CANR
WORK TITLE: Lone Wolf
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://gregghurwitz.net/
CITY: Los Angeles
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: LRC 2019_test
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born August 12, 1973, in CA; married Delinah Blake; children: two daughters.
EDUCATION:Harvard University, B.A., 1995; Oxford University, M.A., 1996.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and educator. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, instructor in fiction writing. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, guest lecturer; University of California, Los Angeles, guest lecturer. Creator of television shows for Warner Brothers Studios; consulting producer, V, ABC, 2010-11. Written comics for DC and Marvel; poet.
AVOCATIONS:Playing soccer, reading, hiking, watching films.
MEMBER:International Thriller Writers (ITW), Co-President.
AWARDS:Knox Fellow; Best Read, Richard and Judy’s Spring Book Club, for You’re Next; category winner on the American Library Association’s 2017 Reading List, for Orphan X; Best Audiobook prize, International Thriller Writers, 2024, for Scott Brick’s audiobook recording of The Last Orphan.
WRITINGS
Author of the Gregg Hurwitz blog. Writer for V (television series), ABC, 2010-11. Author of screenplays for Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Paramount Studios, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, and the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. Contributor to MAX Sample r, Marvel Comics, 2006; writer for Wolverine, Marvel Comics, 2007, Foolkiller, Marvel Comics, 2008, Penguin: Pain and Prejudice, DC Comics, 2012, and Batman, the Dark Knight, DC Comics, 2013-14. Contributor of short stories to anthologies, including Show Business is Murder, Berkeley Crime Press, 2004; Thriller, Mira Books, 2006; Uncage Me, Bleak House Books, 2009; Hint Fiction, W. W. Norton & Company, 2010; First Thrills, Forge Books, 2010; and For the Sake of the Game: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon, Pegasus Books. 2018. Contributor to periodicals, including the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, Sexuality and Culture, Bulwark, and Word & Image journal. Also contributor to the Huffington Post website. Books have been published in more than thirty languages.
The “Tim Rackley” series is being adapted for television by TNT/Sony. Film rights for Orphan X were purchased by Warner Bros.
SIDELIGHTS
Gregg Hurwitz grew up in the San Francisco Bay area of California, and he wrote his first novel, The Tower, while completing his education. Since that debut thriller, Hurwitz has gone on to write more than a dozen novels and forge a career in television and writing for Marvel Comics and DC Comics.
The Tower is a psychological thriller set in the Bay area where, in an offshore maximum security prison, maniac Allander Atlasia kills everyone except for one other inmate and then escapes. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation calls in Jade Marlow, a former agent turned bounty hunter who is known for his extraordinary tracking ability. In pursuing Allander, Marlow deals with the criminal’s demons, as well as a few of his own.
Booklist contributor David Pitt commented that Hurwitz’s characters “aren’t likable, but they are vividly rendered, the narration is sharp, and the dialogue jumps off the page.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor called The Tower a “sucker-punching, tongue-in-cheek debut psychokiller tale that spoofs, and tops, the hyperviolent Hollywood genre films that have inspired it.”
In the environmental thriller Minutes to Burn, Hurwitz places the action in a Jurassic Park-like Galapagos Islands setting. The year is 2007, the ozone layer is gone, and earthquakes are shaking the world. A deadly virus develops, a swarm of nine-foot praying mantis-like creatures threatens scientists studying the earthquakes, and the U.S. Navy SEALS are brought in to assist them. The navy crew includes the leader, Derek; a husband-and-wife team; and an immense operative named Tank. “Most enjoyable is the fiftyish knife-wielding Nam vet, Savage, who practically steals the book,” wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer.
Hurwitz was inspired to write the novel while performing research in the Galapagos, where he encountered the strange amphibians, reptiles, and insects that are specific to the region. When he returned, he enlisted the aid of scientific experts to flesh out his story. “I was amazed how believable this story is, especially considering its somewhat outlandish plot,” commented Marc Ruby in the online Mystery Reader. Ruby added: “Hurwitz has taken the time to fill in all the interesting details of ozone depletion as well as biological and tectonic information. The science is fascinating.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor thought the book is also reminiscent of Lord of the Flies, The Dirty Dozen, “and maybe even Beowulf.” The critic noted the book’s “vivid cast” and “engrossing story. Hurwitz demonstrates once again that he’s a thriller writer to be reckoned with.”
Hurwitz dedicates Do No Harm to his physician father. The story is set in Los Angeles, California, and at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, where Clyde, a man who had been included in a psychological experiment as a boy, throws corrosive lye into the face of an emergency-room nurse and then attacks a female doctor in a similar fashion. The brother of the nurse is a police officer whose full force and fury are directed at finding the perpetrator. When he is caught, Clyde is beaten by the police and scarred by the substance. Afterward, he is brought to the emergency room, where the staff, with the exception of chief of emergency services David Spier, refuses to treat him. Clyde escapes the hospital, and David risks his own life to recapture him.
Reviewing Do No Harm, Jabari Asim wrote in the Washington Post Book World that David Spier “is fully realized,” and added that “another supporting player is the most intriguing character in the book … and is one with whom Hurwitz has a great deal of fun. A shadowy operative named Ed Pinkerton—who seems to know everything and demonstrates a convenient mastery of covert surveillance, computer science, and disguise—steps in from time to time and offers David lifesaving assistance.” Booklist contributor William Beatty noted David’s application of medical ethics in his practice is just one of the threads “in a smoothly written, gripping fabric of believable incidents, ethical questions, and changing relationships.” Jo Ann Vicarel, writing in Library Journal, called Hurwitz “a brilliant storyteller.” Harriet Klausner reviewed Do No Harm on the BookBrowser Website, commenting that Hurwitz “is the heir apparent to Robin Cook if this medical thriller is an indicator of the chill level that leaves readers reconsidering any visit to an emergency room.” Klausner called the novel “a compelling read.”
Hurwitz explores themes of honor and vengeance in his fourth novel, The Kill Clause. Tim Rackley, a U.S. deputy marshal, and his wife, Dray, a Los Angeles County sheriff, receive news that their daughter has been savagely murdered on her seventh birthday. Although the perpetrator is quickly arrested, the prosecution bungles the case, and the killer is set free on a technicality. Tim is then contacted by the Commission, a vigilante group dedicated to correcting miscarriages of justice, and he is offered membership into the organization as its executioner.
The Kill Clause received mixed reviews. A Kirkus Reviews contributor observed: “Hurwitz, … wanting to write a novel of ideas that’s also a fast-paced thriller, gets hung up between the two.” Entertainment Weekly contributor Scott Brown remarked that the author “comes alive only when he’s describing men locked in mortal struggle: The violence is so detailed, so mercilessly, excruciatingly storyboarded, it’s almost erotic.” Joe Hartlaub, writing on Bookreporter.com, stated that “the ultimate aim of this fine novel is not simply to entertain but to get the reader thinking about the consequences of stepping outside the system in order to obtain a measure of justice that otherwise is denied.”
Tim Rackley enters a cult to save a film producer’s child in The Program. Having lost his job due to his involvement with the Commission, Tim accepts a proposition from Hollywood mogul Will Henning: rescue Will’s teenage daughter, Leah, from “the Program,” and Will will use his influence to help Rackley rejoin the U.S. marshal’s service. After adopting a new identity, Tim goes undercover in the Program, where he matches wits with cult founder T.D. Betters. “Grounded in character and believable detail, Hurwitz’s thriller engages on every level,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Wes Lukowsky, writing in Booklist, called the novel “a gripping read from start to finish.”
In Troubleshooter, Tim Rackley has rejoined the U.S. marshals and tangles with an outlaw motorcycle gang called the Laughing Sinners. Having learned that their president, Den Laurey, is being escorted to a federal penitentiary, members of the Sinners stage an ambush to free him, killing two marshals in the process. When Tim’s wife, Dray, now eight months pregnant, attempts to recapture Laurey, she is seriously wounded, and her husband is determined to track down the gang leader. “Hurwitz is a rock-solid writer, researcher, and plotter,” observed a critic in Publishers Weekly. A Kirkus Reviews correspondent stated: “It’s the righteously resolute Rackley you pay your money for, and he doesn’t disappoint.”
A former marine breaks out of prison and goes on a murderous rampage in Last Shot, another work featuring U.S. marshal Tim Rackley. The marshal must follow the trail of Walker Jameson, a Desert Storm veteran who masterminds his escape from Terminal Island Penitentiary and begins targeting officers of a pharmaceutical company. Hurwitz “moves easily between the gritty scenes of violence and the more subtle abuses of power in corporate boardrooms,” noted a reviewer in Publishers Weekly.
Hurwitz taps into his professional experiences as a novelist to produce The Crime Writer. Protagonist Drew Danner is a successful crime novelist whose books all bear the hallmarks of his careful research into methods of murder and techniques of forensic detection. When he wakes up in a hospital bed after brain tumor surgery, he cannot remember how or why he got there. Any relief Drew feels soon turns to horror when he finds out that he is suspected of brutally murdering his ex-fiancée, Genevieve Bertrand. Police tell him that he was found beside her body with a bloody knife in his hand. Drew has no memory of harming Genevieve and cannot think of any reason why he would kill her. He knows, however, that the pernicious effects of the tumor could have caused him to do something drastic and out of character and then block the memory from his mind.
When Drew is later acquitted of murder by reason of temporary insanity caused by the brain tumor, he investigates Genevieve’s death and whether he was really capable of viciously killing a loved one. After a second similar murder occurs, Drew’s blood is found on the scene, and he believes someone is trying to frame him for murder. Preston, Drew’s book editor, urges him to write down what is happening and approach the case analytically, as he would a crime novel. He is assisted by friends in his search, including a police forensic specialist and a juvenile delinquent. A Kirkus Reviews contributor remarked: Hurwitz’s “carefully interwoven plot lines and taut writing … make for a deeply satisfying read.” The story’s “fast pace and ingenious setup provide considerable tension,” observed a Publishers Weekly contributor. Hurwitz “has written a nice puzzler,” commented Jane Jorgenson in Library Journal.
Trust No One is another foray into the mystery-thriller genre. The novel opens with protagonist Nick Horrigan being kidnapped by the U.S. Secret Service. Secret Service agents explain that a terrorist has taken control of a nuclear power plant and will blow it up unless he can speak with Nick. A conspiracy then unfolds encompassing all known levels of the government, including the president of the United States.
Joel W. Tscherne, writing in Library Journal, remarked that the tale that unfolds “keeps the reader guessing about the motives of nearly every character.” Thomas Gaughan, a contributor to Booklist, called Trust No One a “page-to-page suspense” with “breakneck pacing” that “will please Hurwitz’s growing audience.”
Following Trust No One, Hurwitz authored They’re Watching and You’re Next. The latter novel is one of Hurwitz’s most acclaimed works to date, and it was honored as a Best Read by Richard and Judy’s Spring Book Club. You’re Next introduces Mike Wingate, a successful home contractor in Lost Hills, a Los Angeles suburb. Mike worked hard for his accomplishments, though his past is somewhat checkered. Mike’s questionable past may be haunting him as thugs William and Dodge arrive and begin threatening Mike’s family. They sneak into his house and steal his daughter’s toys and then show up at her school. William and Dodge accost Mike at an industry ceremony where he is the honoree, and his wife, Annabel, is attacked. Mike calls on an old friend, Shep, for help. They learn that William and Dodge have been sent by the Boss Man. But Mike has no idea why he is being targeted, or what the Boss Man’s motives might be.
Reviewers responded to You’re Next with high praise, noting that Mike is a compelling, realistic, and wonderfully balanced character. Reviewers additionally found the novel exciting, well-paced, and extremely suspenseful. For instance, a contributor to the online Dot Scribbles declared that the hero “has flaws and aspects of his past to be ashamed of but this just makes him more realistic and more determined to do the right thing by his family.” The contributor went on to advise: “If you are looking for a clever, fast-paced thriller then look no further than You’re Next; you won’t be able to put it down.” Proffering further praise on the website Jen’s Book Thoughts, a correspondent announced: “ You’re Next is Gregg Hurwitz’s finest work to date. His passion shines through in tight plotting, witty dialogue, and emotional imagery.” The reviewer added: “Hurwitz goes beyond current issues and examines the very heart of human issues.” In another laudatory assessment, a Kirkus Reviews contributor noted the “bloody but sentimental conclusion.” The reviewer also called You’re Next “a thriller that grabs readers by the seat of the pants and gives them a Wow, what next! action thrill ride.” As a Publishers Weekly reviewer pointed out, Hurwitz “masterfully provokes feelings of extreme dread in this thriller.” Seconding this opinion in Booklist, David Pitt asserted: “Hurwitz turns in another excellent performance, keeping Mike (and the reader) on edge.”
