Orphan X Archives

Book review: Antihero by Gregg Hurwitz

March 14, 20263 min read

Antihero by Gregg Hurwitz is the 11th in the series featuring Orphan X aka Nowhere Man aka Evan Smoak, and this is one of my favourite series. Here Hurwitz flexes all of his usual high-tech armoury bells and whistles but in the background Evan is continuing to morph from the cold assassin preferring his own company, to someone who can no longer hide that he’s come to care for those in his life. In this outing Evan is called-upon by a quite-mad and eccentric tech wiz (we first met in book #8 The Last Orphan) to locate a girl he’s never met but believes to have been kidnapped.

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Book review: Nemesis by Gregg Hurwitz

February 9, 20253 min read

It’s rare that I get to read books in a series in close succession, but I’d missed out on review copies of a couple of books in the Orphan X series by Gregg Hurwitz, so only recently got my fat little hands on them. In fact I only read the last in this series – Lone Wolf – just over a month ago, so it was fresh in my mind, making the arrival of book ten, Nemesis, VERY exciting indeed. Unless an author is prolific like JD Robb and putting out a couple of books each year, it’s usually a year or so in between outings and my memory is so crappy I sometimes struggle with specifics.

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Book review: Lone Wolf by Gregg Hurwitz

December 23, 20243 min read

The stars and planets aligned to land Lone Wolf by Gregg Hurwitz in my hot little hands. A month or so ago I noted that the author, screenwriter and (Marvel & DC) comic writer has a new novel in the Orphan X series coming out in early 2025 and amazingly it appeared on a new release list here in Australia. His last few have not so I’d missed them, so after putting in my request (I hope will be granted… *batters eyelashes at Penguin Books Australia*) I decided to catch up on the two I’d missed. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find his books at any local department stores so in desperation so I bought the next in the series I’d missed, The Last Orphan online (!!!), reading it immediately before hunting down the one remaining book I’d missed, Lone Wolf. Thinking I’d have to cave and (again) order a copy from that online mass stockist I meandered into the local second hand bookstore in my little seaside village and there it lay…. pre-loved and ready for its second life. I was gobsmacked – also that there’s potentially another Hurwitz fan here in my hometown of Hervey Bay. And that, dear folks is my very long intro as to how I got hold of this book. (And yes, I’m as bad as those food bloggers who share their life story before the recipe! 😉 )

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Book review: The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz

November 27, 20242 min read

I bought The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz to download and read last weekend. I love(d) the Orphan X / Nowhere Man / Evan Smoak series but hadn’t seen the last two come out in Australia. I knew Hurwitz had released some novellas in the interim but when his upcoming novel Nemesis appeared in a new release catalogue I got from Penguin, I discovered I’d missed books 8 & 9 in the series so set about rectifying that. And it has to be said this is a timely read… given it’s centred around a mega-rich genius type trying to influence government through leverage obtained during parties where he caters to everyone’s very lascivious or illicit substance desire. A cross between that-person-that-shall-be-known-as-Leon and the former rapper and producer currently in police/FBI custody.

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Book review: Dark Horse by Gregg Hurwitz

January 21, 20222 min read

I LOVE Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X / Nowhere Man / Evan Smoak series. They’re a go-to read for me and I was surprised we’re up to number 7 already.

Of course it means – sorry #spoileralert – that Evan doesn’t obviously die at the end of book 6 as could have been expected given his penthouse exploded and he was blasted out of his shatterproof window.

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Book review: Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz

January 20, 20214 min read

The Orphan X (Evan Smoak / Nowhere Man) series by Gregg Hurwitz is a must-read for me. His latest, Prodigal Son, takes readers on a slightly different ‘journey’. Although Evan has supposedly retired from helping the helpless – a promise he made to the US President because of collateral damage from memory – here he gets a request from someone he just can’t refuse.

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Book review: Into the Fire by Gregg Hurwitz

January 21, 20203 min read

It’s no secret I love this Orphan X series although I’m kinda astounded we’re up to the fifth book already. As each year rolls around and a new adventure appears in my mailbox I have to go back over past reviews to remember exactly what happened in the previous outing. And weirdly, I’m always a book or two out. This time around I’d completely forgotten the plot of book 4 and was thinking we were picking up after book 3. I suspect I’m in denial about the fact this might ultimately come to an end.

Having said that, it really doesn’t matter when you enter this series as Hurwitz does a great job of effortlessly easing new readers into the world of Orphan X. The Nowhere Man.

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Book review: Out of the Dark by Gregg Hurwitz

January 25, 20193 min read

Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series is one of my favourites. I fell a little in love with former orphan-turned-assassin-turned-helper of the helpless, Evan Smoak, in the first book of the series. And this – number four – is probably my favourite since that first outing.

I’d usually grimace at a book blurb that talks about killing the president – my spy/espionage-loving days left back in the 1990s along with my spiral perms – but this book is less about conspiracy theories and government cover-ups and more about self-preservation and ‘doing the right thing’ delivered through clever well-paced action.

Naturally I was forced to read this in a sitting and finished the last page already eager for the next instalment.

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