View source for Orphan X

{{Short description|2016 thriller (book) by Gregg Hurwitz}}
{{Infobox book
| name           = Orphan X
| image          = File:Orphan_X_Book_cover.jpg
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| author         = [[Gregg Hurwitz]]
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| language       = 21 total
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| genre          = [[Fiction]]
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| publisher      = [[Minotaur Books]]
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| pub_date       = January 19, 2016
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| pages          = 368
| awards         =
| isbn           = 9781250067845
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| preceded_by    =
| followed_by    = [[Buy a Bullet (Hurwitz novel)|Buy a Bullet]]
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| website        = [http://gregghurwitz.net/orphan-x-thrillers/ Orphan X]
}}
'''''Orphan X''''' is a 2016 [[Thriller (genre)|thriller novel]] written by [[Gregg Hurwitz]]. It is the first in an eight-book series of the same name from publisher [[Minotaur Books]]. For a time, the film rights belonged to [[Warner Bros.]]<ref name="Deadline">{{cite news |last1=Jaafar |first1=Ali |title=Gregg Hurwitz's 'Orphan X' Franchise Extended For Three More Books Through 2020 |url=https://deadline.com/2016/02/orphan-x-gregg-hurwitz-bradley-cooper-todd-phillips-warner-bros-ny-times-bestseller-caa-1201703632/ |accessdate=29 January 2017 |publisher=Deadline |date=16 February 2016}}</ref>
The follow-up books in the series are "''[[Buy a Bullet (Hurwitz novel)|Buy a Bullet]]''" (A [[List of Even Stevens episodes|short story]] released as an [[e-book]] in 2016), "''[[The Nowhere Man (Hurwitz novel)|The Nowhere Man]]''" (Released in January 2017) and "''Hellbent''" (released in 2018).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/299822/hellbent/|title=Hellbent by Gregg Hurwitz|publisher=www.penguin.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2017-10-04}}</ref> The fourth full-length book in the series, "Out of the Dark", arrived on January, 29, 2019.<ref name="Orphan X website">{{cite web|url=http://gregghurwitz.net/orphan-x-thrillers/|access-date=2019-01-25|title=Who is Orphan X? }}</ref> The fifth was "Into The Fire", and was released 28 January 2020. The sixth installment in the series, "The Prodigal Son", came out in February 2021.
==Plot==
The book centers around the character Evan Smoak. At the age of 12, he was enrolled in a top-secret operation known as the "Orphan Program."<ref name="WashPost">{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Patrick |title=With 'Orphan X,' Gregg Hurwitz launches a Bourne-like series |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/with-orphan-x-gregg-hurwitz-launches-a-bourne-like-series/2016/01/06/c5f5219c-b486-11e5-a842-0feb51d1d124_story.html |accessdate=29 January 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=6 January 2016}}</ref> He is the 24th recruit in the program and is known only as Orphan X. The goal of the program is to train orphans so they can be assassins for government agencies. The program is shut down but Orphan X maintains access to the program's funding and weapons.<ref name="WashPost"/>
In his 30s, Smoak begins freelancing as an assassin, using his skills to fight corruption in the form of [[Frontier justice|vigilante justice]].<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news |last1=Cha |first1=Steph |title=Gregg Hurwitz is full of thrilling, erudite contradictions |url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-0117-gregg-hurwitz-20160117-story.html |accessdate=29 January 2017 |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=14 January 2016}}</ref> For each person he helps, he tells them to pay it forward by giving someone in need of help his phone number.<ref name="WastTimes">{{cite news |last1=Ayers |first1=Jeff |title=Book Review: Author kicks off new series with 'Orphan X'|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jan/19/book-review-author-kicks-off-new-series-with-orpha/ |accessdate=29 January 2017 |publisher=The Washington Times |date=19 January 2016}}</ref> During his adventures, he discovers that former Orphan agents have also begun freelancing and are trying to assassinate him.<ref name="WashPost"/>
==Reception==
[[The Washington Post]] compared Orphan X to the beginning of a [[Bourne (novel series)|Bourne]] like book series, referring to it as a "smart, stylish, state-of-the-art thriller."<ref name="WashPost"/> Author [[Robert Crais]] stated that "a new thriller superstar is born" and novelist [[David Baldacci]] was quoted as saying "read this book...you will thank me."<ref name="WashPost"/> The [[Associated Press]] stated that Hurwitz "delivers a masterpiece of suspense and thrills...that invokes the best of “Batman,” ”The Bourne Identity” and “The Equalizer” films."<ref name="Salon1">{{cite news|last1=Ayers|first1=Jeff|title=Book Review: Author kicks off new series with 'Orphan X' |url=http://www.salon.com/2016/01/19/book_review_author_kicks_off_new_series_with_orphan_x/ |accessdate=29 January 2017 |work=Salon |date=19 January 2016}}</ref> Orphan X became an international bestseller, making lists such as the ''[[USA Today]]'', ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', New Zealand, and Australia.<ref name="USATodayBS">{{cite news|title=Orphan X - USA Today Best-Selling Books |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/06/21/orphan-x/2444877/isbn/9781250067845/ |accessdate=29 January 2017 |publisher=USA Today |date=19 July 2016}}</ref><ref name="BGlobe">{{cite news|title=The quintessential summer reading guide |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2016/06/22/fiction/agkgp2oPMk9FUe5UMEsMEK/story.html |accessdate=29 January 2017 |publisher=The Boston Globe |date=22 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="GHofficial">{{cite web|title=Praise and Accolades for The Orphan X Series|url=http://gregghurwitz.net/awards-accolades/|website=Gregg Hurwitz official website|accessdate=29 January 2017}}</ref>
==Film and television adaptation==
Prior to the release of Orphan X, [[Warner Bros.]] purchased the film rights.<ref name="WashPost"/>  22nd & Green, the production company owned by [[Bradley Cooper]] and Todd Phillips was linked to the film.<ref name="Deadline"/> Hurwitz was also said to be the writer for the movie adaptation.<ref name="Cooper">{{cite news |last1=Kit |first1=Borys |last2=Ford |first2=Rebecca |title=Bradley Cooper in Talks to Tackle 'Orphan X' for Warner Bros. (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/bradley-cooper-talks-tackle-orphan-769976 |accessdate=9 August 2017 |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter |date=9 February 2015}}</ref> Warner Bros. allowed the rights to expire in 2018.<ref name="Warner Bros allows rights to expire">{{cite web|url=https://therealbookspy.com/2018/06/08/gregg-hurwitzs-orphan-x-series-is-being-adapted-for-television-with-details/|access-date=2019-01-25|title=Gregg Hurwitz's Orphan X Series is Being Adapted for Television (With Details) |date=8 June 2018 }}</ref>
Brad Weston’s Makeready has landed the rights to the Orphan X book series with plans to adapt the thrillers into a television series along with [[Justin Lin]]’s Perfect Storm Entertainment.<ref name="‘Orphan X’ Books To Get TV Series Adaptation By Makeready & Justin Lin">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/06/orphan-x-books-tv-series-adaptation-makeready-justin-lin-gregg-hurwitz-1202405425/|access-date=2019-01-25|title='Orphan X' Books to Get TV Series Adaptation by Makeready & Justin Lin |date=7 June 2018 }}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Official website|http://gregghurwitz.net/orphan-x-thrillers/}}
{{Gregg Hurwitz}}
[[Category:2016 American novels]]
[[Category:American thriller novels]]
[[Category:Books by Gregg Hurwitz]]
[[Category:Minotaur Books books]]