Lone Wolf: An Orphan X Novel

Gregg Hurwitz

Feb 2024 · Orphan X Book 9 · Macmillan Audio · Narrated by Scott Brick

About this audiobook

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.

Ratings and reviews

I’ve been a huge fan of this series since the beginning, but Lone Wolf was a disappointment for me. My problems: This book leans heavily into (melo)drama, which felt totally out of character for Evan Smoak. I get that the author is trying to make our MC evolve over the years, but this had way too much of a soap opera feel. Then we had long passages of diatribe from various characters that came off as preachy, as if the author went into this with an agenda to push. It was all too much of an in-your-face vibe. Interspersed around the drama and diatribe are a few over-the-top action scenes, and way too much repetitive information on the specifics of various high-end vodkas. I get it, already. Evan likes all the subtleties of flavor. Enough, please. And, finally, my issues with the audiobook. My apologies to the narrator, but he simply didn’t work for this book. First, his voice is clearly that of a much older man than Evan. I kept picturing a gruff man in his fifties or sixties, while Evan is a quiet man in his thirties. To complicate the listening experience, the narrator’s tone is deep and gravelly, which was just weird when he read from the POV of a teenage girl. I couldn’t settle in. I alternated with my Kindle copy, which I was more able to settle into, though the story still didn’t sit well. I love Evan, so I’m rounding up to 3 stars. *I received a free audiobook download from Macmillan Books, and a free eARC from Minotaur, via NetGalley.*

Not my favorite of the X series. Started too slow, and had too much of the Orphan teen girl in it. But it all got redeemed in the end, and I'll continue to be a fan!

fantastic. exciting. brilliant

About the author

GREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of more than 20 thrillers including the ORPHAN X series. His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW). Additionally, he’s written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and television networks. He lives in Los Angeles.