Orphan X (Orphan X Series #1)

by Gregg Hurwitz

Overview

“Brilliantly conceived and plotted … Read this book. You’ll thank me later.” — David Baldacci

Who is Orphan X?

The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It’s said that when he’s reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them. But he’s not merely a legend.

“Excellent…A smart, stylish, state-of-the-art thriller…might give Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books a run for their money.”—The Washington Post

Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He’s also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as an Orphan, an off-the-books black box program designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence asset: An assassin. Evan was Orphan X—until he broke with the program and used everything he learned to disappear. But now someone is on his tail. Someone with similar skills and training who will exploit Evan’s secret new identity as the Nowhere Man to eliminate him.

“Hurwitz melds nonstop action and high-tech gadgetry…in this excellent series opener.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250067845
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/19/2016
Series:	Orphan X Series , #1
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	378,675
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

GREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times bestselling author of 17 novels, most recently, The Nowhere Man. His novels have been shortlisted for numerous literary awards, graced top ten lists, and have been published in 30 languages. He is also a New York Times bestselling comic book writer, having penned stories for Marvel (Wolverine, Punisher) and DC (Batman, Penguin). Additionally, he’s written screenplays for or sold spec scripts to many of the major studios (The Book of Henry), and written, developed, and produced television for various networks. Gregg resides in Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/09/2015
Bestseller Hurwitz (Don’t Look Back) melds nonstop action and high-tech gadgetry with an acute character study in this excellent series opener. Evan Smoak, who was trained to be an assassin under the government’s secret Orphan Program, is now a rogue operator known as the Nowhere Man with a mission to help those in need. As payment, each of his clients refers him to another innocent person in trouble. But Evan becomes the hunted when he tries to help Katrin White, whose father will be killed unless she pays gambling debts. A sense of authenticity permeates the story, no matter how outlandish the tech toys or over-the-top the action. Evan is an electrifying character who chooses daily to do good. Run-ins with his L.A. condo board add a bit of levity while a growing relationship with neighbor Mia Hall and her eight-year-old son, Peter, reinforce that a normal life is just out of Evan’s reach. Movie rights were sold to Warner Bros. 100,000 first printing. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary Agency. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

08/01/2015
Evan Smoak is the Nowhere Man, trained as an assassin in a shadowy black box orphan program (he was Orphan X) and now dedicated to helping those with nowhere else to turn. Unfortunately, someone aware of his past is trailing him. First in a new series from the New York Times best-selling author.

Library Journal

2015-11-04
Kicking off a new series, Hurwitz (Don't Look Back, 2014, etc.) sets young Evan Smoak, a one-time government assassin, to work as a pro bono equalizer—one call brings a criminal to justice. The 9/11 terror attacks made major bad guys targets for undercover termination, and so a darker-than-black government agency created the Orphan Program. That group trained throwaway kids as the world's most efficient assassins "for solo, offline covert operations." Then "drones changed everything," and the Orphans were left in limbo. Orphan X, Evan, decided to freelance, his impetus being his belief that his Orphan mentor (and substitute father), Jack Johns, was murdered. Soon, a Hezbollah arms chief, a dealer in fissile material, and a serial rapist receive Evan's justice. All it takes is a quick call to his victim's hotline, 1-855-2NOWHERE. Evan's back story arrives in short, scene-style chapters. The primary narrative follows Evan as he takes on new projects. His lair is a luxury Los Angeles condo, the atmosphere set by neighboring busybodies, where he has a secret vault with Google-level technology. Hurwitz offers a glimpse of Evan's modus operandi as the assassin eliminates a dirty cop coercing an immigrant teen into prostitution. Then the tale spins down into double crosses and duplicities as Evan becomes a target and other former Orphans enter the fray. High-tech gadgetry abounds—microscopic internal GPS transmitters, a "fully pixelated contact lens" for digital communication—but Evan is old school too, mastering esoteric Filipino, Japanese, and Indonesian martial arts. Hurwitz closes with an unexpected narrative left turn, but even though he's painted Evan adequately, including vague hints of possible romance with neighbor Mia, a widowed single mother, Evan will need another adventure or two before he grows into an empathetic hero. With his digital-age The Avenger, Hurwitz races by minor plot holes and spins a web of relentless intrigue with bursts of tensely sketched violence.

Kirkus Reviews

This isn't simply Hurwitz's 'best thriller yet' or 'a terrific new thriller'-Orphan X is an order-of-magnitude leap into stardom. It's the most exciting thriller I've read since The Bourne Identity. Fans of Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp, and Jason Bourne will LOVE Evan Smoak, and the deadly, secret world of the Orphan Program. A new thriller superstar is born!” —Robert Crais

“What is Orphan X? A thrill-a-minute read with twists and turns galore. I'm looking forward to Evan Smoak's next adventure.” —Phillip Margolin

“Orphan X is the most gripping, high-octane thriller I've read in a long, long time. Hang onto your seat because Gregg Hurwitz will take you on a dizzying ride you'll not soon forget!” —Tess Gerritsen

“Gregg Hurwitz's Orphan X is his best yet — a real celebration of all the strengths he brings to a thriller.” —Lee Child

“From the explosive opening where a boy begins his dramatic transformation, Orphan X blows the doors off most thrillers I've read and catapults the readers on a cat-and-mouse chase that feels like a missile launch. Brilliantly conceived and plotted, his character Evan Smoak, Orphan X, deserves his own niche in the thriller hero hall of fame. Read this book. You will thank me later.” —David Baldacci

“Orphan X is the most exciting new series character since Jack Reacher. And Reacher would love this guy. A page-turning masterpiece of suspense enriched by compassion and insight.” —Jonathan Kellerman

“Exciting and mind blowing! A perfect mix of Jason Bourne and Jack Reacher, ex operative Evan Smoak turns on the action and shows off all the right moves as he sets out to help the downtrodden, and perhaps save his own humanity along the way.” —Lisa Gardner

From the Publisher