You can never go wrong with an Orphan X book. No, scratch that. An Orphan X book will never fail to blow your freaking mind. And Lone Wolf is just the latest example. A tremendous thriller and exemplary piece of writing by Gregg Hurwitz that will exhilarate through action and suspense while provoking thought and introspection on the ethics and usage of innovative technology.

Evan Smoak – aka Orphan X – has begrudgingly agreed to find a little girl’s lost dog. While this mission seems unusual and beneath the world class skill set of The Nowhere Man, it quickly turns kinetic when he enters a home to collect the dog but unknowingly walks in on an assassin murdering a leading AI expert. Now on the run from law enforcement and the highly capable assassin, Evan finds himself in a world of tech billionaires and Artificial Intelligence while still trying to find the lost dog and now needing to protect an innocent young woman caught in the crossfire. Furthermore, Evan is struggling with unfamiliar feelings stemming from the personal nature of this mission. But he will have to put that aside and use every ounce of strength, skill and intelligence he possesses to survive his most important mission to date.

Lone Wolf feels like two books in one. The first book is Orphan X doing what he does best – assisting innocents who need his help. He fully commits to his mission, continuously puts himself in harm’s way and stops at nothing to come through for the people counting on him. And he picks up mission creep along the way that his moral code demands he not ignore, complicating things and increasing the danger but for just causes that he needs to see through. And in the middle of all this, he faces off against an assassin every bit as good as he is. It’s an incredible storyline on its own.

But the second book is equally if not more important. This is a story about Evan Smoak’s personal development. Learning to live outside of the ten commandments passed down to him by his father figure/assassin trainer Jack. Figuring out how to navigate personal relationships and be a member of a regular community. Building a deeper connection with fellow Orphan program member Joey and helping her navigate the perils of young adulthood and trying to find your people. Basically just understanding that he’s a human first and foremost and that “never make it personal” is a commandment in need of modification. It's an amazing continuation of a brilliant development arc over a long running series.

And if that’s not enough, you’ll be faced with a deep dive into the existential threat of AI and technology, tied to the age old problem of the few accumulating power and wealth at the expense of the common person, that will make you seriously consider throwing all your devices in a deep body of water and moving into a log cabin deep in the woods.

To summarize: This book bangs. Get a copy. Thank me later.

The story of Orphan X, Evan continues. Looking for the murderer of an AI inventor leads him and his associates in the tech world of ego, money, and power. Wolf, a female assassin stay one step ahead. Sophie, a small girls wants him to find her dog, loco . His assistant, a 19 year tech enters the world of college sorority to try to fit in.
All these challenges provide the reader an exciting thriller with many twists and turns. It helps to have read the series but the story carries itself. Recommened.

As usual another winner from Gregg Hurwitz.

Story was well thought out and moved at a great pace.

Continue to love the ever growing and changing relationship with Joey.

Can't wait for the next!

The Nowhere Man is on a mission to find a lost dog that spirals to a battle about AI. Along the way, we see Evan battling Jack's Commandments and discovering his own humanity. His relationships are growing deeper and the twist at the end is going to have him questioning everything.

I love this series, and thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read the ARC.

Gregg Hurwitz doesn't disappoint in the newest Orphan X story. Evan starts out in search of a child's lost dog and gets wrapped up in a murder mystery involving an assassin.

What I love about this book, and all the other books in the series, is that Evan is evolving as a person. Despite all his efforts he's collecting people that care about him, and about whom he cares. It's really fantastic to see Evan in conflict about his evolving humanity and connections to others.

That being said, the book has plenty of action, edge of your seat chapter cliffhangers, mystery, and technology!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I always look forward to the next installment in the Orphan X series. It’s guaranteed to be high octane from start to finish. I appreciate that the series has evolved over time. Evan Smoak is getting older and making friends. Both of these things affect events but I personally feel the books are the better for it. Those pesky people in the HOA. What’s going on with Tommy? What zingers will Joey bring to the table? I look forward to these moments as much as the Mission Impossible-like antics of The Nowhere Man!
*Thanks to Minotaur books and NetGalley for the advance reader copy for review

A simple mission to locate a lost dog snowballs when Evan comes across an assassination attempt. In order to save the young witness, he must confront the assassin head on and figure out why the target, an expert in Artificial Intelligence, was marked for death.

