Book Review: Lone Wolf by Gregg Hurwitz (Orphan X #9)

In Lone Wolf, the latest installment of the Orphan X series, Gregg Hurwitz takes us back to the world of Evan Smoak. This time, Evan’s adventure starts with a seemingly boring job that should be beneath Evan’s capabilities – finding his niece’s lost dog.

Little does he know that this very simple request will put him face to face with a deadly assassin, Karissa, aka The Wolf.

While Evan often used to be portrayed as a human machine without emotions, in the later novels, especially this one, we seee him change. He seems to become more and more human, which, on one hand is a good thing, but on the other, it’s quite dangerous, both for him and the people close to him.

Even is now torn between his strong desire to protect the people he cares about and his dark past as a ruthless assassin. This particular emotional push and pull is the most visible in Lone Wolf.

For example, we can see Evan’s relational development with Joey, who is his hacker teenage protégé. Evan shows a lot of human emotions when he deals with her, which is something was not very visible in the earlier books. He now becomes softer, and we can see just what a strong bond the two share.

Joey has her share of character growth as well. We see her care more and more about Evan, and we see her worry about him deepening when she notices he starts to act rather out of the ordinary for the wooden man known as Orphan X.

Karissa and the tech billionaire are rather compelling characters as well. They introduce a dangerous web of intrigue that can easily keep us on the edge of our seats. There is an interesting cat-and-mouse game between Evan and Karissa that adds tension and excitement to each page both of them feature on.

The more pages we read in Lone Wolf, the more we learn about Evan’s character, inner struggles, and his growing vulnerabilities. As usual, in this book, he also comes across danger and deception, but now Evan is forced to confront everything he believed until now, including his own sense of morality, not to mention the question whether his actions do have any consequences, and what those are.

In this latest installment in the Orphan X series, Gregg Hurwitz manages to deliver another action and adventure thriller, while at the same time giving us some time of introspection. There are also several funny moments that break all that tension, not to mention the cute banter between Evan and Joey. Their banter is precious, and in this book, I loved Joey even more.

Our Evan IS becoming more humane, no doubt, and this was clear from the very first few chapters when he did something extremely uncharacteristic of him. I have to admit, I was slightly worried that a more humane Evan would be a less Orphan X.

However, by the time I reached the end of the novel, I realized I didn’t need to worry. While a more humane Evan is a more vulnerable Evan, something that can be easily exploited by his enemies, he is still the same Orphan X or Nowhere Man we know and love.

Overall, Lone Wolf is a gripping addition to the Orphan X series that I am sure will satisfy fans and newcomers alike. It certainly left me, even after 9 books so far, craving for more.