LONE WOLF, the ninth installment in Gregg Hurwitz’s terrific Orphan X series, is a non-stop thrill ride. The twists and turns are often stunning, and once the story picks up speed, there is no turning back.

The Prologue contains a short paragraph depicting our hero, Evan Smoak, in the headlock of a beefy bouncer at an underground bar. The entire time, he has part of a human ear in his pocket. I would expect nothing less from either Hurwitz or this series, which features a former black ops government assassin who undertakes missions most others would never consider.

Evan, who operates under the code name Nowhere Man, has a strong home base manned primarily by Joey, a feisty young Mexican woman. She joins a team of others whom Evan can call upon to help him out with nearly any situation. It turns out to be quite a surprise when the initial case he takes on here is the lost dog of his niece, Sofia. Evan agrees --- after all, it is his brother's daughter --- but he has no idea that such a simple task will result in his coming face to face with an assassin who appears to be every bit his equal.

"Hurwitz has created outstanding complex characters, and readers are sure to enjoy spending time with them.... This might be his best Orphan X thriller yet."

Karissa Lopatina ends up being the notorious villain known as the Wolf. We see her dispose of a target in brutal fashion early in the story and are regaled with more instances of that as the narrative progresses. Evan’s search for Sofia's dog, Loco, leads him to the home of Benjamin Hill, a doctor in applied physics and engineering out of UCLA. He finds not only Loco at his house but also the body of Dr. Hill, who seems to have just been killed --- which means the murderer may still be in the house.

This is the early moment of big drama we are all anticipating. Karissa gets away by taking Hill's 17-year-old daughter, Jayla, hostage. The police are called in, and the chase is on. By the time it’s over, Evan will have eluded dozens of officers as well as a SWAT team in a wild chase through the city. Unfortunately, the Wolf gets away. While Evan is on the run from law enforcement, we finally get to the part of the Prologue at the underground bar, which at least ends well. I will leave the bit about the ear in Evan’s pocket for readers to find out.

When Evan visits Jayla in the hospital, he fends off an assassination attempt from the Wolf. I told you this story was relentless! The team's investigation points to a project that Hill was working on involving AI technology with one of the top computer companies in the business. Under the guise of doing an article about geniuses, Evan uses an assumed identity and plays to the vanity of the megalomaniacal founder of the company. The conversation is eye-opening and frightening but does not get Evan any closer to figuring out why Hill was killed and who may have ordered the hit.

The team is able to put together a full profile on Karissa and even find her contact on the dark web where she picks up her “jobs.” For a brief moment, Evan and Karissa are working on the same side as each attempts to take down a known human trafficker. In spite of this, the eventual showdown between the two is sure to be a memorable one.

The suspense that builds surrounding the final battle, as well as Evan and his team uncovering the massive AI plot that is behind everything, keeps driving LONE WOLF forward with the velocity of a speeding bullet. Hurwitz has created outstanding complex characters, and readers are sure to enjoy spending time with them. He also has an active sense of humor that humanizes them, making them relatable and so much fun to be around. This might be his best Orphan X thriller yet.