“Lone Wolf" by Gregg Hurwitz is a thrilling addition in the Orphan X series. In this latest adventure, Evan Smoak, aka The Nowhere Man, sets out to help his niece find her lost ugly dog - because who doesn’t love a face that only a mother could love. But as it goes, stumbles upon a much bigger issue. The action is relentless, the stakes are sky-high, and the story is packed with unexpected twists and memorable characters. It's at the tippy top of my list.

Gregg Hurwitz's masterful writing, combined with Scott Brick's phenomenal narration, really brings the story to life. It’s better than any movie, and that’s saying something!

And, oh boy, the ending! I'll definitely be among the first to pre-order the next one. Hurwitz just keeps getting better and better, and so does Orphan X! Plus, we got to see a lot more of Tommy in this book, and his vulnerability combined with Evan's awkwardness made for a very interesting dynamic.

This time around, Hurwitz also weaves in themes of the dangers of AI, social media, and the power of algorithms. I’m telling you, it was almost eerie how spot-on he was, and those ideas really stuck with me long after I finished the book. In "Lone Wolf," Hurwitz explores themes of loyalty, redemption, and the high price of a dangerous past. It's another thrilling adventure that’ll leave you on the edge of your seat. Gregg Hurwitz and Orphan X keep evolving, and I can't wait to see what they do next! (And you definitely don't want to miss Joey and her personal journey—she's definitely my all time favorite character!)

The Last Orphan by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz - Need help and no one to help you? Maybe you should call the Nowhere Man, Orphan X. But hurry, the government is searching for him now to terminate him since he left the government assassin program. But he’s the best. If you don’t need him, perhaps you’d like to read about the cases where he’s helped. I recommend these books, especially this one. I like the audiobooks with Scott Brick narrating.

This is one of my favorite series, and it always makes me laugh a little to think that is true of an action book with a bunch of violence and weapons. It would normally not be my jam, but I just love Evan Smoak and his found family.

This entry into the series was another great one! I love how we see how Evan has grown emotionally through how he cares for Joey and other people in his orbit the way he knows how. It was a really sad portrait of the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. It was also a really scary look at how technology is growing and where it’s going.

I would recommend this book for anyone who has at least a small tolerance for violence/guns/blood and who enjoys undermining toxic masculinity. Though I’d recommend starting at the beginning of this series.

This is the ninth book in the Orphan X series. If you've enjoyed other Evan Smoak stories, you will love this one as well.

This story picks up with Evan meeting his biological father. Things don't go as planned and in hopes of righting himself, Evan defaults to his role as The Nowhere Man and takes a case. A simple one where he's tasked by the daughter of his half-brother to find her lost dog. On his quest to find Loco the dog, Evan stumbles into a bigger mission when he encounters an assassin known as The Wolf.

I loved this series installment. There is *so much* happening in this book. Not only is there action, suspense, and mystery, all woven into a complex storyline with twists and turns, there's also character growth. We see the OCD brilliant assassin we've come to know in the series, but also witness his struggle as he explores his humanity, the development of empathy, and a deeper connection with his found-family relationship with Joey. Evan's not perfect (thankfully) and often fails, but each baby step of success is a thing of beauty and adds another dimension to an already wonderful character.

As with other Orphan X books, the scene building is extremely detailed and the action-packed sequences are exceptionally penned to keep you turning the page. The AI storyline was both compelling and relevant, pulled right from the current headlines. The author does a wonderful job at exploring how far-reaching AI technology can be, leaving you with the kind of story that stays with you days after finishing.

Lone Wolf was another excellent addition to the Orphan X series.

You'd think finding a lost dog would be an easy job for X. Who would expect it to become a cat and mouse game with other lethal assassin.
I really enjoyed Joey's character being more involved. There's nothing like an incredibly smart and awkward teenager's ability to bring humour to an action thriller.
I can't wait to see what's next.
Thanks to St Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for this review copy.

As a child, Evan was taken from his foster home and made a part of the Orphan program. He was Orphan X, trained to be an assassin. Until he left the program, went underground and rebranded himself as the Nowhere Man. Now, he helps those who have nowhere else to turn. As payment, he asks only that those he helps pass on his contact information to others who might need his help.

He's been up against some powerful people, faced mobsters and cartel members. So, finding a missing dog should be simple. Instead, it turns into one of the most difficult fights of his life.

