"What if there's no one to fix anything. Except you?"
Gregg Hurwitz's Lone Wolf is the Ninth installment in the authors' Orphan X series. The story begins with Evan Smoak aka Orphan X aka The Nowhere Man searching Texas for his so-called biological father thanks to information that was passed to him by Joey Morales. A father who was once a Rodeo Cowboy. Evan finally meets him and Evan’s reaction to his bio dad is going on a bender that has Joey and Tommy Slojack (Evan’s weapons supplier) worried about him. Especially since Evan never leaves his phone behind.
From there, the story twists to a female assassin who is nicknamed The Wolf. She appears to be killing some important people for reasons only she knows, and she might be the one person who can push Evan to the limits of his abilities. Evan has made it his mission to help the people who need it the most. And, the person who apparently needs help just happens to be the daughter of Evan's 1/2 brother Adrian who spent time in the same orphanage.
Sophia, whom he has never met, claims that her dog Loco ran away, and since Evan helps people, well, why can't he help her find her dog? Joey is a computer whiz who can hack into any computer or CCTV camera anywhere, and with Joey's help, Evan discovers where he might find Loco. In the process of locating Loco, Evan comes across a murder scene and an assassin that Evan ends up referring to as the Wolf. This woman appears to be just as good as an assassin as Evan.
Thanks to his quick action, and thinking, Evan saves Jayla Hill, the daughter of Dr. Benjamin Hill who apparently was a big deal in the tech sector when it comes to Artificial Intelligence. Evan quickly learns that Karissa (aka The Wolf) may be as dangerous as he is, and definitely in the same category as Cindy McClure. Unfortunately, he soon becomes the target of a colossal manhunt by the LAPD who thinks he is the Wolf. This is by far the most action-packed part of the entire story, but Evan's fight with the Wolf is just getting started.
If you have read any book in this series, you know that Evan lives by Jack's Ten Commandments. One of those is, "How you do anything, is how you do everything," and "Do not let anything become personal." For Evan, Sophia is personal because her father is struggling to survive. For Evan, Joey is personal because she is struggling to fit in at college and wants to rush to a sorority and doesn't know what she really wants to do with her life. Joey and Evan are totally different, yet their banter is rather enlightening. Joey is also a total slob, and I am not afraid to say so which pushes Evan's OCD to the limits.
Meanwhile, Jayla Hill learns that her larynx was crushed by the Wolf, and she can no longer sing. Singing and dancing is her entire life. Evan makes it his mission to make sure that she is protected and that he discovers who hired the Wolf to take out her father, and others who seemingly have also been eliminated. The only way to get to the bottom of the mystery is to ask for help from a certain billionaire who owes Evan, and Melinda Truong who has helped Evan throughout this series. Including finding the identity of the Wolf, and her supplier. Full stop.
*Thoughts* The thing that keeps me coming back time and time again to read this series is the author never bores us with what is happening around Evan. From learning about how really dangerous AI can truly be, to finding out that his friend may or may not be who he thought he was, to the chaos of Castle Heights, and the fight to see who is going to be head of the HOA. Joey's life is getting twisted and interesting all at the same time, and I can't wait to see what happens next. The part of the story surrounding AI really got under my skin. I really am worried for the history of mankind when AI has basically no restraint as to what it is capable of. I don't think the people behind AI understand what damage they are likely causing when machines are doing everything including delivering our groceries, and medicine, to taking our orders at local restaurants.
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