Lone Wolf
An Orphan X Novel
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4.5 • 944 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestselling Orphan X returns in this "crackerjack new thriller" (Kirkus Reviews) and "crushingly brilliant piece of fiction" (Best Thriller Books)!
Once a black ops government assassin known as Orphan X, Evan Smoak left the Program, went deep underground, and reinvented himself as someone who will go anywhere and risk everything to help the truly desperate who have nowhere else to turn. Since then, Evan has fought international crime syndicates and drug cartels, faced down the most powerful people in the world and even brought down a president. Now struggling with an unexpected personal crisis, Evan goes back to the very basics of his mission - and this time, the truly desperate is a little girl who wants him to find her missing dog.
Not his usual mission, and not one Evan embraces with enthusiasm, but this unlikely, tiny job quickly explodes into his biggest mission yet, one that finds him battered between twisted AI technocrat billionaires, a mysterious female assassin who seems a mirror of himself, and personal stakes so gut-wrenching he can scarcely make sense of them.
Evan's mission pushes him to his limit - he must find and take down the assassin known only as the Wolf, before she succeeds in completing her mission and killing the people who can identify her - a teenaged daughter of her last target, and Evan himself. Matched skill for skill, instinct for instinct, Evan must outwit an opponent who will literally stop at nothing if he is to survive.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Former assassin Evan Smoak, a.k.a. the Nowhere Man, discovers that even small favors can go very wrong in this full-throttle tale. Searching for his niece’s lost pooch isn’t quite the helping-the-desperate assignment Evan had been looking for, but his kindly efforts put him in the sights of a deadly assassin working for a client with more money than morals. Don’t worry if you’re new to Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series: You’ll learn everything you need to know. We especially enjoyed Evan’s emotional journey, processing his newfound family ties while fending off an icy assassin. The kinetic plot is peppered with Hurwitz’s vivid action scenes, plus the dry humor of Evan’s black-ops team. Lock down in your safe house—or on your couch—and get ready for a fun ride.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hurwitz's creaky latest mission for former black ops assassin Evan Smoak (after The Last Orphan) finds the mercenary getting more than he bargained for when he agrees to track down a missing dog. In the years since Smoak left the shadowy U.S. Orphan Program, he's spent his days dodging government assassins while making a living as a private gun-for-hire. His latest assignment is more low-stakes than usual: Sofia, his half brother's 11-year-old daughter, hires him to track down her pinscher/Chihuahua mix. The search for the AWOL pooch takes on bigger stakes when, while casing the neighborhood where the dog was last seen, Smoak encounters the bloody handiwork of Karissa Lopatina, an assassin known as the Wolf. With the help of his allies—including teen protégé Joey and expert forger Melinda Truong—Smoak learns the Wolf is involved in a war between deranged billionaires over a dangerous technology, and enters into a bone-crunching cage match to bring her down. Hurwitz brings more humor to the table than usual this time, and fleshes out Smoak's family ties in an attempt to add dimension to the character. Still, it's not enough to enliven the dusty plot. This series appears to be running out of steam.
Customer Reviews
Good but…
So like all the Orphan X novels, it’s very good, and highly readable. However, I did think it was odd, no mention of Mia and her son, and then Evan starts sleeping with his late fifties forger.
I found that a bit cringy, and not exactly super spy conduct. But whatever, still a good book.
Dump the hag and bring back Mia on the next iteration!
First time that Hurwitz has disappointed
The myriad tangents and tributaries were confusing and distracting from the main plot — almost as though Hurwitz had had some short story ideas and chose to work them in around the edges. Sad to say that I abandoned Lone Wolf about 2/3 of the way through.
Acknowledgement
Thank you for making your acknowledgments fun to read, much less a book that I did not want to end.