Fans first met Evan Smoak in Orphan X (2016), then watched and followed along as the former government operative grew into a Punisher-like vigilante in The Nowhere Man (2017), before following Evan as he took on his most personal mission yet, one that pulled him further out of his shell than ever before, in Hellbent (2018).
If you haven’t read those three books, you might want to quit reading this now. . . because the plot details for Hurwitz’s fourth Orphan book contain a potential spoiler for those who haven’t read the previous books.
Last chance to stop reading. For those who are all caught up on the series, keep scrolling!
Alright, so the ending of Hellbent featured a big reveal, but also left off on a pretty wicked cliffhanger.
Over the last three books, Evan Smoak, aka Orphan X, aka The Nowhere Man, has been absolutely hellbent on finding the man behind the Orphan Program — the same man who’s been trying to tie up every loose end by killing off all the original orphans and their handlers, who we now know is. . . the president of the United States of America.
To get to POTUS, Evan Smoak must come Out of the Dark, risking more than ever before in order to complete his mission. Check out the explosive plot details below!
When darkness closes in―he’s your last, best hope. Evan Smoak returns in Gregg Hurwitz’s #1 international bestselling Orphan X series.
Taken from a group home at age twelve, Evan Smoak was raised and trained as part of the Orphan Program, an off-the-books operation designed to create deniable intelligence assets―i.e. assassins. Evan was Orphan X. He broke with the Program, using everything he learned to disappear and reinvent himself as the Nowhere Man, a man who helps the truly desperate when no one else can. But now Evan’s past in the Orphan Program is reaching out to him.
Someone at the very highest level of government has been trying to eliminate every trace of the Orphan Program by killing all the remaining Orphans and their trainers. After Evan’s mentor and the only father he ever knew was killed, he decided to strike back. His target is the man who started the program and who is now the most heavily guarded person in the world: the President of the United States.
But President Bennett knows that Orphan X is after him and, using weapons of his own, he’s decided to counter-attack. Bennett activates the one man who has the skills and experience to track down and take out Orphan X―the first recruit of the program, Orphan A.
With Evan devoting all his skills, resources, and intelligence to find a way through the layers of security that surround the President, suddenly he also has to protect himself against the deadliest of opponents. It’s Orphan vs. Orphan with the future of the country―even the world―on the line.
By far, this is the biggest setup, story-wise, of Hurwitz’s writing career, and whether or not he’s able to pull it off (my money is on yes, as I fully expect him to deliver in a big way) is something readers will no doubt be talking about leading up to its publication.
Scheduled to hit bookstores January 29th, 2019, Out of the Dark is already one of next year’s most anticipated thrillers. Pre-order your copy here, or anywhere else books are sold.
Praised as “one of today’s finest book reviewers” by New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, Ryan Steck (“The Godfather of the thriller genre” — Ben Coes) has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.