Prodigal Son: An Orphan X Novel

Written by Gregg Hurwitz

Narrated by Scott Brick

"The winning combination of Gregg Hurwitz and Scott Brick returns for another action-packed listen featuring Evan Smoak...Brick is so convincing at embodying Smoak that listeners will be forgiven for thinking they too could take on four bad guys to protect a good guy in need of help." -- AudioFile Magazine

*This program contains a deep dive into the character and history of Tommy Stojack, featuring Gregg Hurwitz and fans of the Orphan X series.*

Forced into retirement, Evan Smoak gets an urgent request for help from someone he didn't even suspect existed—in Prodigal Son, the next New York Times bestselling Orphan X audiobook from Gregg Hurwitz.

As a boy, Evan Smoak was pulled out of a foster home and trained in an off-the-books operation known as the Orphan Program. He was a government assassin, perhaps the best, known to a few insiders as Orphan X. He eventually broke with the Program and adopted a new name—The Nowhere Man—and a new mission, helping the most desperate in their times of trouble. But the highest power in the country has made him a tempting offer—in exchange for an unofficial pardon, he must stop his clandestine activities as The Nowhere Man. Now Evan has to do the one thing he’s least equipped to do—live a normal life.

But then he gets a call for help from the one person he never expected. A woman claiming to have given him up for adoption, a woman he never knew—his mother. Her unlikely request: help Andrew Duran—a man whose life has gone off the rails, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, bringing him to the deadly attention of very powerful figures. Now a brutal brother & sister assassination team are after him and with no one to turn to, and no safe place to hide, Evan is Duran’s only option. But when the hidden cabal catches on to what Evan is doing, everything he’s fought for is on the line—including his own life.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Jan 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781250787927

Gregg Hurwitz

Gregg Hurwitz is the critically acclaimed author of The Tower, Minutes to Burn, Do No Harm, The Kill Clause, The Program, and Troubleshooter. He holds a B.A. in English and psychology from Harvard University and a master's degree from Trinity College, Oxford University. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews for Prodigal Son

[Emily Lassiter Branch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Evan Smoak! (Read that in your best 9-year-old-boy voice - if you're familiar with the books you know what I mean.) I'm always excited when there's a new Orphan X book and this one certainly didn't disappoint. These books have it all - action, humor, action, a wee bit of romance, action, and yes, action. And with every book we learn a little bit more of just how Evan Smoak became Orphan X and, eventually, how Orphan X became the Nowhere Man. Just when Evan Smoak thinks he's retired from the Nowhere Man business - retired upon threat of (physical) termination, by the way - he gets a phone call that drags him back in for one more case. We learn more about Evan's childhood and how he came to be in the boys' home from which he was selected for training for the Orphan program, which trained orphans to become assassins. In the previous book, Evan received a phone call from a woman who claimed to be his mother. In this book we meet her and find out (along with Evan) how he came to be at that boys' home. It isn't a pretty story. And she's contacted him because she wants him to help a man who was already down on his luck but is now being hunted by a couple of well-trained assassins. And just like that, Evan's dragged into the world of high-tech drones and "mad" scientists and more. And he's trying to deal with a lot of emotions - not his strong suit.
This one ends on a cliffhanger - which I usually hate - but somehow I couldn't hate it this time. Instead I'm just anxiously awaiting Book #7.
Special shout-out for the audiobook - Scott Brick does the usual amazing job of narrating Evan's adventures.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

[Alma Cruz Gonzales · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I very much enjoyed the plot, however, perhaps it was just me but I don't recall Evan's cleanliness and desire for order to have been mentioned before as OCD. It just seems like in this book I heard it a lot more and for me, it was bothersome that there is a need now to mention it several times as something to notice when he is interacting or as a distraction during an operation. I personally didn't like that. The cliffhanger is definitely a nail biter and I look forward to the next book in the series.

[Julie Booth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cant wait for the next one!! Most fun book series ever.