This installment has Evan considering his limitations as he ages and his body takes more and more abuse. He gets pulled into drama related to the Homeowner’s Association of his building and prodigy Joey’s quest for belonging at college, while exploring his own hopes and fears around family. Lots of series favorites from arms dealer buddy Tommy to forger friend Melinda and former cartel leader Aragón make appearances as Evan seeks assistance in finding the assassin and their employer.

Having the assassin, who is known as Wolf, be completely outside of the Orphan organization does a great job of expanding the world. Getting the Wolf’s perspective shows that despite their similar skill set, Evan is a vastly different person.

This book offers tons of action while assaulting Evan’s emotional core over and over and challenging his ability to control his OCD. The focus on artificial intelligence makes the book particularly timely while the human relationship elements make it timeless.

The ending promises a heartfelt confrontation in the next installment. Hurwitz continues to deliver solid series installments that show continuous character development in both main character Evan and many of the secondary characters such as Joey. He even makes Dog the dog and aloe vera plant Vera III feel nuanced and fun.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.

I WILL NEVER BORE OF EVAN SMOAK!

Call me biased, I don't care. I want every single story Hurwitz can come up with for Orphan X. Every. Single. One. Heck, when he runs out of stories for him, I hope he gives us spin-offs from the side Orphans. I am here for all of it.
I am here for the action. I am here for the constant character building. I am here for the adventures. Just give me more.

Each book in this series takes the reader on an unexpected ride. Sometimes, the ride is a little out there and sci-fi like. Sometimes it's just plain adventurous. This one hit the nail on the head with all of the machine and AI push that the world is currently seeing. It's a lot scary and (in the book) a ride I was on board for.

Evan and Joey are really coming into their own as far as their relationship goes. They both are growing on one another. At some point, they just may become on in the same. Watching their balance of work-life and personal connections collide and somewhat flatten out is something I look forward to in each book. I like to see where they each go with their character attributes and how much they grow.

This one is another winner for me. I can never recommend this series enough.

Man, this book was so good. I love all the Orphan X books--they are my go-to thrillers now that Jack Reacher isn't as good any more--and I just feel like they get better and better. Cinematic! Fun! Propulsive! I got sick right before I got approved for this ARC on NetGalley and reading it was the nicest thing about my two weeks of illness-imposed quarantine. I know this series isn't for everyone, but if it's for you, it is FOR YOU.

4.5 rounded up.
I really enjoyed this one. X is having human feelings. His struggle with them builds his character depth and makes the story more interesting. It is a hard core indictment on the effects on technology on our world. Which is a bit terrifying. I also enjoyed the character development of Joey and how she tries to fit in in the real world.

It’s not many series that can keep going over time but X keeps getting better.
I was given. Copy by Netgalley.. opinions are my own.

Lone Wolf is another great addition to the Orphan X series which I can't get enough of. The story is intense, and I love seeing Evan put in situations where his vulnerability shows. His relationship with Joey is also something I have enjoyed, and their banter is priceless.

In book 9 of the Orphan X series, Evan Smoak is a highly trained assassin who is now dedicating his life to using his skills to help people in dire need. Instead, he gets an assignment he can’t refuse to find the missing dog. Because it’s Evan Smoak, the case of the missing dog quickly turns into battling another assassin and tech billionaires using AI in the most nefarious possible ways. Seriously, early on in the book, the pacing becomes relentless and rarely lets up, except for a few scenes in which Evan is working with or socializing with his teenage computer hacker or arms expert or forger.

This is a lot of fun. Evan’s conversations with the tech billionaires about us dumb regular humans using social media instead of real-life interaction are cautionary, and the bits about deep fakes are largely terrifying.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES FEBRUARY 13, 2024.

