Lone Wolf

Orphan X, Book 9

By: Gregg Hurwitz

Narrated by: Scott Brick

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

Excellent addition to the series (2.0)

I accidentally hit 4.0 for story instead of 5.0, and audible won’t let me edit the review*

Without giving too much of this book away, I was a huge fan of how the story centers around an issue affecting art and society. It was a really great topic to focus on. While some other books in this series might have more action filled plots, I really liked this one. A lot of vision into Evan's soul, more so than any other book. This is more of an emotional entry rather than something that pushes the world forward.

I will say, the twist at the end is literally like twisting a knife into your stomach. But I'm glad it means the story continues in a new direction!

Scott Brock is just so solid. Hard to find a better narrator. Maybe Morgan Freeman but it's honestly a toss up.

Fair play to Gregg for writing a terrific novel that touches more inner conflict than outer conflict.
Shows his versatility as a writer.

A white knuckle ride!

White knuckle reading, hated it because it could not stop listening, knowing I would blow through this in just a few days, less if I had not been traveling.

Orphan X Fantastic!

My favorite parts are how he interacts with his fellow tenants and Joey! Fantastic book!

Story

Excellent book. Very applicable as AI is just beginning to hit mainstream stream world. Makes one think!

Evan becoming human & Joey trying to fit in

This was the best Orphan X yet. Great character development and a lot of funny/awkward moments interlaced with the suspense and action. I really perked up at the teaser on which it ended--not a "to be continued" cliff-hanger, I hate those--just a teaser. There's gotta be another book to explain it. I can't wait!

Narration

Great relations between X and Joey. They have a one of a kind relationship with each other.

once again

never a let down, In fact once again another nail bitting thriller with a hell of a plot twist.

Good job

Each character is fleshed out well. The back and forth from every day life to the wild life of a paladin is Seamless. Scott Brick is an excellent reader. I look forward to the next edition.

Mr. Smoak faces aging and AI

Another fantastic X novel. The twists at the end were fantastic! It's great to see Tommy and Evan both face aging and losing a step.

Hurwitz still gots it!! Great book – great narration.

An amazingly realistic exploration into the difficulty somebody like Orphan X has reaching out to other people (but insightfully, kind of like the difficulty that all of us have at some, or many, points of our lives). Surprising emotional depth and pathos in these characters.

Narration by Brick is nothing short of an Oscar– level performance. Amazing nuance; sarcasm and anger come off both funny and very realistic, a tour de force performance!

Excellent addition to the series. Highly recommended.