In his 2012 thriller, The Survivor, Hurwitz features an unlikely hero. Nate Overbay is thirty-six, an Iraq vet suffering from PTSD and recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Estranged from his wife and daughter and terminally ill, he decides to end it all, jumping from the ledge of the eleventh floor of a bank building. However, before he can jump, a team of deadly thieves attacks the bank, killing indiscriminately as they try to force their way into the vault. With nothing to lose, Nate leaves the ledge for the bank and starts to pick off the robbers one by one. The last of the team escapes, threatening revenge. This threat soon comes true when the Ukrainian hood who planned the bank heist, Pavlo, threatens to kill Nate’s wife and daughter unless he helps Pavlo get into the vault. Now it is a race against time for Nate, whose mortal time is also quite literally running out.
A Publishers Weekly contributor dubbed The Survivor a “hair-raising stand-alone” and commented that “thriller fans won’t let this one gather any dust on the nightstand.” Booklist contributor David Pitt also voiced praise for this work, noting incredulously: “Surely Hurwitz can’t keep this up forever. Lately, each new book he publishes is his best so far, and this one’s no exception.” Likewise, a Kirkus Reviews contributor felt that the author “demonstrates his mastery of the thriller genre” with The Survivor. The reviewer further observed: “Hurwitz’s writing is crisp and economical, and he steers clear of hackneyed phrases and one-dimensional characters.”
Tell No Lies focuses on another protagonist who must fight time to save himself. Daniel Brasher left money management to counsel ex-convicts, recently paroled. But when his department mailbox becomes mistakenly used by a killer to send threatening notes, Daniel is caught up in a killing spree he wants no part of. When the killer discovers the mistake, Daniel becomes the next target.
Writing in Booklist, Pitt found Tell No Lies “recommendable to [Hurwitz’s] fans, and to readers who like a good ordinary-man-in-extraordinary-circumstances thriller, but it’s not prime Hurwitz.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor had a higher assessment of the novel, calling it “another winner from a top-tier thriller writer” and further noting: “Hurwitz is no slouch at plotting …, dragging Brasher from one murder scene to another.” Similarly, a Publishers Weekly contributor termed the novel “thrill-packed.” Marcus Hammond, writing in the online Luxury Reading, also commended Tell No Lies, commenting that “Daniel Brasher is an incredibly interesting character, and Hurwitz excels at portraying him as a strong, yet regular guy with a shadowy family history.” Hammond dubbed this a “gritty, well-developed thriller.”
In his 2014 thriller, Don’t Look Back, Hurwitz features a female protagonist, Eve Hardaway, a single mother determined to break out of her comfort zone. She takes a long dreamed-of adventure vacation, rafting and hiking through the jungles and mountains of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. She gets much more than she bargained for, however, confronted with a missing person, a killer desperate to keep his location unknown, and a storm that threatens the entire tour group.
Winnipeg Free Press Online contributor Jeff Ayers had high praise for Don’t Look Back, noting: “Hardaway’s daily life is already a struggle. Faced with more adversity, she discovers an inner strength she thought she lacked, making Don’t Look Back a terrific reading experience.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor also commended this thriller, commenting that Hurwitz “again proves himself a plot master,” adding that he “adds to his string of imaginative thrillers with an action-adventure story ready for blockbuster Hollywood.” Cynthia Price, writing in Library Journal, similarly termed the work a “taut, smart, suspense-filled ride to satisfy the most discerning of thrill seekers,” while a Publishers Weekly writer not that Hurwitz’s “characters prove their mettle through nerve-racking and exciting trials.”
Orphan X is the first book in a series featuring Evan Smoak. As an orphaned preteen, Evan is taken to be a part of the Orphan Program, a secret government project in which young orphans are trained to kill. He is known as Orphan X. Evan quits the program and begins working as a hired gun and calling himself Nowhere Man. He only takes on cases in which he is able to do good. All is well until he takes on two shadowy new clients referred to him by Morena Aguilar. In an interview with Adrian Liang for the Omnivoracious website, Hurwitz stated: “ Orphan X is certainly the biggest thriller I’ve written. … It all really centers on Evan Smoak. It took me a lot of years and a lot of typing to find this guy, someone I wanted to devote years and years of my life to. It’s not just because of Evan’s Black Ops training or his mental toughness … but it’s the part of Evan that is conflicted that really speaks to me.” Hurwitz told Steph Cha, a writer on the Los Angeles Times website: “The characters I like most tend to have a dark streak but ultimately have something about them that’s redemptive—I like characters who are so bad that they’re good.” Hurwitz went on to note: “Evan is capable of doing anything but chooses, at great personal sacrifice, to do good.” Discussing the volume’s authenticity in an interview with BookPage Online contributor Cat Acree, Hurwitz remarked: “I have a great Roladex filled with guys who have operated in all sorts of fields under all sorts of cover.” Hurwitz also said in the interview: “When I struck on the idea of the Orphan Program—a deep-black government program that pulls kids from foster homes and trains them up to be assassins—I used my contacts to make sure that the training, infrastructure and process felt genuine.”
Jeff Ayers, a reviewer on the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner website, commented: “The human side of Smoak makes this thriller top-notch. The reader truly cares what happens to him along with the people he cares about and those he’s trying to save.” Booklist writer Renee Young described the book as “recommended for fans of complicated heroes and action-packed suspense stories.” “Hurwitz races by minor plot holes and spins a web of relentless intrigue with bursts of tensely sketched violence,” commented a contributor to Kirkus Reviews. A reviewer writing in Publishers Weekly stated: “Hurwitz … melds nonstop action and high-tech gadgetry with an acute character study in this excellent series opener.”
The Rains, a thriller written for young adults, focuses on residents of Creek’s Cause, a small community. The town is hit by a meteor, which causes every adult to change in a terrifying way. The adults cage their own children and take them to an unknown location. Among the kids who escape are Chance and Patrick Rain, and Alex, Patrick’s girlfriend. The teens determine to stop the chaos before Patrick’s eighteenth birthday, which is quickly approaching.
“Readers with a Fifth Wave-shaped hole in their sf-loving hearts will rejoice,” asserted Krista Hutley in Booklist. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly suggested: “The fight scenes brutal and visceral, and the cliffhanger ending will have readers desperate for answers.”
In Last Chance, Hurwitz presents a sequel to The Rains. The Hosts, as the adults who have turned into monsters are called, still threaten everyone under eighteen years of age. Chance and Patrick Rain, along with Alex, are operating out of the high school. They soon discover that their is another catastrophe in the making, namely some strange, alien creatures that destroy everything they come across throughout the world. Eventually, aliens intervene to help the youngsters defeat this new enemy.
“Fresh writing and characterization sets this work apart from other zombie novels,” wrote Amy Caldera in School Library Journal. A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted: “The endless action is solid.”
Hurwitz continues the story of Evan Smoak, which began in his novel Orphan X. Noting that the series “represents the culmination of my writing career,” Hurwitz went on in an interview with Sacramento Bee Online contributor Allen Pierleoni to comment on his research for the series, noting: “I’ve shot every gun that Orphan X shoots and I trained for months in mixed martial arts fighting, mostly introducing my face to the training mat. All this serves the fiction, but it’s also a good way for me not to lose sight of the fact that life should be an adventure, and adventures require risk and danger at times.”
In the follow-up novel Nowhere Man, Evan has gone from being known as Orphan X to the “Nowhere Man” as he strikes out on his own. This time Evan is on the trail of his enemy Charles Van Sciver, an Orphan operative who is assigned to kill all former Orphans because they know too much. Also on hand is Rene Cassaroy, who wants to live forever with his rare AB blood type. To do so, he receives injections from children. “Thriller fans craving action and violence will enjoy this one,” noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor.
In the third book in the “Orphan X” series, Hellbent, Evan is joined by Joey, a sixteen-year-old girl who was once being trained as an assassin. When Evan’s mentor is assassinated, Evan knows the killer is his old nemesis, Charles Van Sciver, and sets out to track him down. “The story moves as fast as a bullet train,” wrote David Pitt in Booklist, noting how “emotionally exposed” Evan is in the story. A Kirkus Reviews contributor commented: “As well-done as the rest of the series and bloody good fun.”
Out of the Dark finds Evan is still in danger of being killed as the Orphan X program has declared that all former agents must die. Evan decides to be the aggressor and sets out to find the man who ordered the killings of so many former assassins. Evan not only wants the head man dead but also the entire organization dismantled. However, when Evan finds out that the man he is searching for has become the U.S. president, he realizes his task has just become much more difficult. The novel “is as tightly plotted, efficiently written, and, yes, as curiously plausible as its predecessors,” wrote David Pitt in Booklist. A Kirkus Reviews contributor remarked: “The plotting is clever, the action is nearly constant and usually over-the-top,” noting that even new readers of the series will “be hooked.”
Evan finds himself helping a forensic accountant named Grant Merriweather in the fifth book in the “Orphan X” series, Into The Fire. Grant had a flash drive containing evidence about a widespread money laundering scheme. Grant left the drive with his cousin, Max Merriweather, asking him to deliver it to a reporter for the Los Angeles Times if Grant ends up dead. Grant and the reporter are both killed, and Max turns to Evan for help. Evan’s protege, Josephine Moralies, or Joey, is on hand to help with the case, which takes them into the darkest parts of the city’s underworld. “By layering his nonstop action with character development, Hurwitz has created a terrific tale,” remarked a Publishers Weekly contributor. Noting that Evan is looking to retire in the novel, a Kirkus Reviews contributor commented: “Let’s hope the Nowhere Man’s phone rings again.”
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In the sixth book of the series, Prodigal Son, killer turned do-gooder Evan Smoak has agreed to take the government’s offer to retire in return for facing no charges for his crusader activities. Wealthy but with nothing to do, he’s bored. Then Veronica LeGrande, a woman claiming to be his mother, shows up and asks him to do a job for her—protect Andrew Duran, a man he knew from the group home he grew up in, who is being chased by a brutal brother and sister assassination team. “Hurwitz deftly combines heart-pounding action with plot twisting suspense. The result is an inherently compelling read from cover to cover,” according to Michael Carson in a review in Reviewer’s Bookwatch. A Kirkus Reviews critic called the book: “Exhilarating pabulum for action fans weary of heroes who bother to maintain social lives.” Booklist reviewer David Pitt commented: “The writing is pitch-perfect, too, which should come as no surprise to followers of Hurwitz’s career.”
Evan Smoak returns in Dark Horse, the seventh book in the “Orphan X” series. Smoak reluctantly takes a case from South Texas drug lord Araon Urrea, whose 18-year-old daughter Anjelina was kidnapped by a Mexican cartel. The stakes grow when the kidnappers mail Urrea the head of his inside man tracking Anjelina. Meanwhile, Smoak assesses his life and his relationship with love interest, district attorney Mia Hall. Rather than “lose steam after several installments, this series just gets better as it evolves,” declared a Publishers Weekly critic. Calling the story a crackerjack thriller, a contributor to Kirkus Reviews praised Hurwitz saying: “His pace is leisurely but impactful, full of genre set pieces, fight scenes and chase scenes, and tense showdowns.” “A riveting action/adventure from the first page to last… [the book] is a deftly scripted novel that will have special appeal for fans of vigilante style justice,” suggested a reviewer in Wisconsin Bookwatch.
