Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orphan X | 2016 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 2 | Buy a Bullet (Short Story) | 2016 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 3 | The Nowhere Man | 2017 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 4 | Hellbent | 2018 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 5 | The Intern (Short Story) | 2018 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 6 | Out of the Dark | 2019 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 7 | Into the Fire | 2020 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 8 | The List (Short Story) | 2020 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 9 | Prodigal Son | 2021 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 10 | Dark Horse | 2022 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 11 | The Last Orphan | 2023 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 12 | The Recital (Short Story) | 2023 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 13 | Lone Wolf | 2024 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 14 | Nemesis | 2025 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 15 | The Code | 2025 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
| 16 | Antihero | 2026 | Evan Smoak / Orphan X | Buy |
The Orphan X series is written by Gregg Hurwitz and follows Evan Smoak, a man who was pulled out of a foster home as a child and trained as a government assassin in a secret program. After leaving that life behind, Evan becomes “the Nowhere Man,” offering help to people who have no one else to call. Each novel puts him up against a new threat while also peeling back layers of his past and the Orphan Program that created him.
The series started with Orphan X in 2016 and has grown to 12 full-length novels plus four short stories (Buy a Bullet, The Intern, The List, The Recital, and The Code). The short stories slot in between the novels and are best read at their publication points in the order above. Hurwitz has kept a consistent release pace, typically publishing one novel per year.
The books work best read in order since Evan’s personal storyline develops across the series, and enemies from earlier books sometimes resurface. Fans of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher or Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne will feel at home with Evan Smoak’s particular brand of lone-wolf problem-solving. The most recent novel, Antihero, is set for 2026.