The Last Orphan (Orphan X #8)

Gregg Hurwitz

Thriller

Evan Smoak returns in The Last Orphan, the latest New York Times bestselling Orphan X thriller–when everything changes and everything is at risk.

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.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5) This series has entertained me for years! The first book, Orphan X introduces us to X. As a child in foster care, he was taken out and trained to be an assassin for an off-the-books secret program. He has skills and toys like James Bond and non-stop action throughout. At book 8, this series is still running strong.

While this is book 8 don’t let that stop you from reading it! Each book can be read alone, you just miss a few details into the relationships and maybe more meaning in some scenes. Definitely doable but take it from me, you’ll want the entire series. There was only 1 book in all 8 that I didn’t love.

As with each book, this is full of adventure, action and quite a few tender moments. It’s very out-of-character for X to be tender so those few scenes made me love him even more. Along with X, my other favorite characters each had a great part to play in this one; Joey and Orphan V. Joey. Oh she’s great to get under X’s hard outer shell to the soft inside. She’s a tough and brilliant 16yo Orphan that expertly plays into the tender scenes. Orphan V is the ultimate female badass that looks beautiful and has fun while battling each foe with ease. I need a movie with these characters. Please??

X’s goal is dedicated to helping only those in desperation, with no other choices. In this book, the President is asking a favor. It goes against all he believes. He researches his own way and comes against an entire corporation. X never fights just one bad guy, it tends to be bigger and badder than previously imagined. The people are reprehensible in their crimes. It’s done well with details why he interferes and how he does it. He’s like the Robin Hood of modern day that doesn’t rob the rich, but puts them all in place– not above anyone else, and doing what’s right. I love his need for balance with right and wrong. I love the details of how he moves his body and how he thinks or doesn’t feel. His training is impeccable and I always eat up the details.

It’s fast-paced action that will keep you coming back for more. I highly recommend this series, it’s such a fun read!

AUDIO REVIEW: I was very excited to get the audio copy. I’ve listened to a few more of the series than I’ve read and I love the narrator, Scott Brick. He has the perfect thriller voice. His voice sped up and slowed down brilliantly. His emphasis on certain scenes and sentences played out with precision. I wouldn’t want anyone else to read this series to me!

General content summary: F words= 20+, references to intimacy (multiple, no details), marijuana (drugs, young man is violated (finds a man with his hands down his pants), gunshot and stabbing wound (deaths, some details), foster care, child trained as an assassin (previous), corpse found strangled (previous), alcohol (multiple), physical violence (fists, weapons, guns, grenade launchers, injuries, blood, multiple), sedative shot given, previous Covid deaths (parent), OCD (multiple), captivity, suicide attempt (from a height), reference to rape (few details), torture (injuries, psychological, death, killer insect, few details), talk of how to cut up a body (details), details of bodies found, references to child physical/sexual abuse, sex toys (some details), a man takes notes on women he has sex with (some details, videos). 

Thank you to MacMillan Audio, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the gifted copies!

The book releases February 14, 2023.

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

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