Gregg Hurwitz Books in Order
Gregg Hurwitz is an American thriller author best known for the Orphan X series, which follows former government assassin Evan Smoak, after he breaks away from the secret Orphan Program and becomes the Nowhere Man, helping people who have no one else to turn to. He is a New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author whose novels have been published in 33 languages, and he writes action thrillers, psychological suspense, YA thrillers, comics, screenplays, and television adaptations. His debut novel, The Tower, was published in 1999.
He has created comics for Marvel and DC, written screenplays including The Book of Henry (2017), and published two award-winning YA thrillers, The Rains and Last Chance, in the Rains series. He currently serves as Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW).
This page lists all Gregg Hurwitz books in order, including the Orphan X series, the Tim Rackley series, the Rains YA duology, standalone novels, graphic novels, short stories, novellas, and anthologies.
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Latest Gregg Hurwitz Books
Where to Start with Gregg Hurwitz
→ New to Gregg Hurwitz? Start with Orphan X. It introduces Evan Smoak, the Orphan Program, and the Nowhere Man rules that follow his best-known series.
→ Want the main series only? Read the Orphan X novels in order. The missions are usually solved at the end of each book, but Evan’s past, his rules, and his relationships build from book to book.
→ Wondering about the short stories? Treat them as bonus Orphan X material. They fit between the main novels, but you can follow the series without reading them first.
→ Prefer older crime thrillers with a law-enforcement main character? Try The Kill Clause, the first Tim Rackley book.
→ Want a standalone novel instead? Try one of the author’s thrillers such as The Crime Writer, You’re Next, or The Survivor. They don’t relate to Orphan X at all.
Orphan X Series (Books in Order)
The Orphan X series follows Evan Smoak, a former government assassin codenamed Orphan X, who, at the age of 12, was kidnapped from a group home to train inside the Orphan Program, a secret intelligence organization built to create hidden spies and assassins. After running away from the program, Evan disappears and reinvents himself as the Nowhere Man. He became a figure spoken about in whispers, who can be reached only by desperate people with nowhere else to turn. The series mixes fast action with an ongoing arc about Evan’s history and the Orphan Program that is hunting him. Through his small circle of friends and allies, that becomes more important as the series goes on, Even starts to experience a relatively normal life.
For the full Orphan X reading order, see Orphan X Books in Order.
- The Code, 2025
- Orphan X, 2016
- Buy a Bullet, 2016
- The Nowhere Man, 2017
- Hellbent, 2018
- The Intern, 2018
- Out of the Dark, 2019
- Into the Fire, 2020
- The List, 2020
- Prodigal Son, 2021
- Dark Horse, 2022
- The Last Orphan, 2023
- The Recital, 2023
- Lone Wolf, 2024
- Nemesis, 2025
- Antihero, 2026
Reading Notes:
- The Code is a short prequel story set before the events of Orphan X but published much later. If you are new to the series, start with Orphan X first and read The Code later as bonus story.
Other Orphan X Books
Tim Rackley Series (Books in Order)
The Tim Rackley series follows Deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Rackley, a former Special Forces soldier with a rigid moral code, who lost faith in the justice system when his daughter was murdered and her killer walked free on a technicality. The first book, The Kill Clause, finds Rackley involved with a vigilante group operating outside the law. Later, he returns to the Marshals Service and subsequent high-risk undercover missions involving a mind-control cult, a violent biker gang, and a maximum-security prison. The cases get more complex as the series goes on, but all four books involve the same conflict where good people play a high price when forced to deal with situations where the rules don’t apply.
- The Kill Clause, 2003
- The Program, 2004
- Troubleshooter, 2005
- Last Shot, 2006
Rains Series (Books in Order)
The Rains series follows teenager brothers Chance and Patrick Rains in Creek’s Cause, a the small rural community with people fighting to survive after a mysterious parasite turns every adult in their town into a violent, zombie-like creature. Patrick is close to eighteen, which is the age at which the parasite grabs a person, and the clock is running on both the mission and his life. Thus the series is not only about survival but also about running out of time. It is a YA sci-fi thriller with strong action and a focus on brotherhood. The series won the ITW Thriller Award for Best YA Novel in 2018 for the first book.
- The Rains, 2016
- Last Chance, 2017
Standalone Novels
- The Tower, 1999
- Minutes to Burn, 2001
- Do No Harm, 2002
- The Crime Writer (also titled as I See You), 2007
- We Know (also titled as Trust No One), 2008
- Or She Dies (also titled as They’re Watching), 2009
- You’re Next, 2010
- The Survivor, 2011
- Tell No Lies, 2013
- Don’t Look Back, 2014
Graphic Novels
- Wolverine: Dangerous Games, 2008
- Foolkiller: Fool’s Paradise, 2008
- Foolkiller: White Angels, 2009
- Wolverine: Flies to a Spider #1, 2009
- Wolverine: Switchback #1, 2009
- Vengeance of the Moon Knight, Vol 1, 2010
- Vengeance of the Moon Knight, Vol. 2, 2010
- Shadowland: Moon Knight, 2011
- Penguin: Pain and Prejudice #1–5, 2011
- Batman: The Dark Light Annual #1, 2011-2014
- Detective Comics #0, 2011-2016
- Detective Comics #27, 2011-2016
- New Think, Vol. 1, 2022
Short Stories and Novellas
- Dirty Weather, 2006
- The Delivery, 2026
Anthologies
- Show Business Is Murder, 2004
- Meeting Across the River, 2005
- Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, 2006
- Uncage Me, 2009
- First Thrills: Volume 3, 2011
- Gone Fishing and Other Stories, 2012
- Birds of Prey, 2022 (with C J Box, Allison Brennan, Harlan Coben, Robert Dugoni, Tess Gerritsen, Heather Graham, Kathy Reichs)
Gregg Hurwitz Biography
Gregg Andrew Hurwitz is an American thriller author, screenwriter, television writer, comic book writer, producer, and Co-President of International Thriller Writers. He is best known for the Orphan X series, but he also wrote standalone thrillers, YA novels, comics for Marvel, DC, and AWA, screenplays, worked for TV and produced documentaries.
