Lone Wolf

Orphan X, Book 9

By: Gregg Hurwitz

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

This program is read by multi-award-winning narrator Scott Brick.

"Brick employs perfect timing and emphasis to portray Evan and plays him with heart...Brick shines in long passages of exposition, setting up the stakes with deft talent, and quickly shifts into periodic high action."—AudioFile

"Gregg brings the series to life with his written word, so does Scott Brick with his narration. Scott’s impeccable timing and ability to seamlessly flow from one character to another bringing Evan and all the characters to life while keeping the audience breathlessly waiting for the next scene to unfold is simply masterful."—The Reading Frenzy

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

©2024 Gregg Hurwitz (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"The series has always been a blend of Batman, the Equalizer, and Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp, and Lone Wolf reinforces why it continues to be great nine novels in. Newcomers to Evan's adventures should feel fine starting here before diving into the others." —First Clue

"Another crackling caper for the solitary Orphan X." —Kirkus Reviews

"Lone Wolf is a crushingly brilliant piece of fiction." —Best Thriller Books

X deserves more respect

Spoilers . . .
I’m a devoted X fan. Always preorder the new releases and probably always will.
Not sure why everyone is always mad at X. I don’t enjoy those encounters. I might like Joey if she wasn’t always on his case. And the newly introduced characters are angry without even knowing him. The other half of the book is good. It would be nice to switch out some of the performance to a bit less intensity - it isn’t appropriate all the time. A little diversity of character would be great.

Not my favorite

I read or listened to every Orphan X but this was my least favorite. It felt almost as a stand alone rather than a book in the series.

Enjoying the evolution of X and his relationship with Joey.

All the aspect of "normal" life are woven into the story so intricately; from developing new feelings to a relationship of sorts with his forger of documents.
interesting...

Do You Need My Help?

YES! More Evan Smoak (aka Orphan X, aka The Nowhere Man). Hurry it up already! Also, keep Scott Brick... he brings life to the Orphan X Series.

Less Action and Suspense Than Usual

There is less action and suspense in this book than other Orphan X books. There is a decent message about AI buried in the story but that did not make it a page turner. There was a lot of female drama (Sofia, Brianna, Joey, Lorilee, Friedhoff daughters, etc.) not related to the mission that I thought distracted from the story. Many of the characters were focused on personal issues and too self-absorbed. The main plot around Hill's assassination was only about 20% of the book.

The female assassin (the wolf) was interesting, but Evan had several missed opportunities to take her out and did not which I found odd. I would like to see Melinda more fully developed in future books. I think she and Evan could have an interesting dynamic. Overall, 3.5/5 but I rounded up because of a betrayal at the end. Suspect that will definitely play into the next Orphan X book.

the ending....

another great book in the series. love the side plot development of emotions etc.

As always Hurwitz delivers.

I really enjoy the his writing style and his character development. I just finished the book and I am looking forward to his next one. Scott Brick is excellent.

I can’t even

I’m addicted to this series, the detail, the nuance and the characters are intense yet relatable.
I love the characters and their interpersonal relationships are so endearing. I can’t wait for the next book!

Perhaps the best of the series

A new perspective on how X gets his action. And it was rather refreshing. The story was amazing the writing for all of the characters was phenomenal. I was a little irritated by X taking the blame for all the things that obviously weren’t his fault. But w/e, it’s X.

It was kind of nice seeing both Evan and Joey both become a bit more human in this novel. I really enjoyed their evolution. As well as a bit more screen time with other supporting cast was rather nice.

I say this book might be one of the best in the series, I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that a particular recurring character(that I shall not name) does not make an appearance and I loved this book way more than all the others, but I think there might be something there.

The narrator needs to be better. Mispronouncing simple words to the point of it being criminal. Having improper cadence with one word ending with the same sound the next one starts with making a completely new word and leaving the listener confused is a thing in this book. Be prepared to rewind now and then.

Overall, amazing story and I highly recommend. While the Grayman keeps getting worse, the Nowhere Man just keeps getting better.

love the growing dynamics of characters

I really like this series. this one was not as engrossing as some earlier ones. really like the very ending twist. looking forward to next book