Orphan Program
Ten Commandments
First commandment - Assume Nothing
Second Commandment - How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything
Third Commandment - Master Your Surroundings
Fourth Commandment - Never Make It Personal
Fifth Commandment - If You Don’t Know What To Do, Do Nothing
Sixth Commandment - Question Orders
Seventh Commandment - One Mission at a Time
Eighth Commandment - Never Kill a Kid
Ninth Commandment - Always Play Offense
Tenth Commandment - Never Let An Innocent Die
unofficial 11th commandment - Don’t Fall In Love With Plan A
Author: Gregg Hurwitz
Series: Orphan X #8
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Format: Audiobook ARC
Narrator: Scott Brick
No. of Pages: 352
Date of Publication: February 14, 2023
My Rating: 5 Stars
DESCRIPTION:
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.
At the age of twelve, Evan Smoak was trained as an assassin, an expendable weapon. Evan was also trained to work alone. Jack Johns, now deceased, was more than Evan's handler. He was his mentor and father figure. Early on, Jack gave Evan a list of 10 Commandments so that he would always maintain his humanity despite the mentality and brutally that was the very fiber of his life.
For much of his life. Jack not only worked alone. He was alone. But he has come to depend on sixteen-year-old computer hacker Joey Morales. She might drive Evan crazy, but she is brilliant. Evan has OCD, and this alone makes Joey his polar opposite.
Having previously left the Orphan Program, Evan feels he can make whatever decision he chooses. However, the President orders him to kill a man, and if he does, he will have an immunity of sorts. He will escape any punishment for his actions, and this includes the times he had taken the law into his own hands. Living by those Commandments that Evan learned from Jack puts Jack into a quandary. He finds that this assignment might force him to go against his values.
Not only is The Last Orphan a thrilling read from start to finish, this book brings back some familiar characters, and this includes others from the Orphan Program. Of course, there is Joey, and then there is Dog the dog.
If you like movies like James Bond or The Bourne Identity or The Equalizer, then this book is definitely for you. I will say at this point that this book leaves readers with a cliffhanger. But, I have already read the next book, Lone Wolf, and I am very happy that I did.
Many thanks to Minotaur Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
- - - - -
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)
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)
Gregg has written screenplays for or sold spec scripts to many of the major studios (including 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 Marvel (Wolverine, Punisher) and DC (Batman, Penguin). He has published 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 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.
Additionally, Gregg is actively working to end polarization in politics and on college campuses. To that end, he's produced several hundred commercials which got over a hundred million views on digital and TV platforms. His editorial pieces have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Bulwark, and others.
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