Child
Killing Floor
✦
Jack Reacher
Lee Child - 29 books
A lone operator with a moral code and lethal skills drifting into trouble. Reacher is bigger and blunter where Evan is precise and tech-savvy, but the rhythm is the same.
Series - Books in order
Orphan X books in order
by Gregg Hurwitz - 9 books - 2016-2024 - Updated June 2026
Evan Smoak was pulled from a foster home as a boy and trained in a covert government program that turned orphans into assassins. He broke free and became the Nowhere Man, helping desperate people with nowhere else to turn. Hurwitz writes action with surgical precision and builds each book around a ticking-clock scenario that rarely lets up.
Hurwitz
Orphan X
✦
1
Hurwitz
Orphan X
✦
1
Start with this book
Most readers should start with Orphan X. It gives you the cleanest entry point before continuing through the full series order.Listen on Audible
Buy on Amazon9 books - read in publication order
Show orderPublication order
Contains affiliate links| # | Book | Published | Rating | Where to read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orphan X Orphan XStart | 2016 | 4.2 | |
| 2 | The Nowhere Man The Nowhere Man | 2017 | 4.3 | |
| 3 | Hellbent Hellbent | 2018 | 4.3 | |
| 4 | Out of the Dark Out of the Dark | 2019 | 4.2 | |
| 5 | Into the Fire Into the Fire | 2020 | 4.3 | |
| 6 | Prodigal Son Prodigal Son | 2021 | 4.2 | |
| 7 | Dark Horse Dark Horse | 2022 | 4.3 | |
| 8 | The Last Orphan The Last Orphan | 2023 | 4.3 | |
| 9 | Lone Wolf Lone Wolf | 2024 | 4.2 |
Our recommended reading order
publication
Hurwitz
Orphan X
✦
Best book to start with
Orphan X
Book #1, and still the best on-ramp. It sets up everything that makes this series work.
Catch up on the whole series
Box sets in print, or listen on Audible.
Similar series
If you love Orphan X, try these next.
Greaney
The Gray Man
✦
The Gray Man
Mark Greaney - 13 books
A former CIA assassin running from his own agency. Globe-trotting missions and relentless pacing. If you like Evan's tradecraft, Court Gentry delivers more of it.
Flynn
Transfer of Power
✦
Mitch Rapp
Vince Flynn - 22 books
A CIA counterterrorism operative who plays by his own rules. More political than Orphan X, but the same willingness to go through anyone standing in the way.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Evan's past is revealed gradually across the series, and each book's villain connects to the larger story of the Orphan program. Start with Orphan X.
The film rights have been optioned, but no production has been confirmed as of 2024. The series has been in development discussions for several years.
The premise is similar: a government-trained operative goes rogue. But Evan chose to leave and uses his skills to help people, while Bourne is running from his own identity. Evan is more methodical and less amnesiac.
Contains affiliate linksUpdated June 2026