Richard's Review:

This the latest in Gregg Hurwitz’s string of Orphan X novels. It’s as good as any he’s written so far, and if you haven’t come across his Orphan (alias Evan Smoak) yet, don’t worry – like all the books in the series, it’s a stand-alone thriller.

The Last Orphan is so titled because Smoak is the last man standing in a top-secret, off-the-books US programme that raised and trained youngsters and turned them into one-man killing machines. Then they were sent anywhere in the world where ‘executive action’ was seen as the only way to serve Washington’s interests.

Smoak got out – eventually – and went freelance, living off the grid and only accepting assignments that squared with his conscience. A kind of atonement. But now his government wants him back for one last job. Will he agree?

Judy's Review:

The lengths Washington will go to track Smoak down and bring him in, make for some of the most gripping pages in The Last Orphan – and we aren’t even halfway through! Smoak is lured into a meticulously laid trap, the jaws of which are a heavily-armed counter-assault team, air support, a fleet of tactical vehicles and more firepower than brought down Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

But the President wants Smoak alive. After he very nearly escapes the elaborate operation to capture him, he is eventually subdued with an industrial-strength sedative and transferred in maximum leg, arm and head restraints to the White House for a face-to-face meeting with the commander-in-chief. Will he accept the kill-or-be-killed mission she offers him? You’ll love finding out.