Last Orphan, the eighth book in the series, Smoak, trying to lay low and hiding out in Iceland, is approached by his nemesis, Special Agent in Charge Naomi Templeton, who has an offer from the U.S. president Victoria Donahue-Carr: take down the billionaire Luke Devine, who has enough money and leverage over powerful people to build his own nation-state, and who is implicated in a double murder. As Smoak enlists the help of Orphan V, the action travels from Europe to Beverly Hills. “With its shoot-the-works plot and cameos by characters from previous Orphan capers, this thriller feels like a finale,” according to a Kirkus Reviews writer. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly admitted that with over-the-top antics, “the many plot contrivances demand a lot from readers.” Writing in Wisconsin Bookwatch, a reviewer said the book “takes the raptly engaged reader along in a story that has more unexpected twists and turns than a Disney World rollercoaster.”
In the ninth out of ten installments in the “Orphan X” series, Lone Wolf, assassin turned crusader Evan Smoak is battle scarred, so he takes the seemingly innocuous case of finding his niece Sofia’s missing Chihuahua, Loco. But his search crosses paths with assassin Karissa Lopatina, known as the Wolf, who is systematically murdering engineers involved in developing Artificial Intelligence. To take down another creepy megalomaniac named Allman, Smoak teams up with his young protégé Joey. Critics were mixed, as a Kirkus Reviews contributor noted: “Crisp character delineation and a propulsive, forward-moving plot should keep new readers engaged,” while a writer in Publishers Weekly noted: “it’s not enough to enliven the dusty plot. This series appears to be running out of steam.”
Hurwitz explained to Crime Time how he writes Smoak’s character: “One of my favorite things about writing Evan Smoak is the way he changes across the stories. …As much as the Orphan X books are a thriller series, they’re also about Evan’s process of learning what it means to be human.” Researching real snipers and armorers, Hurwitz weaves fact into fiction, adding: “Once I had a handle on Evan Smoak, I knew that this adventure would follow.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 1, 1999, David Pitt, review of The Tower, p. 1158; July, 2001, Roland Green, review of Minutes to Burn, p. 1980; August, 2002, William Beatty, review of Do No Harm, p. 1931; June 1, 2004, Wes Lukowsky, review of The Program, p. 1708; March 1, 2009, Thomas Gaughan, review of Trust No One, p. 30; May 1, 2010, David Pitt, review of They’re Watching, p. 46; May 1, 2011, David Pitt, review of You’re Next, p. 41; July 1, 2012, David Pitt, review of The Survivor, p. 33; July 1, 2013, David Pitt, review of Tell No Lies, p. 42; November 1, 2015, Michele Leber, review of Orphan X, p. 32; May 1, 2016, Renee Young, review of Orphan X, p. 53; August 1, 2016, Krista Hutley, review of The Rains, p. 76; October 1, 2017, David Pitt, review of Hellbent, p. 31; October 15, 20187, David Pitt, review of Out of the Dark, p. 26; October 1, 2020, David Pitt, review of Prodigal Son, p. 30.
Entertainment Weekly, August 15, 2003, Scott Brown, review of The Kill Clause, p. 79; August 6, 2007, Adam Markovitz, review of The Crime Writer.
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 1999, review of The Tower, p. 245; June 1, 2001, review of Minutes to Burn, p. 761; June 15, 2003, review of The Kill Clause, p. 825; July 15, 2004, review of The Program, p. 649; July 15, 2005, review of Troubleshooter, p. 756; May 15, 2007, review of The Crime Writer; June 15, 2011, review of You’re Next; August 1, 2012, review of The Survivor; July 1, 2013, review of Tell No Lies; July 15, 2014, review of Don’t Look Back; November 15, 2015, review of Orphan X; February 1, 2017, review of The Nowhere Man; Hurwitz, Gregg: August 15, 2017, review of Last Chance; November 15, 2017, review of Hellbent; November 1, 2018, review of Out of the Dark; November 15, 2019, review of Into the Fire; November 15, 2020, review of Prodigal Son; December 1, 2021, review of Dark Horse; December 15, 2022, review of The Last Orphan; January 1, 2024, review of Lone Wolf.
Library Journal, March 15, 1999, Jo Ann Vicarel, review of The Tower, p. 109; June 15, 2002, Jo Ann Vicarel, review of Do No Harm, p. 93; September 15, 2006, Patrick Wall, review of Last Shot, p. 48; June 1, 2007, Jane Jorgenson, review of The Crime Writer, p. 114; June 15, 2009, Joel W. Tscherne, review of Trust No One, p. 60; July 1, 2014, Cynthia Price, review of Don’t Look Back, p. 75; October 15, 2014, Nancy R. Ives, audio review of Don’t Look Back, p. 54; March 15, 2016, Cliff Glaviano, review of Orphan X, p. 80.
Publishers Weekly, February 1, 1999, review of The Tower, p. 73; July 2, 2001, review of Minutes to Burn, p. 49; July 15, 2002, review of Do No Harm, p. 56; May 26, 2003, review of The Kill Clause, p. 43, and Adam Dunn, interview with Gregg Hurwitz, p. 44; July 12, 2004, review of The Program, p. 44; July 25, 2005, review of Troubleshooter, p. 45; July 24, 2006, review of Last Shot, p. 36; May 14, 2007, review of The Crime Writer, p. 32; April 20, 2009, review of Trust No One, p. 28; May 9, 2011, review of You’re Next, p. 31; June 4, 2012, review of The Survivor, p. 32; June 25, 2012, Marc Igler, “PW Talks with Gregg Hurwitz: Action, Drama, ALS,” p. 151; June 3, 2013, review of Tell No Lies, p. 37; June 16, 2014, review of Don’t Look Back, p. 58; November 9, 2015, review of Orphan X, p. 34; May 30, 2016, review of Orphan X, p. 54; August 8, 2016, review of The Rains, p. 71; October 28, 2019, review of Into the Fire, pl 79; November 29, 2021, review of Dark Horse, p. 36; December 19, 2022, review of The Last Orphan, p. 63.
Reviewer’s Bookwatch, February 2021, Michael Carson, review of Prodigal Son.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 23, 2016 Amanda St. Amand, review of Orphan X.
School Library Journal, June, 2009, Angela Carstensen, review of Trust No One, p. 150; October, 20-17, Amty Caldera, review of Last Chance, p. 100
Variety, February 10, 2015, article about Orphan X, p. 14.
Washington Post Book World, August 13, 2002, Jabari Asim, review of Do No Harm, p. C3.
Wisconsin Bookwatch, February 2022, review of Dark Horse; February 2023, review of The Last Orphan.
ONLINE
Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency, http://aaronpriest.com/ (December 20, 2019), author profile.
Blogcritics, http://blogcritics.org/ (February 27, 2012), Mel Odom, review of They’re Watching.
Book of Man, https://thebookofman.com/ (December 20, 2019), “Men, Myths & Killing Presidents,” author interview.
BookBrowser, http://www.bookbrowser.com/ (February 15, 1999), Harriet Klausner, review of The Tower; (June 14, 2002), Harriet Klausner, review of Do No Harm.
BookLoons, http://www.bookloons.com/ (May 25, 2008), Hilary Williamson, review of The Crime Writer.
BookPage Online, https://bookpage.com/ (July 1, 2016), Cat Acree, author interview.
Bookreporter.com, http://www.bookreporter.com/ (May 25, 2008), Joe Hartlaub, reviews of Do No Harm, The Kill Clause, The Program, Troubleshooter, and Last Shot.
Crime Time, https://www.crimetime.co.uk/ (February 17, 2024), “Lone Wolf: Greg Hurwitz Talks to Crime Time.”
Curled Up with a Good Book, http://www.curledup.com/ (May 25, 2008), Phillip Tomasso III, review of The Kill Clause.
Daily News-Miner (Fairbanks, AK), http:// www.newsminer.com/ (January 23, 2016), Jeff Ayers, review of Orphan X.
Deadline, http://deadline.com/ (February 16, 2016), Ali Jaafar, article about author.
Dot Scribbles, http://dot-scribbles.blogspot.com/ (May 4, 2011), review of You’re Next.
Fantastic Fiction, https://www.fantasticfiction.com/ (September 22, 2016), author profile.
Gregg Hurwitz, http://www.gregghurwitz.net (December 20, 2019).
Inkwell Management, http://inkwellmanagement.com/ (September 22, 2016), author profile.
Jen’s Book Thoughts, http:// www.jensbookthoughts.com/ (July 13, 2011), review of You’re Next.
Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/ (January 17, 2016), Steph Cha, author interview.
Luxury Reading, http://luxuryreading.com/ (October 13, 2014), review of Tell No Lies.
Mystery Ink, http://www.mysteryinkonline.com/ (May 25, 2008), David J. Montgomery, review of Last Shot.
Mystery Reader, http://www.themysteryreader.com/ (October 18, 2002), Marc Ruby, review of Minutes to Burn; (February 25, 2007), Lesley Dunlap, review of The Program.
Omnivoricious, http://www.omnivoricious.com/ (January 20, 2016), Adrian Liang, author interview.
PopMatters, http://www.popmatters.com/ (July 31, 2002), Celia S. McClinton, review of Do No Harm.
Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (February 2024), review of Lone Wolf.
Real Book Spy, https://therealbookspy.com/ (January 28, 2018), (January 28, 2018), “Hellbent: Five Questions with Gregg Hurwitz.”
RT Book Reviews, http://www.rtbookreviews.com/ (October 23, 2014), Joyce Morgan, review of The Survivor and Tell No Lies.
Sacramento Bee, https://www.sacbee.com/ (February 7, 2019), Allen Pierleoni,” A Conversation with Gregg Hurwitz on Writing ~ and His Quirky Hero, the ‘Nowhere Man.’”
Winnipeg Free Press, http:// www.winnipegfreepress.com/ (August 25, 2014), Jeff Ayers, review of Don’t Look Back.
Writer, https://www.writermag.com/ (November 1, 2017), “Gregg Hurwitz Interview: Renaissance Man.”
Short Bio:
GREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of 24 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 networks, comics for AWA (including the critically acclaimed anthology NewThink), DC, and Marvel, and poetry. Currently, Gregg is actively working against polarization in politics and culture. To that end, he's penned op eds for The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Bulwark and others, and has produced several hundred commercials which got over a hundred million views on digital TV platforms. He also helped write the opening ceremony of the 2022 World Cup.
Long Bio:
Gregg Hurwitz is the New York Times, #1 internationally bestselling author of 24 thrillers, including the Orphan X series, and two award-winning thriller novels for teens. His novels have won numerous literary awards, graced top ten lists, and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW).
Gregg has written screenplays for or sold spec scripts to many of the major studios (including SWEET GIRL and THE BOOK OF HENRY), and written, developed, and produced television for various networks. He is also a New York Times bestselling comic book writer, having penned stories for AWA (Knighted and the critically acclaimed anthology NewThink), Marvel (Wolverine, Punisher) and DC (Batman, Penguin). He has published poetry, numerous academic articles on Shakespeare, taught fiction writing in the USC English Department, and guest lectured for UCLA, and for Harvard in the United States and internationally. In 2022, he helped write the opening ceremony of the World Cup. In the course of researching his thrillers, he has sneaked onto demolition ranges with Navy SEALs, swum with sharks in the Galápagos, and gone undercover into mind-control cults.
Currently, Gregg is actively working against polarization in politics and culture. To that end, he’s produced several hundred commercials which got over a hundred million views on digital TV platforms. His editorial pieces have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Bulwark, and others.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I see you on tour or order signed books?
Click here for my full tour schedule, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter to receive the latest updates.
Where can I find Orphan X merch?
Here’s a link to the official Orphan X merch shop
Translated editions.
My books have been translated into 33 languages, but not every book is in every language. Check with your local retailer on current availability and sign up for my newsletter to get the latest updates.
Where can I find Evan’s vodka?
Mission Liquor
Wooden Cork
Keg N Bottle
Do I need to start the Orphan X series with book one or can I jump in anytime?
Jump in anytime. I make sure that each book can be read as a standalone. But if you're OCD like Evan and need the proper order, it's: ORPHAN X, THE NOWHERE MAN, HELLBENT, OUT OF THE DARK, INTO THE FIRE, PRODIGAL SON, DARK HORSE, THE LAST ORPHAN, LONE WOLF.
What are Orphan X's ten commandments?
Assume nothing.
How you do anything is how you do everything.
Master your surroundings.
Never make it personal.
If you don't know what to do, do nothing.
Question orders.
