't know enough about the book, I always suggest others read the bookfor themself so that they can form their own opinion.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and was under no obligation to leave a favorable review, all opinions expressed here are my own.

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This book was amazing!! Gregg Hurwitz has done it again with next book in the Orphan X series. The book was incredibly engaging and pulled the reader in from the first chapter. As the story digs into Orphan X's past and family, the reader begins to see a different side to Orphan X. The story does an excellent job progressing the character development of Evan and Joey while still delivering a thrilling adventure. Hands down the best series on the market.

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I only have one thing to say, I am so glad Orphan X is back!!! I’ve always loved this character. While there is certainly no shortage of badass spies out there, Orphan X stands out as a former government trained assassin caught between following his ethos of helping those in need and wanting to leave behind the chaotic life for the promise of a settled life. This story pics up where the last novel left off with Orphan X aka Evan ready to go into retirement with the promise of a conditional presidential pardon that promises peace. His plans are thrown into uncertainty when he answers a phone call from the last person he ever expected to hear from. The result takes him on a life altering journey that also helps him unlock pieces of his past. Of course it wouldn’t be a Gregg Hurwitz novel without cutting edge, eerily realistic technology, edge of your seat suspense and an ending that leaves you emotionally fraught until the next Orphan X novel drops. In the genre this is definitely one of my favorites out there. Always a pleasure. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Gregg Hurwitz,, for my money, is one of the most reliable fast-paced thriller writers out there today. You can always count on him for an intrigue-filled page turner, and this latest installment of the Orphan X series is no different. In this story, you will learn a little more about the origin story of the “Nowhere Man.” You also learn a bit more about his personal life and his plans for retirement. (Ha ha, just kidding, Evan Smoak will never retire.)

Technology, espionage, high-octane thrills, romance (really!) and a lead-in to a certain Book 7. Gregg Hurwitz has a winning five-star formula and I hope he keeps going with it for years to come.


Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, the author and NetGalley for this ARC of this awesome installment in the Orphan X series!

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Excellent book! Hurwitz keeps you on your toes with this one!

Prodigal Son follows follows Evan Smoak through another danger filled mission, to uncover more about his mother and his own past.

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Loved it. I cannot wait until the next one. The story flows and keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

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5 Long-Awaited Stars
* * * * Spoiler Free
Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz is the long-awaited Orphan X Novel. Gregg Hurwitz created this mysterious man, gave us incredible stories, with all sorts of circumstances and characters, and made us loyal readers.

As someone who does not normally read science fiction, these books with all of the mystery hit the mark.

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I have loved all three books in this series, they’re different from the usual hero/thriller novel and the better for it! Exciting and so interesting and a great hero!

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I am a huge fan of Evan Smoak. I like everything about him: his history, his abilities, his apartment, everything! So I'm always ready to read a book about the Nowhere Man. This book did not disappoint! I loved the "villian" and his toys. In fact, his toys really creeped me out!!!! I really wasn't as intersted in Evan's back story...I want the action instead. And I can't figure out the ending. All in all, a good book.

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Did you really expect the Nowhere Man to pack up his gravity bed, his vodka vault and his living wall and head to some retirement community in south Florida? If you did, you probably wouldn't be reading this. Sure, Evan Smoak is not always answering his Roam Zone these days, but Mr. Hurwitz has ideas about keeping ES in the game if he does pick up. So take a hearty helping of Origin Story, sprinkle liberally with Joey and add a dash of Crichton and you have a pretty cool tale that takes you everywhere a reader could want.

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Exciting, fast-paced thriller. This is the 6th book in the Orphan X series and although it can be read as a stand alone, I highly recommend you start with the first book, Orphan X, and read the entire series. The writing is exceptional, the characters are strong, and the plots are ingenious. Strongly recommended for fans of Jack Reacher.

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I absolutely love the Orphan X stories so was thrilled to get an advance copy of the latest book on the series. Hurwitz lived up to his previous books, incredibly descriptive writing, unique plots and internal struggle that makes Evan have to decide the type of man he wants to be

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Killer Skills



I seem to be way behind where this series is concerned. When I saw it on NetGalley I thought the premise was interesting and I requested it not knowing that it would be the sixth book in the series. Do not worry I have already picked up book one and plan to work my way backward to learn all there is to know about Evan Smoak. I will say this reads well that you could read this and have no issue following the story. The cast of characters all seems to be dealing with deep-seated and often denied emotions brought on by abandonment and/or failure. Not knowing the full backstory made me wonder why Evan was left as an orphan, to begin with. Which you will get an answer by the end of the book which is really good. My favorite part of the story though is the weapons and the villains. The way that the drama unfolded made this enjoyable. I wish that some of the tech described was real. Not so that people could die. I just think that the science used to make the weapons described might make a difference in science and health care. I loved the attempts at normalcy from Evan and the people he chose to surround himself with. Thank you, NetGalley for my arc of this book. I will be picking up more books from this author seeing as how I enjoyed this very much. The only reason this is getting a 4-star rating is that I want to read more of the series to get more of an understanding of the entire story.

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Prodigal Son is the sixth book in the Orphan X Series by Gregg Hurwitz. The Orphan X Series is about Evan Smoak who was chosen as a young child and raised as part of the “Orphan” program, an off-the-books black ops box program of assassins. Evan was Orphan X until he decided to break away from the program and use everything he learned to disappear.

Prodigal Son was the first Orphan X novel I have ever read. After reading the first couple chapters, I knew I wanted the entire story, so I went back to the beginning and read the first five books. They did not disappoint. For fans of Jason Bourne and Jack Reacher, I think you will be an even bigger fan of Orphan X. From one book to the next it left me on the edge of my seat wanting more, waiting to see what was going to happen next, and just when you thought you had it all figured out, you’re blindsided by a kick you never saw coming!

After leaving the program, Orphan X renames himself the Nowhere Man. Using his skills to help those in need that have nowhere else to turn to and are in desperate need. In Prodigal Son, the President of the United States has offered him an unofficial pardon if he stops his missions and activities as Nowhere Man. It’s so very tempting as it will give him the opportunity to live a normal life.

However, Ethan gets a call from the last person on earth that he would ever expect to hear from. The woman claiming to be his birth mother that gave him up for adoption all those years ago. Someone he never knew or could ever remember. Her request is to help Andrew Duran who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and nothing is as it seems. A brother and sister assassination team are out to get Andrew and the mastermind behind it all is even more deadly. In the end, the secrets we don’t know, could be the very ones that kill us, or kill the ones’ we love. The ending will leave you breathless and wanting more. This is one of the best series I have read in a long time. I can hardly wait for the next book in the series to be published. I am now a diehard fan of this amazing series. Thank you NetGalley, Gregg Hurwitz, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for this Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for this honest review. #NetGalley #ProdigalSon #GreggHurwitzz #StMartinsPress #MinotaurBooks

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Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz
Another easy to read and lose yourself in the story Orphan X book! What can be said other than Gregg Hyrwitz knocks another one out of the park, I can pick up any of the Orphan X books and just lose myself in the story for hours, easily one of the best series out! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher and especially Gregg Hurwitz for this awesome read and can't wait for the next one!!

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