Evan stared at the pool of vodka puddled on the bar between his hands. Then up at the bartender, a pale Nordic towhead. “Would you like to talk to them?” Evan said. “Or should I?” As I progressed through the series I became more and more invested in these characters, and this installment plays upon those feelings. X is finally caught, and now, instead of the promised retaliation from his captors, he is given an impossible task. Will X's commitment to his personal moral code be sorely tested? Yes. Will he emerge triumphant? You'll have to read this to find out! 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. Though he managed to stay under the radar for a while, the government has found him and given him an ultimatum: Kill a powerful man of face the consequences. Evan has a code to only kill if the person really deserves such a fate, so he investigates this man and finds a great deal of corruption that requires him to use his fighting skills. Hurwitz goes into a lot of detail about these hand-to-hand combat sequences. Now that Evan is a little older, he feels he’s just a little less sharp than he used to be. Maybe because of his age, his knowledge of technology isn’t the greatest, so he relies on his 16-year-old ally Joey, who we met in book three. She’s such a great character and foil to Evan. Other members with unique skills also reappear in this book to help out.

In a show of aggressive amusement, one of the footballers pounded his fist into the bar, sending a glass ashtray flipping up past Evan’s cheek. It shattered at the ground near his boots.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing me with complimentary electronic copies of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I feel that Orphan X must be one of the coolest assassins out there. (Someone, please make a TV series!!) X is doing his thing once again, helping those who need help through his 1-855-2-NOWHERE helpline. But not before he himself was in a hairy situation after being cornered to do yet another work for the POTUS. A complex situation. Would Evan break his ten commandments in exchange for freedom? But then Orphan X is not your average guest. The last survivor of the off-the-books programme that raised and trained him, Evan Smoak was sent around the world to do his government's dirty work. Until he escaped. The motivation for Smoak to do as he’s told is supposedly the promise of a pardon from the President. This is no motivation. Instead, the fire that’s lit underneath him comes from the deaths of two people who had attended a party at Luke Devine’s mansion. This, followed by a threat to Ruby, the sister of one of the people killed to stay quiet or face the consequences, is exactly the type of thing that puts Orphan X in motion. As a scrawny boy, Evan had undergone a similar process himself. Hand-to-hand, network intrusion , escrima knife fighting, psy-ops, SERE tactics—he’d endured painstaking training to become something more than his humble origins would have suggested he could be.

the writing is crisp, the action scenes are both clever and cinematic, the dialogue is pitch perfect, and the villains are deliciously detestable. First-class." — Booklist This means we have the opportunity of meeting all of the various allies and friends who have helped him out through the course of the previous 7 books. While this is a nice type of a reunion it tends to let the air out of his tyres somewhat. The Last Orphan, Book 8 in The Orphan X series, finds Evan out of his comfort zone as he is forced to take on a case in exchange for his freedom. With a new kind of villain to contend with, Evan is taken out of his element, putting his morals and skills to the test. Gregg Hurwitz has never taken his foot off the gas pedal. The Last Orphan continues his trend of complex thrills with an engaging protagonist." — Bookreporter A stellar series, and the stories get better with each instalment. [Evan Smoak is] the man you want in your corner when justice is needed Daily Mail

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As a crafter of wham-bam action and suspense, leavened with a healthy dose of humour, Hurwitz's abilities are as fine-tuned as ever' DAILY EXPRESS

As always the adventure is over-the-top, hair-raising and lively. X has a close call in this one and I found myself saying, "Nooooo, no, no..........." but his skills are worthy. He cats and mouses around with the baddie as he tries to assess his character. Is he truly evil or is he motivated by something else? A masterpiece of suspense and thrills . . . Turn off the real world and dive into this amazing start to a new series Associated Press When my partner, Rafn, accidentally shot himself in the foot while he was taking a leak. Right through the top of his boot!”The most richly accomplished of the brothers’ pairings to date—and given Connelly’s high standards, that’s saying a lot.