One mission at a time.
Never kill a kid.
Always play offense.
Never let an innocent die.
What’s going on with the TV series?
For the time being, all Evan Smoak-Hollywood dealings are on hold. Until he hears from a creative powerhouse he trusts as much as he trusts Tommy Stojack, he’ll stay hidden in the shadows far from the klieg lights. Update here soon.
Will you read my unpublished book/screenplay/poem/eulogy of Homer?
I’d love to. Really I would. But unfortunately, for legal reasons, I am unable to read unpublished manuscripts. I urge you find a critique group, a writing workshop, other aspiring authors at conferences, or kindly relatives to read your manuscript.
Will you blurb my upcoming book?
Congrats on your upcoming publication!
Because of my writing schedule, I am currently closed to blurbs, but if availability opens up, a member of my team will get back to you. I will not respond to blurb requests sent to me directly. Or sent by smoke signal. Those are inconvenient, given LA smog patterns, and I always get them wrong anyways.
Will you come to my book festival/conference/circus/charity ball?
If it’s fun and it fits in my schedule and we can figure out the arrangements, probably. Please email my publicist. Detecting a pattern here yet?
I finished the Orphan X series, what other books of yours should I read?
I recommend starting with THE SURVIVOR and YOU’RE NEXT.
Will there be more Tim Rackley books?
No plans for a new Rackley novel in the foreseeable future -- right now, it's all Orphan X all the time -- but I am exploring possibilities for Tim and Dray in film and TV.
Why can't I find a copy of LAST SHOT, the final Tim Rackley book?
Unfortunately, LAST SHOT is currently out of print and there isn't a set date for when it's going to be available as an e-book. It's something I have limited control over and I know how frustrating it can be. But get into a bidding war on eBay or try your local library. It is also available as an audio book.
Will you contribute a short story to my anthology?
I am generally busy with competing deadlines, but you can email my publicist.
If I mail you a book, will you sign it?
Unfortunately, due to the volume of requests I receive, I’m unable to sign books sent in the mail. Plus, the postage is wrong or they got lost and next thing you know, you’re camped out on my front lawn with a picket sign. Who needs that? Check my tour schedule to see when I’m coming to a city near you. If I’m not headed your way, you can always place an order through the independent bookstores I’m visiting. If you call ahead, I can even personalize it for you. And I’ll draw a smiley face too if you want.
Will you mail me a signed photo?
No, but Billie Eilish might. Come on, people. Do you really want a picture of me? I’m not very photogenic anyway, so I promise you’re not missing much.
If I send you an email, are you really going to read it?
Absolutely. I read every email that I receive. And though I can’t always respond to every email that comes in, I always appreciate when readers take the time to write. You are the apple of my eye, the wind beneath my wings, the…oh, never mind. Just know I love hearing from you.
Despite this excess of Greggness, are there more interviews I can listen to or articles I can read?
Absolutely! Click here.
Gregg Hurwitz
(Gregg Andrew Hurwitz)
USA flag (b.1973)
Gregg Hurwitz is the internationally bestselling author of I See You, We Know, and Or She Dies. His most recent thriller, Youre Next, was a Richard and Judy selection. A graduate of Harvard and Oxford Universities, he lives with his family in California, where he writes screenplays and comics, and produces for the blockbuster television hit V.
Awards: ITW (2024) see all
Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Young Adult Fantasy
New and upcoming books
February 2025
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Nemesis
(Orphan X, book 10)
Series
Tim Rackley
1. The Kill Clause (2003)
2. The Program (2004)
3. Troubleshooter (2005)
4. Last Shot (2006)
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Orphan X
1. Orphan X (2016)
1.5. Buy a Bullet (2016)
2. The Nowhere Man (2017)
3. Hellbent (2017)
3.5. The Intern (2018)
4. Out of the Dark (2019)
5. Into the Fire (2020)
5.5. The List (2020)
6. Prodigal Son (2021)
7. Dark Horse (2022)
8. The Last Orphan (2023)
8.5. The Recital (2023)
9. Lone Wolf (2024)
10. Nemesis (2025)
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Rains
1. The Rains (2016)
2. Last Chance (2017)
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Novels
The Tower (1999)
Minutes to Burn (2001)
Do No Harm (2002)
I See You (2007)
aka The Crime Writer
Trust No One (2008)
aka We Know
They're Watching (2009)
aka Or She Dies
You're Next (2010)
The Survivor (2011)
Tell No Lies (2013)
Don't Look Back (2014)
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Series contributed to
Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night
Dirty Weather (2006)
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Graphic Novels hide
Foolkiller: Fool's Paradise (2008)
Shadowland: Moon Knight (2011)
Gregg Hurwitz
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gregg Hurwitz
Born San Francisco County, California, U.S.
Occupation Novelist, comic book writer
Education
Harvard University (BA)
Trinity College, Oxford (MPhil)
Genre Thriller
Notable works
Orphan X
Tell No Lies
Don't Look Back
Website
www.gregghurwitz.net
Gregg Andrew Hurwitz is an American novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer. Most of his novels are in the thriller fiction genre. His script writing work includes a film adaptation of his book Orphan X, a TV adaptation of Joby Warrick's Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS,[1] and a screenplay for the 2017 film The Book of Henry. He also has written comic books for comic book publishers like DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
Biography
Hurwitz grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California.[2] While completing a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University (1995) and a master's from Trinity College, Oxford, in Shakespearean tragedy (1996), he wrote his first novel. At Harvard, he was a student of psychologist Jordan Peterson, who influenced his writing.[3] He was the undergraduate scholar-athlete of the year at Harvard for pole vaulting and played college soccer in England, where he was a Knox Fellow.[4]
Hurwitz lives in Los Angeles.[2] He is married and has two daughters.[5]
Career
Hurwitz is the author of The Tower, Minutes to Burn, Do No Harm, The Kill Clause, The Program, Troubleshooter, Last Shot, The Crime Writer, Trust No One, Don't Look Back, and Orphan X. His books have been shortlisted for best novel of the year by the International Thriller Writers, nominated for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, chosen as feature selections for four major literary book clubs, honored as Book Sense Picks, and translated into 28 languages.[citation needed]
He wrote the original screenplay for the film The Book of Henry (2017), directed by Collin Trevorrow for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, and filmed in New York.[6]
His 2016 novel Orphan X was picked up by Warner Bros. with Bradley Cooper to direct.[7] Hurwitz will write the screenplay adaptation. Hurwitz has written Wolverine, The Punisher, and Foolkiller for Marvel Comics,[8] and published numerous academic articles on Shakespeare. He has taught fiction writing in the USC English Department, and guest lectured for UCLA and Harvard. He also has written and produced season two of the TV show V.
He became the writer of Batman: The Dark Knight for DC Comics in 2012.[9][10]
Bibliography
Novels
Orphan X Thrillers series
Orphan X, January 2016
The Nowhere Man, January 2017
Hellbent, January 2018
Out of the Dark, January 2019
Into the Fire, January 2020
Prodigal Son, January 2021
Dark Horse, February 2022
The Last Orphan, February 2023
Lone Wolf, February 2024
Orphan X short stories
Released as ebook and audiobook only
"Buy a Bullet", (Book 1.5) October 2016
"The Intern", (Book 3.5) December 2018
"The List", (Book 5.5) August 2020
"The Recital", (Book 8.5) November 2023
The Rains Brothers
The Rains, October 2016
Last Chance, October 2017
Tim Rackley
The Kill Clause, August 2004
The Program, August 2005
Troubleshooter, July 2006
Last Shot, July 2007
Stand-alones
The Tower, April 1999
Minutes to Burn, July 2001
Do No Harm, July 2002
The Crime Writer (also known as I See You), June 2008
Trust No One (UK title as We Know), June 2010
You're Next, November 2010
They're Watching (UK title as Or She Dies), April 2011
The Survivor, July 2012
Tell No Lies, August 2013
Don't Look Back, August 2014
Comic books
DC Comics
Batman: The Dark Knight #10–29, 0, Annual #1, 2012–2014
Detective Comics #0, 27, 2012–2014
Penguin: Pain and Prejudice #1–5, 2011–2012
Marvel Comics
Foolkiller vol. 2 #1–5, 2007
Foolkiller: White Angels #1–5, 2008–2009
The New Avengers #55, 2009
Punisher #61–65, 75, 2008–2009
The Savage Axe of Ares #1, 2011
The Vengeance of Moon Knight #1–10, 2009–2010
Shadowland: Moon Knight #1–3, 2010
Wolverine Annual #1, 2007
Wolverine: Flies to a Spider #1, 2009
Wolverine: Switchback #1, 2009
X-Men Forever #4, 2009
Filmography
Television
Year Title Notes
1997 Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might Miniseries
2010-2011 V 7 episodes;
Also consulting producer
2016 Queen of the South Episode "Billete de Magia"
Film
Year Title Writer Co-Producer
2017 The Book of Henry Yes Yes
2021 Sweet Girl Yes Yes
Up Close: Gregg Hurwitz
DAWN IUS
FEATURESLATEST BOOKS
JANUARY 31, 2022
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
ANSWERING THE CALL
By Dawn Ius
Bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz isn’t one to shy away from a challenge. He views every new project, every book, as a call to action. His mission? To write something better than he’s written before.
He demands this same level of excellence from his characters, including Evan Smoak, the unlikely hero of Hurwitz’s Orphan X series. In this latest installment, DARK HORSE, Smoak is tasked with his most challenging mission yet—and that’s saying something.
In Hurwitz’s seventh Orphan X novel, Smoak (AKA the Nowhere Man) is approached by a South Texas drug lord to help him find his 18-year-old daughter, who has been kidnapped by a Mexican cartel. Aragón Urrea may be the kind of man Smoak is used to assassinating, not helping, but Anjelina is innocent—and that matters.
Still, the decision to help doesn’t come lightly to Smoak, who spends a lot of this action-packed, page-turning thriller examining his own life and decisions.
In this interview for The Big Thrill, Hurwitz digs deeper into why now was the right time for Smoak to answer a question that’s been niggling at him since the start of the series, why he no longer writes villains, and how he juggles his impressive workload.
Gregg Hurwitz
Credit: Gary Fleder
Obviously marketing blurbs use words like “his most challenging mission yet,” but in DARK HORSE, Evan Smoak is actually up against his most challenging mission, for a number of reasons. I’d love for you to share a bit about the inspiration for this story.
I always knew that one day, the Nowhere Man’s anonymous phone line (1-855-2-NOWHERE) would ring, and the person on the other end needing Evan’s help… would be someone who Evan would assassinate under different circumstances.
The voice on the other end of the line is Aragón Urrea, a man nearly broken with grief.
He calls himself an “unconventional businessman.” But he’s sort of Cartel 2.0, Netflix to Blockbuster, who runs an enormous drug operation that skirts international law. He’s also a beloved patrón to his town in South Texas, providing money for good roads and schools, businesses and care for the elderly. He also provides his own brand of rough justice for the community, not unlike the justice Evan carries out himself.
But his 18-year-old daughter has been kidnapped by a rival cartel leader, a psychopath who goes by El Moreno, or the Dark Man. She’s an innocent being punished for the sins of her father. And Evan has to decide whether he can ignore Aragón the drug runner and help Aragón the father. It’s certainly the most morally complex story I’ve written, one in which Evan has to ask himself: Can a bad man be saved?
It’s a question he’s asked himself every day since he left the Orphan Program. Perhaps in doing this mission for Aragón, he can not only save an innocent girl but find a different kind of understanding of himself.
Hurwitz conducts research at the shooting range.
I know your approach to protagonists is the concept of “ordinary people doing extraordinary things”—and that’s certainly the case for Evan. But you also create some formidable antagonists, and you have a great one in DARK HORSE. What’s your approach to creating bad guys?
I no longer create villains. I create antagonists, with their own world view that is at least a little bit relatable. I used to think that putting my “good guy” up against a “bad guy” would make my good guy more good. But it’s not the case. It’s when my protagonist slams into someone whose perspective is to some extent valid, and when he or she triumphs over the chaos introduced by that collision, that they show greater mettle. It also makes all the characters more interesting to me.
