Part of Orphan X
First published 2026
Evan Smoak receives an urgent call from Luke Devine, one of the world's most powerful men, drawing him to the East Coast during a psychological crisis. There he discovers a young woman has been kidnapped from a New York City subway platform. With his team, Evan tracks down the victim, who has been assaulted and left for dead. She accepts his offer of help but imposes an impossible condition: he cannot kill her attackers. This restriction forces the former Orphan X assassin to abandon his usual lethal methods just as threats multiply from every direction. Evan must cross the country, moving between society's poorest neighborhoods and its wealthiest enclaves, as he hunts the perpetrators. The mission becomes a test of whether someone trained as a government killer can deliver justice without vengeance, protection without elimination. Evan struggles to honor the victim's wishes while keeping her safe and bringing her attackers to account.
Genres: suspense, crime, adult, adult-fiction, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, gritty, intense, morally-complex, suspenseful
Tropes: anti-hero-protagonist, forced-restraint, found-family, impossible-choice
Setting: New York City, East Coast
403 pages · Hardcover · Minotaur Books
Content warnings: kidnapping, sexual-assault, violence