Yay, there IS another Orphan after “The Last Orphan.” I was worried. All hoomans: it’s time to get out your popcorn, Twizzlers, and Dr Pepper! All puppy dogs: time to do your happy dance! It’s time for Evan, Joey, and Dog. The only thing that can make me happier than reading an early copy of this will be listening to the audiobook version with Scott Brick singing the RoamZone’s ringtone “Doncha wish your girlfriend was hot like me!” Please? HE HAS TO SING IT! No half-hearted chanting!!

In this novel, when Evan answers his RoamZone with his standard phrase, “Do you need my help?” A child’s voice, his niece’s (!?!), asks for his help finding her lost mutt, who is by the way, a ringer for the ugliest dog in the world. At first, this seems to be the absolute silliest, most frivolous call ever. But it turns out to be a cute framing device, the dog disappearing seemingly into thin air. Joey’s hacking of nearby surveillance cameras shows that the disappearance was due to a snafu with an automatic package-delivery robot for a fictitious giant company similar to AmazonGoogleFacebook.

(And, spoiler alert, there’s no sign of the dog until the end of the novel when he appears out of nowhere like a silly “dog ex machina.” I like this mildly fatalistic “shit happens…and yet sometimes shit also unhappens,” but for me, the family-related drama surrounding the dog’s disappearance is not quite up to par. Ditto with the endless drama at the Castle Rock condominium which is a lot of petty bickering escalated into political Sturm und Drang. But if you wait for it, the ultimate payoff is extremely gratifying—for everyone.)

So back to the dog chase—while Evan is out, in his F150 I believe, tracing the route of the autonomous robot, he stumbles upon the murder of … Benny Hill. I just couldn’t. Every time I heard the name “Dr Benjamin Hill,” I’d hear the goofy theme song of Benny Hill starting up, and I’d mentally rush to change the channel. I was seriously fed up with the book up until about the halfway mark. There’s lots of silliness and it was time to take a break.

But no, of course I’m wrong for prejudging—this inner story about Dr Hill is the real meat of the novel. Evan meets a new and equally dangerous counterpart, the Wolf, Karissa Lopatina. Evan and Joey meet Hill’s daughter, Jayla Hill. Evan and Joey have some wonderful bonding experiences over girls’ sororities, social faux pas, and teens growing up…and erm, pantyhose. He has some really strange and pretty darn funny buddy interactions with his arms dealer Tommy Stojak. He gets help from folks encountered in previous books—a trend that I hope continues (i.e. Jayla). He uses his psyops skills to interview (interrogate?) captains of industry of the echelon with Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison. So, loner orphan x Evan gets to grow and exercise his social skills. That and his crazy orphan skills is my favorite aspect of the series.

In summary, I have some big praise and some small reservations. I liked the Dr Hill/big data theme of this book. Yes, big data is a problem that widens the social gap. But can a bullet create even a divot? Vigilante justice and revenge stories can be fun and cathartic, but geez, in here the revenge seems not only a bridge too far, but it’s also ineffectual and ultimately either impotent or icky, self-involved and requiring a Kleenex. I’m not a guy, so I’m not sure. To me, it seems like a guy thing. I admire the attempt to educate the public with these embedded big ideas but does it work? I’m hoping to see lots of other reviewers post their comments. I was left confused by the reason for the “other” two murders, and a little uneasy about Tommy’s hand in the arms dealing.

Thank you Netgalley for a preview in exchange for a review. No endorsements intended and no payments received for mentioning Twizzlers, Dr Pepper, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Goodreads, or Kleenex.

Another great installment in the series. Orphan X saves the day again. His female colleague is an essential help and his young female charge looks after X's tech needs. Recommended.

Now a civilian, Orphan X left the black ops program he was in for years, where he was trained as an assassin. Now known as Evan Smoak, he tries to help anyone who has nowhere to turn. His only payment, passing the number of the Nowhere Man on to the next person who needs help. He gets a call one day from his niece. Evan has recently discovered he has a half-brother who also grew up in the system, but was not rescued from it as Evan was. Sofia has lost her dog, her uglier than dirt, dog. A dog her father gave her to protect her when he was not there. And he wasn't there, a lot. Evan tracks down the dog, but when he arrives to speak to the person who found Loco, he discovers a body and another assassin who is holding the man's daughter prisoner and then fractures her vocal chords. Evan has to track down the assassin who bears an uncanny resemblance to himself in his former life. Along the way, he encounters two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who are trying to reshape our lives as we know them. Does Evan have a conscience anymore? Does he bear responsibility to protect humans from their worst selves? Another action-packed adrenaline read from Greg Hurwitz.