This ninth book in the Orphan X series has the rapid fire pace, the ferocious intensity we’ve come to expect from an Orphan X novel. But this story is a little different. From the dedication and prologue through the final chapter, there is a both poetry and gritty realism in the writing. Plus, we get to see different side of Evan. We’re introduced to Evan’s other side, his doubts and his insecurities. I loved seeing that side of Evan. It makes a stark contrast to the life and death battle he’s fighting.

This is another great entry in this series. They just keep getting better and better.

In book 9 of the Orphan X series, Evan continues to help the helpless , wiping out the bad guys along the way. It’s non-stop constant action with some witty conversations between the few people X lets himself get close to. This time he’s pitted against a female assassin known as The Wolf and the clock is ticking as he tries to get to her before she kills more people.

Evan Smoak! I'm always excited when a new Orphan X book is on the horizon and as usual, this newest one did not disappoint. Hurwitz has given Evan another worthy adversary, this time a highly skilled hired killer known as "Lone Wolf". But there's so much more going on, and boy, is some of it timely. We have the wonders, and dangers, of AI and those who attempt to control it. We have Evan's continued struggle to figure out how to be a friend, a mentor, a brother. We even have Evan's reluctant search for a lost dog. This book made me laugh out loud, multiple times. It also scared the spit out of me. And it left me anxious for, while also afraid of, what will be coming in the next book.
And now the wait begins for the next installment. No pressure, Gregg Hurwitz - but please write quickly!
Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for providing copies for an unbiased review.

Usually I fall into Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X books. I needed a push on this one and I am thinking it had everything to do with the subject matter.

AI - the people who conjure it, who understand how to weaponize it and use it to harm and destroy without any pause, thought, care or concern. Because they can and because they will, It is terrifying and it is all laid out with corrupted logic in Lone Wolf.

There are several story lines that sometimes merge but mostly keep Evan Smoak, The Nowhere Man, on the edge every minute. Familial interactions are a whole new twist along with a deadly female adversary who is pushing Evan to Hell and back. Joey Morales, IT person extraordinaire, plays a larger role with many more pages dedicated to where she is in her seventeenth year and just how sophomoric a computer genius can behave. Bottom line - she’s scared, terrified of losing the only person “who gets her”.

Evan is going through his own pile of crap and it it taking him apart piece by piece. This is not how he has ever been portrayed and I would like to say that it enhances his humanity but it doesn’t - it just makes him like the rest of us but with a different skill set - disappointed and confused and completely relatable.

An Orphan X book means, clear out everything that needs doing because once you open the book you are not putting it down and Lone Wolf was no different except that brought in a worthy adversary. There was a very tight chess game going on and at times I wondered if Hurwitz’s was thinking about writing an ending to to this series. Extremely well done while exploring the scary topics of today. Many thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy.

"The New York Times bestselling Orphan X returns in this "crackerjack new thriller" (Kirkus Reviews) and "crushingly brilliant piece of fiction" (Best Thriller Books)!"

One of my favorite series, I really enjoy the action and stories, the character development of Evan and my curiosity about his life. Plus the descriptions of his home and vodka. This story is just as great as the past 8, it makes me wonder about Alex Delaware and if this series will sometimes grew to that many.

Lone Wolf
Wow! Another Orphan X book, this is the latest in the series, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Evan Smoake is Orphan X, named as such when he was “ rescued” from an orphanage as a child, and trained to be super spy in a secret government Black Ops program. After years in this capacity, Evan escapes, and builds a new life for himself, while hiding from the government who wants him destroyed.
In his new life, Evan becomes “ The Nowhere Man”, doing good deeds for people in trouble.
In this installment, Evan is back, trying to rid the world of the Wolf, a very accomplished assassin for hire.

Lots of excitement, intrigue and action in this book!

This is a terrific series, always enjoyable!

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the ARC. This is my honest review!

Evan Smoak was first introduced to us as Orphan X. At the age of 12, he was “adopted” by Jack (now deceased) and trained to be a skilled and lethal warrior - both physically and mentally. He was part of a highly secret government agency until he decided to part ways and reinvent himself as the Nowhere Man - a person with a “RoamZone” phone with the number 1-855-2NOWHERE. The number is passed from one desperate person he has helped to another who has nowhere to turn. Evan is in the midst of a personal crisis (finding his real father) when a young girl he already knows asks him to find her dog. What would seem to be a relatively easy job turns out to be anything but. In search of the dog, he stumbles into another assassin, apparently as skilled as he and in search of him, which then takes him into the world of multi-billionaires who are developing artificial intelligence (AI) systems to give themselves even more wealth but also more control over the world. Evan must use all of his physical and mental skills to thwart the huntress, bring the billionaires to justice, and, of course, find the dog. Still plenty of action in classic Evan Smoak style with enough tension and action to keep you turning the page.