Official website: gregghurwitz.net
Gregg Hurwitz was born on August 10, 1973 in the San Francisco Area, where he also grew up. After going to Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, he studied English and psychology at Harvard University, from where he graduated with a BA in 1995. At Harvard, he was a scholar-athlete. He then attended Trinity College in Oxford as a Knox Fellow, where he earned a master’s degree in Shakespearean tragedy in 1996. During this time, he wrote his first novel, The Tower, a psychological thriller set in San Francisco, in 1999.
He continued writing standalone thrillers such as Minutes to Burn and Do No Harm, and then started his first series introducing Tim Rackley series in Kill Clause (2003). The series introduced Deputy U.S. Marshall Tim Rackley who lost faith in the justice system after a personal tragedy. After his series, Gregg Hurwitz moved between writing standalone psychological thrillers and series before launching his main and longest series, Orphan X, in 2016.
The first Orphan X book became an instant international bestseller. It follows Evan Smoak, a former government assassin who, after all the killing he was forced to do over the years, had enough and disappeared from the secret Orphan Program that trained him as a deniable asset. Now he became The Nowhere Man, a simple guy with extraordinary skills who is helping people in desperate situations. The series is inspired by the author’s interest in action, training, weapons, surveillance, and personal codes.
Generally, his books follow two main directions. The Orphan X books have a highly trained hero with a strict moral code, while many of his standalone thrillers throw average people into terrible situations where they have to fight their way out.
Gregg Hurwitz also wrote the award-winning YA Rains duology, with The Rains and Last Chance, published in 2016–2017. The first book won the ITW Thriller Award for Best Young Adult Novel in 2018.
He wrote comics connected to Wolverine, Punisher, Moon Knight, Batman, Penguin, NewThink, and Knighted, wrote the screenplay for The Book of Henry (2017) and and Sweet Girl (2021), and has written and produced for television.
He has taught fiction writing at USC and lectured at UCLA and Harvard, and is currently Co-President of International Thriller Writers. His official bio mentions that his research has taken him into some unusual places, including Navy SEAL demolition ranges, shark diving in the Galápagos, and undercover work inside mind-control cults,.
Gregg Hurwitz currently lives with family in Los Angeles.
Gregg Hurwitz Book Adaptations
- Orphan X – television adaptation announced with Makeready and Perfect Storm Entertainment
- The Book of Henry – film screenplay (2017)
- Marked Man Series – eight books optioned by Paramount Players for a planned feature-film series
Gregg Hurwitz Awards and Honors
Awards
- Orphan X – Crimson Scribe Award (2016)
- Orphan X – RUSA Reading List, Adrenaline Winner by American Library Association (2017)
- The Rains – International Thriller Writers Award for Best YA Novel (2018)
- The Last Orphan – International Thriller Writers Award for Best Audiobook (2024)
Nominations and Shortlists
- The Crime Writer – International Thriller Writers Award (2008)
- Orphan X – SCIBA Best Mystery (2016)
- Hellbent – SCIBA Best Mystery (2018)
- Out of the Dark – Capital Crime Award for Best Thriller (2019)
- Into the Fire – Skoutz Award, Germany (2020)
- Prodigal Son – Society of Voice Arts Awards, Best Audiobook Narration, Thriller (2021)
- Prodigal Son – International Thriller Writers Award, Best Audiobook (2022)
- Lone Wolf – Audie Award, Best Thriller/Suspense Audiobook (2023)
Read all the books in the series, just finished reading Darkhorse.
I read this in one day it was a page turner . Anymore Orphan X in the works? Thanks Gregg for such great writing much appreciation.
I have read a lot of food books .I only just found m.Hurwitz.love him.I wondered how Kill Clause was wrote so perfect that Tim R.escaped the laws?Just being moralistic an a great guy.He said he learned a lot from the mutts.Was this evasion intentional or luck?Thank you M.for being there.Mary from Fl.2022
I love the Tower, I couldn’t put it down. I loved the character Jade Marlow and hope that he comes out in more books.
I got lucky! I found the Evan Smoak list first. I quickly found all the others through my subscriptions to Chirp, Audible, & Audiobooks. Now I am hoping to find the TV series… PlEASE tell me it’s in the works. I love to read but audiobooks are my go to now… at night, driving to & from work, lunchtime, so Scott Brick was the perfect choice to bring Evan Smoak alive in my mind.
Loved your Jade Marlow character in the book “The Tower”. Can you tell us why you did not write about him in any other books or if you ever will again?
January 18th, 2021, I was scrolling thru the list of books on my Indigo/Chapters account a few months ago, and I saw a book called. “Into The Fire”. It looked interesting, and I bought it and LOVED it. I was so intrigued by the story line that I went on line and and found out it is of a series you began writing in 2016. Well, I was so excited that I ordered all of the Nowhere Man series, except for two which I cannot find ( Buy a Bullet and The Intern). I’ve read them all and and am waiting to receive your new one “Prodigal Son”.
Thank you Gregg Hurwitz!
from a retired Canadian fan!
Just loved The Nowhere Man. Also Hellbent. Couldn’t put them down. Read them in two days. Looking forward to reading all the others. Thank you Gregg Hurwitz.