Hurwitz with his first 10 books and first three comics
In DARK HORSE, Evan ultimately confronts a question that’s been niggling at him throughout the series—should he help a bad man? You created such a great muse for that question in Aragón Urrea, who is such a non-conventional genre character. Why was now the time for Evan to grapple with this question head on, and how did Aragón play into that decision?
That’s a great question. In Prodigal Son, we went back to Evan’s past, to the foster home where he was brought up, in a story about provenance. A woman claiming to be his mother calls him and tears a hole in the universe as he knows it. After that mission and what he had to reconcile on it, he was cracked open in a different way. I thought it was time to introduce him to a different kind of threat in Aragón and the mission brought forth. And like all threats, it also holds opportunity.
DARK HORSE takes us deep into drug cartel territory. Fiction is no stranger to this “plot,” but your scenes feel authentic (in my very limited cartel experience, of course!). Was much research required? Was there anything in the research that surprised you?
I certainly exposed myself to some horrific stuff (videos, interviews, etc.) about cartel atrocities to make sure I viscerally understand the darkness I was writing about. I did have a lot of conversations with my friend, the brilliant writer Luis Urrea (I stole his last name for Aragón) about this world, and to make sure I got aspects of the culture right. He was generous and openhearted and steered me to some new directions that hadn’t yet been covered by those who have already written beautifully and with great nuance about the cartels, like T. Jefferson Parker and Don Winslow.
One of the (many) things that make your Orphan X books stand out is that amid the pulse-pounding action, you take us deep under the surface of the characters—there’s a lot of soul searching and emotional complexity. What is the importance of that to you as an author?
Character is everything. Without it, we’re only getting punched in the face with plot.
Hurwitz signs copies of his 2019 Orphan X installment Out of the Dark.
I read a review of this book in which one fan said, “The author had to have just poured himself into the creation process for a long time.” And while I know you do pour yourself into each project, you have a lot on the go. What does a typical Gregg Hurwitz day look like?
It’s gotten to the point where there is no typical day, which of course is a curse and a blessing. There’s a great essay in Michael Chabon’s Manhood for Amateurs, where he talks about wanting to get to his old writing routine after having a bunch of kids and finally realizing that there is no getting back to any old routine. And I feel that way. It’s only about moving forward and building new habits.
Series characters are somewhat of a thriller genre staple, and there have been a number that have carried on for years with tremendous success. Evan is a character that certainly can stand the test of time, and in this seventh book, he’s been through so much but still keeps going. What is your long-term vision for Evan?
To keep growing with him, to keep chewing on the same problems in a different realm, and to keep writing him as long as readers want to read him.
Hurwitz offers some thriller author-style advice.
As you know, The Big Thrill is as much for aspiring writers as it is for thriller readers. What advice would you share on how to create the kind of character that can carry on a series? What attributes are different, if any?
It’s not your characters’ strengths that connect them to your readers. It’s their flaws. The places where shame and inadequacy lurk, where they act in a way they wish they hadn’t, when they misstep and come apart. Nothing is more relatable than when you see through the tough exterior of a person to the vulnerability beneath. To do that effectively for your characters, I believe you have to be willing to do that with yourself.
Is there anything you can share about the next Orphan X book? (Or any of your other upcoming projects?)
I just launched a creator-owned comic called Knighted, my first return to graphic novels since my two-year run on Batman at DC. And along with my friend Philip Eisner (an incredible screenwriter with whom I created last year’s Jason Momoa movie Sweet Girl), we are trying to move a new script called Sabine toward production over at Screen Gems.
Monday 20 February 2023
The Last Orphan Q & A with Gregg Hurwitz
Ayo: Hello Gregg how lovely to see you after such a long time. How are you?
Gregg: I am doing well. It is always good to see you. Always a highlight.
Ayo: I am so pleased to get the opportunity to do interview this evening as I have loads of questions. What I wanted to start of with first of all with is one of things that you seem to have gathered with the Orphan Series is the fact that you have this huge swath of new fans. How did you come up with the Orphan X concept?
Gregg: Hmm, well I do a lot of research with many of it with sketchy characters. I have interviewed outlaw biker gangs; I have gone undercover in a mind control cult and one of the community's I am pretty close with are former spies or spec ops guys. A lot of friends in the Navy Seals community and they are always talking about these “black programmes” right buried deep in the DoD (Department of Defence). I was always interested in how they ran the money, how they work, how they function. And I just thought, look what if there is a programme called the Orphan programme where the Government were taking these kids. They want to train basically US assets to go places the US cannot go and do things that the US cannot legally do. And what they want is expendable weapons. They want disposable people that no one is going to miss. Okay, well that is a notion that is not wildly unheard of. David Morrell played in that sandbox – La Femme Nikita and so that was the starting notion of it.
What would that be like and what would that kid be like? But one of the big things that turned the corner for me was when I thought what if his handler who takes him out of this foster home, In Evan Smoak, Orphan X is the smallest kid in the whole foster home. Jack Jones(?) who is his handler his CIA handler picks him because he tells Evan you know look you got knocked down the most time as the smallest kid but that also means that you got up the most times. He wanted a kid with grit. And it turns out that Jack actually loved this kid and that for me is where it started to take on a little bit more depth and humanity. Not only was joining the Orphan programme one of the most crazy and difficult things that Evan is going to encounter to be a twelve-year-old who is now trained to be an assassin, but it is also the best thing that ever happened to him. Jack is the first person whoever treated him like a human being. And Jack even says to him, and this for me is the key line around which the whole series coalesces, he says to him the hard part is not going to be making you a killer, the hard part is keeping you human. And I thought okay, well now we have something because that collision between being trained to be a killer and trying to stay human with Evan being trained under these very very strict rules of the assassins ten commandments that gives me a template of a series that I can keep writing on and forward and that was the opening kernel for it.
Ayo: Following on from that did you expect it to become such a well-loved series? Because everyone just loves the Orphan X series. Did you expect it to go down that route or did you just think oh, just let me write this series and see where it goes?
Gregg: I think I have been doing this long enough not to have that be an expectation for sure. I think that was certainly the hope. I mean, look, I was afraid to write this book. I had the idea for it. I wrote four other standalone thrillers first. I kept back burning it, developing it more in my head, letting it simmer. Because if I was going to step off on this stage you know and think about trying to create a character that might one day have a place in a pantheon with Reacher, Bourne and Bond I better really figure out what it is that is going to make this unique. That is going to make every plot, and every bit of dialogue, every action sequence feel like that it is an Orphan X not, like it could just be anyone else that has done it. Because we all know that Reacher has a particular feel. We all know Reacher dialogue, we all know Reacher fights, we all know that kind of style of dry wit that Lee is so masterful at and now Andrew. But I really wanted to get this character three dimensionalised before I sat down to do it and a lot of other pieces had to come into focus for me before I was willing to do that.
Ayo: So, when Evan broke free and became the Nowhere Man so that he could use his skills for those in dire need did you expect the response that you received? Because it just appears that with The Nowhere Man the action went up a notch.
Gregg: Uh um, Look I mean if you raise someone to be a human and to also be a killer it’s just not going to work. One of the ways that I think of Evan is that it is almost as if he was raised and trained to be Pinocchio, but he wants to be a real boy. Right, I say he never learned to speak the strange language of intimacy. So, this series it’s really about his process of becoming. Why he was raised totally outside of society. He was trained one on one in dojos, he was drown proofed, psych ops training, he learned foreign etiquette right, so that he could blend in in Eastern Europe and commit all these acts. Hand to hand combat, knife fighting. Everything that he was trained in, but he never learned to know what is was to be real or to be in a real family. And so, I think of him always that he has his face up to the glass and that he is like looking in on other people leading these ordinary lives that he himself can never but at least he can protect it for him. He is like the wolf that is going to hunt other wolves. And so with The Nowhere Man, part of what happened was when he became the Nowhere Man which was one of his operational aliases he put the full focus for the first time, his whole operational ability and strategy and all of that was put finally in a position where it was aligned with his moral compass and so there was greater force for that and greater willingness to do anything he had to do to help somebody who no one else can help. It is always somebody who calls that encrypted number whose got nowhere to turn but are in a desperate place and they are just being terrorised by another human or group of humans.
The complete interview with Gregg Hurwitz can be found on the Shots website at the following link.
The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz (Penguin Books) Out Now.
The world needs a new hero, and Evan Smoak - aka Orphan X - is here to help in this electrifying new adventure perfect for fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. As a child, Evan Smoak was plucked out of a group home, raised and trained as an off-the-books assassin for the government as part of the Orphan program. When he broke with the program and went deep underground, he left with a lot of secrets in his head that the government would do anything to make sure never got out. When he remade himself as The Nowhere Man, dedicated to helping the most desperate in their times of trouble, Evan found himself slowly back on the government's radar. Having eliminated most of the Orphans in the program, the government will stop at nothing to eliminate the threat they see in Evan. But Orphan X has always been several steps ahead of his pursuers. Until he makes one little mistake. Now the President has him in her control and offers Evan a deal - eliminate a rich, powerful man she says is too dangerous to live and, in turn, she'll let Evan survive. But when Evan left the Programme, he swore to only use his skills against those who really deserve it. Now he has to decide what's more important - his principles or his life.
TRACY CLARK AND GREGG HURWITZ TALK GENRE FICTION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
A conversation on craft, character, and taking action
JANUARY 19, 2024 BY CRIMEREADS
Tracy Clark is the two-time Sue Grafton Memorial Award-winning author of the highly acclaimed Chicago Mystery Series featuring ex-homicide cop turned PI Cassandra Raines. The protagonist is a hard-driving, Black private investigator who works the streets of the Windy City while dodging cops, cons, and killers.
Gregg Hurwitz is the New York Times, #1 internationally bestselling author of 24 thrillers, including the Orphan X series, and two award-winning thriller novels for teens. Currently, Gregg is actively working against polarization in politics and culture. To that end, he’s produced several hundred commercials which got over a hundred million views on digital TV platforms. His editorial pieces have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Bulwark, and others.
Thanks so much to both of these wonderful writers for allowing us to run the following interview, in which they discuss a wide range of thoughtful approaches to the genre.
Gregg Hurwitz: Tracy, congratulations on launching your second book in the Detective Harriet Foster series. Readers have really been responding well to Harriet—and for good reason. What can they expect from FALL?
Tracy Clark: Well, let’s just say that Det. Harriet Foster gets no downtime in FALL. Book 2 takes up just two weeks after the end of Book 1, HIDE. That’s how it works for real cops, so I try to replicate the constant go-go-go for my book cops. There’s usually not a lot of breathing room between cases. Crime never sleeps, right? In FALL, Harriet and her coworkers, her partner, Det. Vera Li, and the team–Symansky, Bigelow, Kelley, and the boss, Sgt. Griffin–are all back. This time out they are trying to solve the murders of aldermen in the city. Someone’s killing them and leaving behind 30 dimes (30 pieces of silver, a betrayer’s payment) on their bodies. The deaths are connected, but the team can’t figure out how for the longest time. But hard work pays off in the end. We also get more information on the subplot that’s been running through the series so far–the death of Harri’s first partner, Det. Glynnis Thompson. Things are not always what they seem.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Gregg Hurwitz: You paint Chicago politics quite well, with an insider’s eye, as well as the challenges facing law enforcement in the city. One of the lines from your book is: “This is Chicago. You’ll have an easier time counting the politicians who haven’t gone to prison than counting the ones that have.” When you were researching, what hit you strongest?
Tracy Clark: I would love to say that I did a lot of painstaking research, but honestly, my take on Chicago and Chicago politics comes from living in the city my whole life and having a pretty good sense of how The City That Works actually works. On paper, the powers that be will tell you there’s no such thing as The Chicago Machine, that City Hall and the City Council are pristine bastions of fairness and efficiency. That everyone in politics here has a heart of gold and only the best intentions. And then you pick up the newspaper in the morning and find out your alderman is on her way to prison for accepting an envelope full of money slipped under the table. We’re not the only big city with corruption problems, but I kinda think we’re a city that really commits to it. Everybody in Chicago has an alderman story. I just put mine in a book and added some razzle dazzle to it.
Gregg Hurwitz: How does your relationship with the Windy City shape your stories?