I struggled a bit in reading this 9th book in the series having read (and rated highly) all of the earlier editions. At times the book seemed to plod along (not the ending though) and spend too much time in technical discussion. But I chose the 4 star rating anticipating that the next book will get back to “normal.” My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the ARC of this novel.

Published by Minotaur Books on February 13, 2024

Gregg Hurwitz brings a couple of interesting themes to Lone Wolf. One is foreshadowed in the title. Series hero Evan Smoak, a/k/a Orphan X, has always been a loner. He prefers his own company to that of people and their infinite capacity to annoy him. He feels pity for people who fill their lives with pointless tasks to distract themselves from their loneliness.

A few books ago, Smoak became responsible for a teenage girl who was part of the Orphan project that turned Smoak into a killing machine. That responsibility carries with it the discomfort of a quasi-parental relationship he’s ill-equipped to handle. A few books ago he also started a halting relationship with a woman in his building but allowed it to fizzle away, in part to protect her from the violence he attracts. In Lone Wolf, after a brief visit to the disagreeable father he never knew, Smoak finds himself dealing with a brother he dislikes and his brother’s daughter, another teenage girl but one who lacks coping skills. The extent to which he will allow his family to touch his life is part of the unfolding drama, although it doesn’t get in the way of the action.

I admire the way Smoak’s personality has evolved during the series. Characterization is a cut above the usual for thriller tough guys. Apart from recognizing that he might be missing out on the humanizing value of relationships, Smoak is starting to feel old. He doesn’t recover from injuries as quickly as he once did. Aches and pains are accumulating; some will likely be permanent. Smoak recognizes a physical decline in his arms supplier (one of his few friends) and is haunted by the knowledge that he will face a similar future if he survives into old age.

The other theme develops when Smoak meets two billionaires who fancy themselves to be masters of the universe. One brags about his ability to earn profits by manipulating behavior through clandestine data collection. The other laments the softening of young people who are glued to screens and anxious about body image. One of them might be a murderer but orchestrating the murder of a few people might be less immoral than gaining wealth by surreptitiously controlling the behavior of millions.

The novel isn’t just about weighty themes and strong personalities. The plot is in constant motion. The action is credible and cinematic. Hurwitz weaves humor into a plot that starts with Evan’s niece pleading with him to find her lost dog. Naturally, the search brings Hurwitz to the home of a man who has just been murdered. He saves the man’s daughter but can’t prevent an injury that destroys her vocal cords. The encounter begins a war between Smoak and the assassin, Karissa Lopatina, a/k/a the Wolf. The story sends Smoak on a search for the person who hired Lopatina and on a mission to prevent her from returning to kill the dead man’s daughter. And yeah, to find the dog. The perfect blend of action, drama, and humor make Lone Wolf the best entry so far in what has become a strong series for thriller fans.

RECOMMENDED

Searching for a lost dog is not the usual task taken up by Evan Smoak, a former government assassin known as Orphan X, now the Nowhere Man who helps people in dire straits who have nowhere else to turn.

The emotionless lone wolf agent has, through the nine entries in this series, always battled to fulfill one of the rules of his agency, never make it personal, because there have always been people in his orbit who force him to make it personal. This time his niece, daughter of his half brother who he barely knows, who begs him to find her lost dog. That search sends Evan into a deeper search.

That search is for the killer he encounters in his search for the dog. The lone wolf of the title, it turns out, is not the lone wolf Orphan X Nowhere Man Evan Smoak. It is Klarissa, an assassin for hire who is his mirror image, though she works for whoever will pay her no matter how evil.

Klarissa, the Wolf, works for perhaps the ultimate evil, Amazon.com, er, I mean some fictional tech bro whose sprawling company mines every data point it can gather to sell anything to anyone and everyone, even if he has to manufacture people's problems so that he can sell them solutions. (Though his company resembles Amazon, he seems to me to be more like Musk than Bezos.)

I liked this McGuffin, even though I think the potential evils of A.I. are continually overstated -- I say this as someone who worked on neural networking as far back as the late 1990s. I liked that Gregg Hurwitz loaded up his big action sequence, a mainstay of all his books, in the first half rather than at the end.