In LONE WOLF, the 9th ORPHAN X novel, Gregg Hurwitz sends Evan Smoak to see a girl about a dog. This task, not surprisingly, leads to bigger game.

There is more byplay between Joey and Evan, and that is a good thing. Joey is an intriguing figure, and I'd like to see more of her. This entry, however, is not my favorite in the series. Orphan X, a retired government assassin who now helps those who can't help themselves, seems to have wandered far from his original mission.

Good characters, less good story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Another excellent adventure for Orphan X in his 9th outing. This series continues to get better and better.

Can’t wait for #10.

Highly recommend

I was pleased to read an advanced copy of Gregg Hurwitz' forthcoming Orphan X novel, Lone Wolf, thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher, Minotaur Books/Macmillan. I have read all seven of the Evan Smoak, Orphan X nowhere man novels, although I have mostly read them with the audiobook version.

Lone Wolf is really an excellent novel, but it is not the novel for someone to first get introduced to the Nowhere Man. The book follows events in the last two books, Dark Horse, and the Last Orphan, and really is helping to advance the storyline and character development of both Evan and his young protoge Joey, plus the comedic yet poignant interactions with Evan's armor, Tommy. The only characters missing are Mia and Peter, who are traveling and do not appear in the novel. The book begins with Evan's quest to find his father, and the consequences of that. Evan has a lot of internal turmoil and emotional baggage, tied up in his OCD powered brain. But Evan remains committed to fighting injustice. And it does not take long for injustice to present itself. The book quickly spins in to a new mission, which deals with the battles of corporate billionaires who are seeking to dramatically change the world with artificial intelligence, in a way that will eradicate what little privacy we have left.

The writing in Lone Wolf was crisp; Evan, Joey and Tommy had me laughing out loud several times. Orphan X fans will definitely want to read this when it becomes available in early 2024. I'll probably then listen to the audiobook of it, just so I can hear the master Scott Brick tell the story as only he can.

And remember the First Commandment, assume nothing.

Gregg Hurwitz is a master of suspense. The characters development throughout the series is what sets this action series apart from many other black-ops types of stories. I think this is the best one yet and will be having a difficult time waiting to find out how Evan Smoak is going to handle the revelation at the end of this book. Waiting another year or so is extremely difficult!

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

After a jolting, execrable meeting with his birth father, Evan Smoak vanishes. Joey manages to track him down, but Evan is shaken and uncertain. Advised to “start small,” he goes in search of a missing dog. [It turns out that the dog, Loco, belongs to his half-brother’s daughter, Sofia.]

But the dog hunt leads to a murdered man, an assassin seemingly with skills equal to his own, and rival billionaires using advanced artificial intelligence to manipulate people and open up markets for their respective companies. The assassin, Karissa Lopatina, is determined to eliminate her victim’s daughter [who saw her face] and Evan.

Add Hugh, Lorilee, and the others in the Castle Heights condo building . . . is it more than the Nowhere Man can handle?

=========

Orphan X returns in this, the ninth adventure in the series [with sufficient backstory to orient readers new to the series]. Readers are pulled into the telling of the tale from the outset; strong characters and non-stop action keep the pages turning at lightning speed.

Over the course of the series, Evan has evolved; here readers will see the continuation of Evan’s character development as he struggles with relationships. And both Evan and Joey find themselves dealing with both emotion and vulnerability.
The unfolding story places a spotlight on Joey as she becomes an integral part in the telling of this tale; readers will enjoy seeing her take center stage in much of the narrative.

Thought-provoking and Filled with unexpected twists and turns, this narrative places a spotlight on the real-world issues of technology and artificial intelligence. This unputdownable installment of Evan’s story is a must-read, especially for fans of the series.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
#LoneWolf #NetGalley