Tracy Clark: It’s everything. The city is a fully formed character in all my books. I don’t think you can live in a place and write about a place and not have that place and your experience with it seep out onto the page in a pretty intimate way. When I write about a neighborhood or a street corner or an underpass, I know it. I’ve been there. I’ve walked it. I know how it smells. I know whether there are rats scurrying around. I love Chicago. There are wonderful people here. The neighborhoods are unique and vibrant. It’s home and the food is great.
Gregg Hurwitz: I’ve heard that police officers have come to your events to shake your hand and congratulate you on how accurately Harriet’s professional world is portrayed. It’s always wonderful to get props from the real deal. I’m pretty sure you’ve never been a cop so how did you manage to write their world so authentically?
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Tracy Clark: Yes, that’s happened a few times now and each time it does it makes me feel great. I didn’t want to write a cookie-cutter cop; I wanted to write real ones (or as real as I could make them). I wanted to write characters that if they were really real you might see them pull up at a crime scene all rumpled and sleep-deprived to do their jobs. No, I have never been a cop. It’s too tough a job. I wouldn’t take it up on a bet. I admire the heck out of those dedicated professionals who do it well and for the right reasons. So, since I’ve never been a cop, I ask cops I know a lot of questions. I want to know why they chose the job, what they find most challenging about it. I want to know how they feel about what they do. The technical stuff you can look up on your own and then ask a source to double-check you for accuracy, but that’s mostly for my benefit so that I know what happens and how. When I start writing, though, that stuff is sort of folded into the background and the characters take center stage. I’m writing about stuff behind the badge. Layers. Who the characters are when the badge comes off at night and they stow their weapons in the lockbox. So, bottom line, if I don’t know it and need to know it, I bug a cop. Cops love to talk, FYI. Be nice. Be respectful of their time. Then ask.
Gregg Hurwitz: One of my favorite things about writing Evan Smoak is the way he changes across the stories. When he was taken out of a foster home at twelve and trained to be an assassin, his handler and father figure told him, “The hard part isn’t turning you into a killer. The hard part is keeping you human.” As much as the Orphan X books are a thriller series, they’re also about Evan’s process of learning what it means to be human.
What are the bigger arcs and themes you learned from writing the Cassandra Raines series that helped you identify what you wanted to explore in the Detective Harriet Foster series?
Tracy Clark: Arcs and themes sound really professional. I don’t even think about them. Maybe I should? I write characters. I drill down really deep on who Harri is and who Cass is as book people. What motivates them? What weighs them down? What are their vulnerabilities? Both women are brilliant at their jobs. Cass is dogged, snarky, smart, relentless and compassionate. Harriet is brilliant and honest, a bit standoffish, but loyal as the day is long. But the interesting thing about her is that she’s living only a half life. She’s firing on all cylinders while that badge is on, but when she takes it off, when she goes home to the house that is only that, she is stuck in a cycle of grief and loss. I find that dual existence absolutely fascinating. I like characters with layers and problems and conflicts and stuff. We all have stuff. Real people falter. Book people need to falter too.
Gregg Hurwitz: With Harriet, how did you strike the balance between her backstory and propelling the plot forward? Were there any backstory ideas you scrapped? Or any you’re saving for Book Three?
Tracy Clark: I have to feel it out. This part I concede would be a lot easier if I had an outline before I started writing. That way I could see in advance where the character was going and I could add bits of backstory in strategic places like a real professional. But I’m a pantser [editor’s note: authors tend to either be plotters, those who outline before they start their novel; or pansters, those who figure it out as they go along, writing by the seat of their pants], so whatever I come up with I come up with on the fly. When we meet Harriet in book one of the series, she’s on the sidewalk in front of the police station deciding if she wants to go in. She’s just lost her partner. She isn’t sure she has what it’s going to take to keep moving forward. Her backstory instead of giving her strength to go inside, makes the decision all the more difficult. I give her a lot of weight to carry. I tend to strike the balance between too much backstory and weight and not enough by coming at characters from their tender places. Sometimes you learn more about a character by what they don’t say or can’t bring themselves to say. You know them more intimately by the things they hide and the things they run from. Sounds loosey goosey, but it really isn’t. A lot of writing for me is listening and digging at soft spots.
Gregg Hurwitz: I understand what you mean and you do that well. It’s something I strive for with Evan, too, particularly as he struggles with personal relationships.
Speaking of doing it well, you’ve won the Sue Grafton Memorial Award (twice!) as well as the Sara Paretsky Award. And you’ve often cited the late, great Eleanor Taylor Bland as a major influence. What have you learned from these seminal authors and their characters that helped you to create textured characters and stories of your own?
Tracy Clark: I learned that attention to character is everything. Bland, Grafton and Paretsky have created three of the most distinctive and iconic female crime characters around. Just mention the names Marti MacAlister, Kinsey Millhone and VI Warshawski and I bet any crime fiction reader could recite their entire life stories right down to their individual quirks and idiosyncrasies. I wanted to build a character like that, and so I went to work. These writers are great examples. I had the great fortune of getting to know Eleanor. She was such a kind and giving person. Her encouragement and faith in me kept me writing when nothing was happening and the road to publication seemed like it would stretch on forever. I met Sue Grafton once at one of her early book signings and went away motivated to keep working on it. And Sara Paretsky. I’ve been a fan since 1982 and the release of her first Warshawski novel, INDEMNITY ONLY. I still have my copy. I had the great honor of officially meeting her recently after many, many years of politely stalking her at a respectful distance. We live in the same city and I would drive by her house when my writing wasn’t going well in hopes that some of her writer mojo would waft out of her windows and attach itself to me. That never happened, but the drive-by always made me feel better about sticking with it. And she’s just lovely, by the way. I always knew she would be.
I also learned by example from Bland, Grafton and Paretsky that supporting the writing community and helping the next writer coming up is vitally important. Many writers helped me find my way. Every writer has had somebody do the same for them. So, you return that gift.
Gregg Hurwitz: That is a strength of crime fiction writers — there’s a lot of support in our community.
In addition to Harriet, have you discovered yourself starting to become attached to any of the other characters you’re writing for this series?
Tracy Clark: I really like Det. Vera Li. She saw Harriet coming and knows exactly how to get her to re-enter the world. Li is equally as intelligent as Harri is and they work well together. Li pushes, Harri pushes back. Little by little, the partnership is moving Harri further and further from her self-imposed isolation. And they make a good team.
Gregg Hurwitz: And good teams are key to bringing out nuance in character. What’s your favorite part of writing? Dreaming up the story, blank page, editing? What part do you look forward to most?
Tracy Clark: My favorite part of writing is that stage in the process where I can see the finish line and I know where the story is going. I can only think ahead one scene at a time, so I never can get too far ahead of myself, but you always get to a point where you can see the end. That’s when things get easier for me. The blank page is a little frightening, but once I put that first sentence down, it’s less so. I often start with a sentence that isn’t even mine just to get the fingers tapping. I delete it right after I’ve written it, but fooling myself this way gets things going.
My favorite not-mine-line belongs to Shakespeare: Now is the winter of our discontent. Made glorious summer by this sun of York. Second favorite: How now brown cow. Don’t know why this works for me, but it does.
Tracy Clark’s latest novel, Fall, is now available from Kensington.
Gregg Hurwitz’s latest novel, Lone Wolf, is forthcoming from Minotaur Books in February.
Lone Wolf: Greg Hurwitz talks to Crime Time
Feb 17, 2024
Gregg Hurwitz is the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Evan Smoak thrillers. Lone Wolf is the latest in the series which sees the former government assassin pitted against a female foe who is leaving a trail of dead bodies in her wake, and a cabal of dangerous billionaires.
When did Evan Smoak’s character first enter your consciousness?
Gregg: Evan is the culmination of decades of writing and research. It took a lotta years for me to find my way to him. And fair enough. He’s a hard guy to find. He was yanked out of a foster home at the age of twelve, raised in a covert black assassin program buried so deep within the U.S. government that virtually no one knows it exists. I didn’t want this to feel like nonsense Hollywood training where he’s catching flies with chopsticks. All in an effort to show the process by which a skinny, scared kid from an East Baltimore boy’s home could plausibly transform into Orphan X, a legendary figure in the shadow service. The idea of him derived from my friends who have worked in black ops. I wondered about a program that would take young foster kids, kids no one wanted, that would raise them to be in essence expendable weapons. I wove facts into fiction, all the while concentrating on who my character would be. Once I had a handle on Evan Smoak, I knew that this adventure would follow. And many more.
What is something about your hero that only you know?
○ One of my favorite things about writing Evan Smoak is the way he changes across the stories. When he was first taken out of the foster home, his handler and father figure told him, “The hard part isn’t turning you into a killer. The hard part is keeping you human.” As much as the Orphan X books are a thriller series, they’re also about Evan’s process of learning what it means to be human.
Which scene was most difficult to write? Why?
○ This book has the longest sustained suspense scene in any book I’ve written. Evan stumbles across a murder scene in Chapter 13 and spends the next ten chapters extricating himself.
What life experiences have shaped your writing most?
○ I spent months doing research. I went to Vegas to visit one of my consultants, a world-renowned sniper and armorer, who got me onto every gun I write about, from Benelli combat shotguns to custom 1911 pistols. I trained—badly—in mixed martial arts, familiarizing my face with the training mat, and even went undercover into a mind-control cult once. I talked to guys who have led operations that you’ve seen on CNN, who have gone into hostile territory, under deep cover, and played offense in some of the most dangerous theatres in the world. I’ve blown up cars on demolition ranges and swam with sharks—anything to give the reader a front row seat to the action.
What is your ideal writing scenario like?
○ I’m in my office, and my dogs are in the office, but they’re sleeping. I have white noise on that goes through speakers in the ceiling, and the door is shut. And I’m just focused. It’s just me and the words. And my phones are out of my office; no notifications or anything happening with email. And the only way that I’m online is to just search for things that I need for the research for the manuscript that I’m in. Perfect.
What other projects are in the works?
○ LONE WOLF is the 9th novel in the Orphan X series and I’m neck-deep in #10. Can’t wait for readers to see what I have planned.
‘I read Stephen King under the bed with a flashlight’: 21 Questions with Gregg Hurwitz
An interview with the author of the Orphan X book series on the wide-ranging genius of Shakespeare, the books that inspired him, and falling asleep on command.
Stephen Carlick
22 FEBRUARY 2023
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For most authors of hugely successful book series, inspiration comes from the mind. For Gregg Hurwitz, the novelist, comic writer, and screenwriter behind the bestselling Orphan X series, inspiration tends to come from more visceral experiences: the author has undertaken some of the most extreme and unique field research possible for his novels, from jumping out of planes and sneaking into demolition ranges with Navy SEALS to swimming with sharks in the Galapagos and going undercover into mind-control cults. It's that interest in doing propels the fast-paced action of his writing.
Yet Hurwitz has always a writer, first and foremost. He was reading Stephen King at 10, and Joyce, Dostoyevsky, and Faulkner by his teens; he goes deep on the global appeal of Shakespeare; and he shows a voracious appetite for new books, too.
With his latest series instalment, The Last Orphan, out now, we got in touch with Hurwitz to ask him our 21 Questions about life and literature, where he discusses the above and much more, from his love of pole-vaulting to the indispensable advice James Patterson gave him.
Which writer do you most admire and why?
Shakespeare. Without Shakespeare, you don't have psychology; you can't have Freud if you don't have Shakespeare. The Shakespearean canon is inexhaustible in the way that it reaches through philosophy and history, and politics and psychology. It's all-encompassing, it's ever-yielding. And the plays are so spectacular. There's so much depth, you could never get to the bottom of them. He wrote these highly structured, fast-paced narrative tales of lust, intrigue and murder designed to sell out to the widest possible audience. (Cut the Globe Theatre in half, and it's a perfect cross-section Elizabethan society; it's like a dollhouse with royalty up and the groundlings down.) He makes glancing references to Ovid’s Metamorphoses for the seated audience, and dick jokes for the groundlings, right? He was all-engaging.
What was the first book you remember loving as a child?