I most especially liked (continue to like) Joey, his young ward, the hacking wizard he saved from the Orphan program who acts as (and like) his surrogate daughter. I found their interactions (as well as his interactions with his niece Sofia) to be excessively fractious rather than humorous, as in the past, but she is still the primary (current) source of his increasingly burgeoning humanity.

Still, this wasn't quite a five-star book for me, more like 4.5 stars, but I'm clocking it in at four because it doesn't rise to the heights of most of the past Orphan X books, and I did find myself getting a little annoyed by the whininess and repetitiveness of the scenes with Joey and Sofia.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Evan is a world class finder of lost dogs. Huh? That doesn't sound right but that is his next mission. Evan is a bit of a lost soul at the moment dealing with newfound family and a surly teenage whiz kid along with wrestling with a --we'll call it a career change. The mission isn't exactly life or death until he stumbles onto a female assassin with skills to rival his own. The Spiderman meme would go here. The original Lone Wolf, Evan Smoak, continues to evolve from an assassin into a real human. And much like Alan from The Hangover, Evan can have his own personal wolfpack if he can survive this assassin. And Joey dating.

Gregg Hurwitz continues to keep Orphan X fresh with different missions but it is Evan's growth from a robotic gov't assassin to a man grappling with emotions and his relationships are the real stars of the show. You come for the action but stay-- and keep returning-- for the underlining emotional tension and dynamics between Evan and everyone else. Evan's skills may not be relatable but his emotional struggles are all too real.

Lone Wolf and the Orphan X series are well worth your time if you haven't been introduced to Evan Smoak. You won't be disappointed!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of Lone Wolf.

Lone Wolf by Gregg Hurwitz, the latest in the Orphan X series, takes a different turn for Evan Smoak as he is looking for a lost dog this time. Of course, in the ensuing chaos Evan ends up in multiple fights, chases and killings that make the Orphan X series so fun. A lot of gore and improbable escapes but a good storyline make this book as enjoyable to read as the rest of the series.

Evan Smoak was taken from a group foster care home in Baltimore when he was 12 years old. Trained to be a government assassin by the black ops 'Orphan' program. He is a perfect killing machine....but when it comes to human and social interactions, he is completely out of his element. After leaving (escaping), the Orphan program, Orphan X used his specialized skills to become the Nowhere Man. Making ammends for his prior life by helping innocent people when they find themselves in impossible situations. He has become a sort of shield for hire and his payment? That the person he has helped passes his phone number on to the next person in desperate need.
Book 8 in this series left us with Evan knocking on a door. What happened when that door opened has left him reeling and unable to cope with his emotions. This knocks him so completely off his game that he ends up making mistakes that could be lethal for him. Luckily, despite himself, he finds that there are a few close friends who worry and care about him.
Reluctantly he agrees to take on a small, insignificant job. Find a young girl's lost dog. Easy right? Somehow Evan finds himself crossing paths with a killer for hire known as 'The Wolf'.. What follows is another exciting Orphan X story. This 9th book can be read as a stand alone, but it is so much better to follow the character's growth from the beginning and to see how each event had shaped him. It is also enjoyable to see how other characters were introduced into Evan's world. Especially Josephine 'Joey', the teenage computer genius who is so important in Evan's life now.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the opportunity to enjoy this action packed e-ARC.

Just when you think Gregg Hurwitz cannot top his last book, he writes Lone Wolf and takes the thriller genre to a whole new level. I was shocked, amazed and left wanting more after finishing this book. If you have read all of Gregg's previous novels you will love this one.

Gregg Hurwitz never disappoints! The Orphan X series is excellent! Evan Smoak, aka; Orphan X and the Nowhere Man, continues to evolve and strives to live up to the lessons Jack taught him. Yes, he’s trained as an assassin but Jack also wanted him to retain his humanity. In many ways this is Evan’s biggest challenge., but he finds himself thrust into forging those human contacts, makeshift family and friends. There is always a blend of real world issues, action and personal life lessons in each storyline, which just makes the books so much more interesting in my opinion. I highly recommend this author and this series!

Not much in Evan's life seems all that simple, not even looking for a weird little dog. The story had a nice mix of action and personal life awkwardness. A chase went a few chapters too long for my taste, but that's just my take. One of the things I like about this author is that his stories make me think, sometimes to the point of being made uncomfortable or unsettled by what a character is saying or doing. I appreciate that.

I think was is the first time in reading this series that I sat there arguing with the book after finishing it. Not a bad thing. The characters almost feel like old friends now, so when something less than positive turns up it matters more than it might with some other books. Really need to see what's next.