In 2016, Gregg Hurwitz introduced readers to Evan Smoak, one of the best new characters since Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne, when Orphan X hit bookstores.
The following year, Smoak returned in The Nowhere Man, one of our highest-rated thrillers of 2017. Book three, Hellbent, came out back in January and, aside from being some of Hurwitz’s best work yet, set up the next book in a way that left fans dying to know when the fourth novel would be released. While we don’t yet know anything about the plot, Hurwitz’s publisher (Minotaur Books) just announced the title, along with its publication date. . .
Out of the Dark: The Return of Orphan X, the fourth book in Gregg Hurwitz’s hard-hitting series, will be available on January 29th, 2019.
Again, while nothing official has been released, the plot is expected to follow the events of Hellbent, which saw Evan Smoak teaming up with an unlikely partner to carry out one last mission for Jack Johns, Evan’s handler. Without giving anything away, it’s taken three books for Evan to pull back the curtain on the CIA’s off-the-books Orphan program, which Smoak himself was once part of, in an effort to finally burn the program — and the people behind it who turn young, unwanted children into government assassins — to the ground.
While Hellbent provided some long-awaited answers, it also raised more questions on its way to leaving readers shocked and begging for more.
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Who is Orphan X?
The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It’s said that when he’s reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them.
But he’s not merely a legend.
Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He’s also a man with a dangerous past. Taken from a group home at twelve, Evan 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.
(The above information was taken from Gregg Hurwitz’s official website. Read more, including plot information about each book, here.)
While there’s still eight months to go (at the time this article was posted), Hurwitz’s fans can already pre-order Out of the Dark: The Return of Orphan X here or anywhere books are sold. In the meantime, make sure you’re following Gregg Hurwitz on Twitter and Facebook for more info, and don’t forget to check back for updates, as plot details should be made available in the near future.
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.