There’s a series in the US called Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. I think it’s a bit like The Famous Five? I think it's a bit like that. They’re like the Hardy Boys, but they were cooler. Alfred Hitchcock appeared as a character in the initial ones, and they were super charming, just these amazing mysteries. And I was obsessed with Hitchcock; I watched all his movies. When I was young. I was not allowed to watch television growing up unless it was an Alfred Hitchcock movie, or the Red Sox were playing (my dad’s from Boston). Then in fifth grade I started reading Stephen King and got obsessed. I read all of his books; I remember reading Salem's Lot under the bed with a flashlight.
What was your favourite book when you were a teenager?
BUY THE BOOK
So as a teenager, I read two of what I think are the most perfect books I've ever read. The Great Gatsby, I think, is perfect. And The Sound and the Fury; William Faulkner is just unimproveable. I took a Faulkner seminar and a Joyce seminar in my senior year – I had great teachers at my high school. We read Joyce Faulkner, Dante and Dostoyevsky. The Sound and the Fury, if you have a bit of a guide through it, you can get it. It's just so cool, right? One story from more perspectives than your brain can hold.
Tell us about a book that changed your life’s path
There's a book by Tim O’Brien, called The Things They Carried. It's extraordinary. It's a collection of short stories made about Vietnam. The Things They Carried is so amazing, because he'll tell a story about Vietnam, and then he kind of fucks with the reader; he’s like, “Did that happen? I don't know. Maybe it didn't happen and conveys the truth of Vietnam. Maybe if I told you what really happened, it wouldn't convey what it is that I wish to convey.”
He was really playing with the boundaries of fiction, as it pertains to truth. If something's factual, does that make it more truthful? Is that closer to what the truth is? And he does it so artfully, wrapped in these perfect little gems of either short stories, or non-fiction recollections from his time in Vietnam, and he won't tell you what they are. It changed my notion of what narrative can be and what its role is.
What’s the strangest job you’ve had outside being an author?
I worked with prison release workers, swinging a sledgehammer to take down fire houses, houses that were burned and needed to be decimated. You had to wear masks, because you're breathing in ash while hammering down these houses so that they could be carted up and the next wave of construction could happen.
I worked with prison release workers, swinging a sledgehammer to take down houses that were burned
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?
I was at a conference when I was young and James Patterson was there, who I've long admired. He'd flown out from the East Coast, and I said, “Oh, did you work on the plane?” And he looked at me and he said, “Always – you don't you write when you travel?” And I said, “No, I need my office and my desk. I need this whole setup!” And he looked at me, and he just said, “Learn to.” I realised I was being a bit too precious about the space I needed around me to function. It was a really clear thing that was like: get more flexible. Now I write everywhere.
Tell us about a book you’ve reread many times (and why)
The Great Gatsby. I just reread it. I used to read it every year, every couple of years when I was a young man. I so admired Jay Gatsby, reading it as a young man; to me, he was the ultimate romantic. He was like a role model. What's funny is I went back and read it as an adult, like three years ago, and I took away from it 180 degrees opposite everything that I thought. I was a seminal book for me, an amazing, eye-opening experience; but every time we arrive at a great book, we're different. And they interact with us differently. So it was amazing how different that experience was for me, to read The Great Gatsby as an adult and realise that so much of what I based my youthful strivings on were, like, completely out of whack.
What’s the one book you feel guiltiest for not reading?
BUY THE BOOK
It used to be Moby-Dick. And I finally just read it and I loved it. It was a page-turner! So I knocked that one off, but I haven't read War and Peace. It’s sort of embarrassing, so don't tell anyone.
If I didn’t become an author, I would be ______
Second baseman for the Boston Red Sox. Undeniably.
What makes you happiest?
Being home, with my Rhodesian Ridgebacks curled around me, the fireplace on and a glass of whiskey with a spherical ice cube.
What’s your most surprising passion or hobby?
I was a pole-vaulter in high school in college. That was wild.
What is your ideal writing scenario?
I’m in my office, and my dogs are in the office, but they’re sleeping – when Rhodesian Ridgebacks play-fight, people think they're trying to kill each other. I have a desk that has wheels, and there have been times when I've been on a Zoom called where they’re wrestling and move my chair as I grab the desk, and the whole desk and everything slides across the office and crashes into a wall. So they have to be sleeping. I have white noise on that goes through speakers in the ceiling, and the door is shut. And I'm just focused. It's just me and the words. And my phones are out of my office; no notifications or anything happening with email. And the only way that I'm online is to just search for things that I need for the research for the manuscript that I'm in. Perfect.
What was your strangest or most embarrassing author encounter?
I did a signing once at a Borders, an American chain of bookstores. I drove two and a half hours to a Borders in the middle of nowhere, and nobody came to it. Not even a tumbleweed blowing through; not a single person.
If you could have any writer, living or dead, over for dinner, who would it be, and what would you serve them?
Faulkner, bourbon.
What’s your biggest fear?
Being bored.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
My biggest fear? Being bored
To be able to sleep whenever and wherever I wanted, for however long I wanted. I have friends who were former Navy SEALs, and one of my buddies can close his eyes and he counts down from ten, and he's asleep before it gets to one every time, no matter what. It's amazing.
What’s the best book you’ve read in the past 12 months?
Damascus Station, by David McCloskey. He reminds me of a young le Carré or Daniel Silva. He was in the CIA for 20 years, and he writes about Syria, and the conflict – especially as, you know, a white American, with unbelievable nuance and subtlety. The characters are incredible. And I loved My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite. It’s this charming, deliciously wicked little book. It's almost reminds me of James M. Cain, of early noir. It's super dry. There's great humour in it. It's just compulsively readable.
Reading in the bath: yes or no?
No.
Which do you prefer: coffee or tea?
Probably espresso? But I like both.
What is the best book you’ve ever read?
I probably have to go with Crime and Punishment. It's not my favourite, but it's probably the best. It's just it's such a staggering reflection of human psychology, and it argues the case for morality that's derived beyond our own impressions of the world, in a way that feels airtight. That said, it's not, like, what I want to grab to go sit on the beach.
What inspired you to write your book?
For a long time, Evan’s past – Orphan X’s past – has been nipping at his heels, right? It's caught up to him a few times. I wanted to write a book where it overtakes him, and brings him down to the ground, where he is gagged and bound and imprisoned and under the control of forces way greater than him. In that process, it shatters him into a kind of trauma that he hasn't felt or experienced. He sort of comes apart, and has to put himself back together to execute this nearly impossible mission. That was sort of the starting point: What happens if Orphan X is retaken by the government that created him as a disposable weapon, and he has to choose between his code and his life? Unless he can figure out a third way – the way of the orphan – which is what the book’s about.
The Last Orphan is out now.
Image at top: Tanita Montgomery / Penguin
Hurwitz, Gregg LONE WOLF Minotaur (Fiction None) $29.00 2, 13 ISBN: 9781250871732
A maverick assassin squares off against a ruthless AI magnate and a mercenary doppelgänger.
Franchise fans will be pleased to learn that The Last Orphan (2023) wasn't. "Nowhere Man" Evan Smoak, aka Orphan X, is back for his ninth taut thriller. He comes to consciousness, bloody and broken and barely alive, in a remote part of Texas outside the range of the RoamZone tracker that monitors him. While Evan reestablishes contact with teenage sidekick/protégé Joey and undertakes the goofy but heart-tugging challenge of finding his niece Sofia's missing dog, Loco, efficient assassin Karissa Lopatina is hard at work, drowning software engineering manager Anwuli Okonkwo in her bathtub, then killing AI expert Dr. Benjamin Hill, whose path happens to have crossed Loco's. She's still on the scene when Evan arrives (what are the odds?). Their showdown takes a tragic turn when Hill's teenage daughter tries to intervene, allowing Karissa to get away and leaving Evan to deal with the police. His narrow escape, combining guile and muscle, is vintage Hurwitz, set forth with gritty edge and puckish humor in short, punchy chapters that include several similar nail-biting scenes. Loco remains at large as Evan's twisty path takes him to a creepy megalomaniac ironically named Allman and eventually to a face-to-face with Karissa, who, gender aside, could be his identical twin. A handful of characters from previous Orphan X capers return, including Tanner and Devine, who make cameo appearances. Crisp character delineation and a propulsive, forward-moving plot should keep new readers engaged.
Another crackling caper for the solitary Orphan X.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Hurwitz, Gregg: LONE WOLF." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A777736845/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8968699d. Accessed 27 June 2024.
Hurwitz, Gregg THE LAST ORPHAN Minotaur (Fiction None) $28.99 2, 14 ISBN: 9781250252326
Has the invincible Nowhere Man finally met his match?
A dark prologue follows horny young lamb Johnny Seabrook to a tryst that turns into a bloody slaughter. Readers will need to put a pin in this, for the narrative drifts to Iceland, where Evan Smoak, the former government assassin known as Orphan X, seeks serenity, or at least escape, in a desolate bar in the middle of nowhere. Evan's backstory is lengthy and complex; Hurwitz shrewdly paints in primary colors and keeps the action moving. Orphan X has been a freelance avenger for a long time, and the feds would love to eliminate him. Thus the reappearance of his nemesis, Special Agent in Charge Naomi Templeton, and her tense meeting with President Victoria Donahue-Carr, who has sometimes targeted, sometimes allied with Evan in the past, depending on the circumstances. Capture and escape form a recurrent pattern in this eighth Orphan X caper, long on gritty action and crackerjack dialogue, as it ricochets from Europe to Beverly Hills to various points in the New York metropolitan area. Evan reconnects briefly with ladylove Mia, enlists the help of Orphan V after a particularly brutal killing, and eventually gets around to avenging Johnny. The short, punchy chapters' piquant titles add another tongue-in-cheek layer to the proceedings. With its shoot-the-works plot and cameos by characters from previous Orphan capers, this thriller feels like a finale. But who knows if, like Michael Myers, the unstoppable Evan Smoak will delight fervent fans by coming back?
A popular series ends, or not, with a bang and a healthy dose of wry humor.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Hurwitz, Gregg: THE LAST ORPHAN." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729727491/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f167122d. Accessed 27 June 2024.
The Last Orphan
Gregg Hurwitz. Minotaur, $28.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-250-25232-6
In bestseller Hurwitz's wild eighth Orphan X novel (after 2022's Dark Horse), a lapse on the part of Evan Smoak (aka the Nowhere Man), who was once turned by the U.S. government into "an expendable weapon who could execute missions illegal under international law" but now helps those in trouble for free, leads to his capture by a small army on the orders of the U.S. president, Victoria Donahue-Carr. Donahue-Carr will reinstate an informal presidential pardon for Smoak if he agrees to take out Luke Devine, a billionaire with enough leverage on powerful people to "become his own nation-state," who's opposing the passage of a trillion-dollar environmental bill that Donahue-Carr's reelection hinges on. Smoak's reluctance to pursue Devine changes when the plutocrat's implicated in a double murder, and the sister of one of the victims asks for justice. The over-the-top aspects of Smoak's life, which include sleeping on a bed "held three feet off the floor by herculean magnets," and the many plot contrivances demand a lot from readers. Fans of Robert Ludlum's action-packed novels featuring another skilled killer protagonist looking to do the right thing, Jason Bourne, are most likely to be satisfied. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary. (Feb.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"The Last Orphan." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 53, 19 Dec. 2022, p. 63. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A731555936/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9eb0ff64. Accessed 27 June 2024.
The Last Orphan
Gregg Hurwitz
Minotaur Books
c/o St. Martin's Publishing Group
www.minotaurbooks.com
9781250252326, $26.99, HC, 352pp
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Orphan-Novel/dp/1250252326
Synopsis: As a child, Evan Smoak was plucked out of a group home, raised and trained as an off-the-books assassin for the government as part of the Orphan program. When he broke with the program and went deep underground, he left with a lot of secrets in his head that the government would do anything to make sure never got out.
When he remade himself as The Nowhere Man, dedicated to helping the most desperate in their times of trouble, Evan found himself slowly back on the government's radar. Having eliminated most of the Orphans in the program, the government will stop at nothing to eliminate the threat they see in Evan.
But Orphan X has always been several steps ahead of his pursuers. Until he makes one little mistake!
Now the President has him in her control and offers Evan a deal--eliminate a rich, powerful man she says is too dangerous to live and, in turn, she'll let Evan survive. But when Evan left the Program he swore to only use his skills against those who really deserve it. Now he has to decide what's more important--his principles or his life.
Critique: Another riveting novel of suspense that will have special appeal to the legions of fans who are hooked on Gregg Hurwitz 'assassination/adventure' novels in his Orphan X series, "The Last Orphan" has it all as it takes the raptly engaged reader along in a story that has more unexpected twists and turns than a Disney World rollercoaster. Certain to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Thriller/Suspense Action collections, it should be noted that "The Last Orphan" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Macmillan Audio, 9781250787903, $39.99, CD).
Editorial Note: Gregg Hurwitz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Hurwitz) is the author of the Orphan X novels. Critically acclaimed, his novels have been international bestsellers, graced top ten lists, and have been published in thirty-two languages. Additionally, he's sold scripts to many of the major studios, and written, developed, and produced television for various networks.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
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"The Last Orphan." Wisconsin Bookwatch, Feb. 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A740531186/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4f1b2f6b. Accessed 27 June 2024.
Dark Horse: An Orphan X Novel
Gregg Hurwitz
Minotaur Books
c/o St. Martin's Publishing Group
www.minotaurbooks.com
9781250252302, $28.99, HC, 432pp
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Horse-Orphan-Novel/dp/125025230X
Synopsis: Evan Smoak is a man with many identities and a challenging past. As Orphan X, he was a government assassin for the off-the-books Orphan Program. After he broke with the Program, he adopted a new name and a new mission--The Nowhere Man, helping the most desperate in their times of trouble. Having just survived an attack on his life and the complete devastation of his base of operations, as well as his complicated (and deepening) relationship with his neighbor Mia Hall, Evan isn't interested in taking on a new mission. But one finds him anyway.
Aragon Urrea is a kingpin of a major drug-dealing operation in South Texas. He's also the patron of the local area--supplying employment in legitimate operations, providing help to the helpless, rough justice to the downtrodden, and a future to a people normally with little hope. He's complicated--a not completely good man, who does bad things for often good reasons. However, for all his money and power, he is helpless when one of the most vicious cartels kidnaps his innocent eighteen year old daughter, spiriting her away into the armored complex that is their headquarters in Mexico. With no other way to rescue his daughter, he turns to The Nowhere Man.
Now not only must Evan figure out how to get into the impregnable fortress of a heavily armed, deeply paranoid cartel leader, but he must decide if he should help a very bad man--no matter how just the cause.
Critique: A riveting action/adventure from first page to last, "Dark Horse" by Greg Wuritz is a deftly scripted novel that will have special appeal for fans of vigilante style justice. The stuff of which block buster movies are made, "Dark Horse", the seventh title in the author's 'Orphan X' series, is a truly memorable read and highly recommended for community library collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of dedicated assassination and conspiracy fans that "Dark Horse" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781405942713, $10.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
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"Dark Horse: An Orphan X Novel." Wisconsin Bookwatch, Feb. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A710603102/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7831930c. Accessed 27 June 2024.
Hurwitz, Gregg DARK HORSE Minotaur (Fiction None) $28.99 2, 8 ISBN: 978-1-2502-5230-2
The iconoclastic Orphan X penetrates a Mexican cartel to rescue a South Texas beauty.
When his daughter, Anjelina, is snatched from her 18th birthday party, drug kingpin Arag�n Urrea reaches out to assassin Evan Smoak, aka Orphan X. It's pure luck that he's able to reach the righteous, reclusive killer, who's in seclusion after a harrowing free-fall escapade. Arag�n's heavily guarded compound clearly indicates that he's no innocent, and the first tense meeting of the two powerful men simmers with the threat of violence, but stoic Evan has looked death squarely in the eyes many times before. The receipt of a cleanly decapitated head via FedEx--belonging not to Anjelina but to a man Arag�n has undercover with the kidnappers--raises the stakes exponentially for the distraught Arag�n, who assigns henchmen Kiki and Special Ed to assist Evan. Hurwitz gives his seventh Orphan X thriller an epic scope, writing with verve and color whether he's relating the pre-coital banter between Evan and his neighbor Mia Hall, documenting the tangled search for Anjelina, or depicting her gritty fight for survival, to which he devotes a generous portion of the tale. His pace is leisurely but impactful, full of genre set pieces, fight scenes and chase scenes, and tense showdowns. Each member of the large cast of supporting series characters, developed over previous installments, gets a turn onstage. The deeper Evan goes, the more challenges he faces, including his considerable doubts about the propriety of helping a character as disreputable as Arag�n. Deadly sparks fly when the Nowhere Man--that is, Orphan X--meets the novel's archvillain, the Dark Man.
A crackerjack thriller that briskly enhances the legend of Orphan X.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Hurwitz, Gregg: DARK HORSE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A684108475/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=42b07ee3. Accessed 27 June 2024.
Dark Horse
Gregg Hurwitz. Minotaur, $28.99 (432p) ISBN 978-1-250-25230-2
In bestseller Hurwitz's excellent seventh Orphan X novel (after 202 l's Prodigal Son), Aragon Urrea, a South Texas drug lord, approaches former black ops assassin Evan Smoak (aka the Nowhere Man), who assists people in seemingly hopeless situations as a way of paying penance for past sins. Urrea's 18-year-old daughter, Anjelina, has been kidnapped by a ruthless Mexican cartel. Despite doubts about helping a criminal like Urrea, Smoak agrees to try to rescue Anjelina. Along the way to the satisfying resolution, Smoak is forced to scrutinize his own life, in which he has remained distant from those most important to him--in particular, love interest Mia Hall, a district attorney and single mother who's faced with a life-threatening surgery, and Joey Morales, a 16-year-old hacker extraordinaire who has become a surrogate daughter of sorts. Nonstop action and relentless pacing are matched by deeply philosophical and powerfully emotional undertones. Unlike comparable series that tend to lose steam after several installments, this series just gets better as it evolves. 200.000-copy announced first printing. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary. (Feb.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"Dark Horse." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 49, 29 Nov. 2021, p. 36. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686559064/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=71456354. Accessed 27 June 2024.
Prodigal Son: An Orphan X Novel
Gregg Hurwitz
Minotaur Books
c/o St. Martin's Publishing Group
www.minotaurbooks.com
www.macmillanaudio.com
9781250252289, $27.99, HC, 432pp
https://www.amazon.com/Prodigal-Son-Orphan-Novel/dp/1250252288
Synopsis: As a boy, Evan Smoak was pulled out of a foster home and trained in an off-the-books operation known as the Orphan Program. He was a government assassin, perhaps the best, known to a few insiders as Orphan X. He eventually broke with the Program and adopted a new name (The Nowhere Man) and a new mission, helping the most desperate in their times of trouble. But the highest power in the country has made him a tempting offer. In exchange for an unofficial pardon he must stop his clandestine activities as The Nowhere Man. Now Evan has to do the one thing he's least equipped to do--live a normal life.
But then he gets a call for help from the one person he never expected. A woman claiming to have given him up for adoption, a woman he never knew--his mother. Her unlikely request: help Andrew Duran, a man whose life has gone off the rails, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, bringing him to the deadly attention of very powerful figures. Now a brutal brother & sister assassination team are after him and with no one to turn to, and no safe place to hide, Evan is Duran's only option. But when the hidden cabal catches on to what Evan is doing, everything he's fought for is on the line--including his own life.
Critique: A impressively crafted and riveting novel, "Prodigal Son: An Orphan X Novel" by Greg Hurwitz deftly combines heart-pounding action with plot twisting suspense. The result is an inherently compelling read from cover to cover. While an especially recommended addition to community library Contemporary Suspense Thriller Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Prodigal Son" is readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Macmillan Audio, 9781250787934, $39.99, CD).
Michael J. Carson
Reviewer
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
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Carson, Michael. "Prodigal Son: An Orphan X Novel." Reviewer's Bookwatch, Feb. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A654014792/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=20379be4. Accessed 27 June 2024.
Hurwitz, Gregg PRODIGAL SON Minotaur (Fiction None) $27.99 1, 26 ISBN: 978-1-2502-5228-9
Evan Smoak, the Nowhere Man, crashes out of retirement to battle a violent threat even less human than he is.
Some agents are trained assassins. Evan is better described as engineered by Jack Johns, the Mystery Man who spirited him off from the Pride House Group Home when he was 12, honed the skills that made him a superlative killing machine, neglected less desirable aspects of his personality (like the ability to make small talk or show empathy), and turned him loose on a world in need of a superavenger. Now that he’s finally hung up his blood-soaked laurels, Evan just wants to be left alone, but that’s not on the agenda of Veronica LeGrande, the attractive 62-year-old who suddenly reveals herself as his mother so that she can beg him to protect Andrew Duran, a fellow alumnus of Pride House whom he hasn’t seen for many years. It’s a big ask, partly because Andre, as Evan once knew him, doesn’t want to be protected and partly because the enemies Andre was exposed to in his unlikely role as the midnight guard on an impound lot are seriously mean. Shortly after Andre accepted the promise of $1,000 from brother-and-sister killers Declan and Queenie Gentner to tell them when Jake Hargreave picked up the Bronco he crashed and abandoned, Hargreave returned, Andre made the call, and Hargreave’s throat was cut in the lot by a tiny, murderous drone. The man behind Mimeticom, drone king Brendan Molleken, has clearly studied all the villains in the James Bond movies, and there’s no limit on the possible carnage when Evan meets Molleken, the Gentners, or any of those drones.
Exhilarating pabulum for action fans weary of heroes who bother to maintain social lives.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Hurwitz, Gregg: PRODIGAL SON." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A641314268/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=edbb11da. Accessed 27 June 2024.
Prodigal Son. By Gregg Hurwitz. Jan. 2021.432p. Minotaur, $27.99 19781250252289).
The Nowhere Man, the former government assassin otherwise known as Orphan X, is now Mr. Ordinary. He's retired from defending the innocent, a vocation he took up after he spectacularly resigned from government service. Well, it wasn't really Evan Smoak's choice to give up his altruistic line of work. It was more like an ultimatum from the American president: quit being a crusaderfor-hire and face no charges for some recent activities. It's been a rough transition, too, from regularly putting his life on the line to spending his days as a wealthy man with nothing much to do. So when the woman who gave him up for adoption--presumably his mother, whom Evan never knew--asks him to help a man in trouble, Evan has mixed feelings, but he finds the prospect of getting back into action to be exhilarating. No matter the potential cost. From the first Smoak novel, 2016's Orphan X, this has been one hell of a series, each volume (this is number six) revealing more about Evan's deeply troubled past. The writing is pitch-perfect, too, which should come as no surprise to followers of Hurwitz's career (he's also written outstanding stand-alones, including They're Watching (2010) and The Survivor (2012). Nuanced and energetic, this is a great thriller.--David Pitt
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Pitt, David. "Prodigal Son." Booklist, vol. 117, no. 3, 1 Oct. 2020, p. 30. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A638516150/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=52e9d38c. Accessed 27 June 2024.
Lone Wolf: An Orphan X Novel
Gregg Hurwitz. Minotaur, $29 (400p) ISBN 978-1-250-87173-2
Hurwitz’s creaky latest mission for former black ops assassin Evan Smoak (after The Last Orphan) finds the mercenary getting more than he bargained for when he agrees to track down a missing dog. In the years since Smoak left the shadowy U.S. Orphan Program, he’s spent his days dodging government assassins while making a living as a private gun-for-hire. His latest assignment is more low-stakes than usual: Sofia, his half brother’s 11-year-old daughter, hires him to track down her pinscher/Chihuahua mix. The search for the AWOL pooch takes on bigger stakes when, while casing the neighborhood where the dog was last seen, Smoak encounters the bloody handiwork of Karissa Lopatina, an assassin known as the Wolf. With the help of his allies—including teen protégé Joey and expert forger Melinda Truong—Smoak learns the Wolf is involved in a war between deranged billionaires over a dangerous technology, and enters into a bone-crunching cage match to bring her down. Hurwitz brings more humor to the table than usual this time, and fleshes out Smoak’s family ties in an attempt to add dimension to the character. Still, it’s not enough to enliven the dusty plot. This series appears to be running out of steam. (Feb.)