Publication order
The main advantage of reading in publication order is that it preserves the way Evan’s adult life, relationships, and conflicts are introduced and developed, while later retrospective stories add context to information readers already know. It also keeps self-contained episodes alongside the stage of the continuing story in which their characters and circumstances are most relevant.[1-36]
The tradeoff is that publication order is not a strict chronology: Buy a Bullet and The Code take place earlier in Evan’s life, while The Intern, The List, and The Recital occupy broader chronological windows rather than exact positions. Readers who prefer to follow Evan’s life from his training onward may therefore favor the chronological route, but they will encounter some background before the adult Nowhere Man premise that Orphan X establishes.[1-36]
Therefore, the Orphan X books must be read in publication order,[1-18] by following this sequence:
| Order | Cover | Title | First published | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Orphan X | 2016[1] | Establishes Evan’s double life and his conflict with the Orphan Program. |
| 2 |  | Buy a Bullet | 2016[2] | Revisits the beginning of his work as the Nowhere Man. |
| 3 |  | The Nowhere Man | 2017[3] | Continues the pursuit of Evan while a rescue mission becomes a struggle for survival. |
| 4 |  | Hellbent | 2018[4] | Develops the Orphan conflict and introduces Joey’s place in Evan’s life. |
| 5 |  | The Intern | 2018[5] | Follows the aftermath of a gang confrontation in Hellbent. |
| 6 |  | Out of the Dark | 2019[6] | Takes the conspiracy behind the Orphan hunt into a confrontation with presidential power. |
| 7 |  | Into the Fire | 2020[7] | Tests Evan’s plan to retire while expanding the consequences of his rescue work. |
| 8 |  | The List | 2020[8] | Centers on Joey’s university life after her arrival in Los Angeles. |
| 9 |  | Prodigal Son | 2021[9] | Takes up the personal mystery introduced at the end of Into the Fire. |
| 10 |  | Dark Horse | 2022[10] | Follows the aftermath of Prodigal Son alongside a cross-border rescue. |
| 11 |  | The Last Orphan | 2023[11] | Continues the government pressure and personal circumstances established in Dark Horse. |
| 12 |  | The Recital | 2023[12] | Brings Evan’s established circle together around Joey’s piano recital. |
| 13 |  | Lone Wolf | 2024[13] | Takes up a personal encounter left unresolved in The Last Orphan. |
| 14 |  | Nemesis | 2025[14] | Develops the conflict involving Tommy raised in Lone Wolf. |
| 15 |  | The Code | 2025[15] | Returns to Evan’s teenage training under Jack Johns. |
| 16 |  | Antihero | 2026[16] | Continues Evan’s personal struggles after Nemesis during a New York investigation. |
| 17 |  | The Damage Man | 2026[17] | Pairs a search for Rusty’s estranged son with Evan’s unresolved family history. |
| 18 |  | Last Man Standing | 2027[18] | Introduces Brooke Hawthorne’s rescue and a new adversary, Boz. |
Chronological order
The main advantage of reading in chronological order is that it follows Evan’s life more linearly, beginning with his teenage training in The Code, moving through the early development of the Nowhere Man in Buy a Bullet, and then continuing into the adult storyline introduced in Orphan X. This reading order reduces some of the temporal movement created by later-published retrospective stories and allows readers to encounter major stages of Evan’s history closer to the order in which they occur.[19-36]
The disadvantage is that chronology changes the way the series introduces Evan and his past. Beginning with The Code presents his training before Orphan X establishes the adult Nowhere Man premise, while moving Buy a Bullet ahead of Orphan X reveals an earlier stage of that identity before the first novel introduces it in its broader context.[19-20][33]
For those reasons, chronological order is useful for readers who want to trace Evan’s life from his training onward, but the publication order remains the recommended first-reading order because it preserves the sequence in which his adult identity, relationships, conflicts, and retrospective background are introduced.[1-36]
As such, alternatively, the Orphan X books may be read in chronological order,[19-36] by following this sequence:
| Order | Cover | Title | First published | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | The Code | 2025[15] | Evan is seventeen and still training with Jack. |
| 2 | | Buy a Bullet | 2016[2] | Evan is an adult considering his first case as the Nowhere Man. |
| 3 | | Orphan X | 2016[1] | The present-day narrative follows his establishment as the Nowhere Man. |
| 4 | | The Nowhere Man | 2017[3] | The Orphan pursuit and Evan’s Los Angeles relationships continue. |
| 5 | | Hellbent | 2018[4] | The conflict with the Orphan leadership continues from The Nowhere Man. |
| 6 | | The Intern | 2018[5] | Follows the church episode in Hellbent. |
| 7 | | Out of the Dark | 2019[6] | The political confrontation set up in Hellbent becomes Evan’s central campaign. |
| 8 | | Into the Fire | 2020[7] | Evan considers retirement after the preceding government conflict. |
| 9 | | The List | 2020[8] | Set after Dog’s arrival in Into the Fire. |
| 10 | | Prodigal Son | 2021[9] | His attempted retirement and a call from Into the Fire lead into this mission. |
| 11 | | Dark Horse | 2022[10] | The main action begins six months after the ending of Prodigal Son. |
| 12 | | The Last Orphan | 2023[11] | The hospital and government developments from Dark Horse remain active. |
| 13 | | The Recital | 2023[12] | Falls after Dark Horse and before Nemesis’s closing developments. |
| 14 | | Lone Wolf | 2024[13] | Its opening completes the encounter approached at the end of The Last Orphan. |
| 15 | | Nemesis | 2025[14] | The present-day story takes up the dispute prepared in Lone Wolf. |
| 16 | | Antihero | 2026[16] | Its main narrative follows the personal aftermath of Nemesis. |
| 17 | | The Damage Man | 2026[17] | Listed in publication order; its premise does not establish a precise chronological position. |
| 18 | | Last Man Standing | 2027[18] | Listed in publication order only; its chronological position relative to The Damage Man is not established. |
Works in sequence
Evan’s continuing missions and personal story form the principal path, and readers following that through-line should read the books marked as required reading. Buy a Bullet and The Code provide retrospective background rather than necessary continuation. Readers interested only in the principal storyline may therefore skip both without losing the main sequence.[19-36]
The Intern, The List, and The Recital are also not prerequisites, but they are worth keeping for the additional context they provide around Evan, Joey, and their wider circle. The Damage Man and Last Man Standing likewise belong in the continuing reading path for readers who want the fullest progression of Evan’s later missions and personal life, although they are not prerequisites for understanding the books that come before them.[19-36]
1. Orphan X
Orphan X (2016)[1] Orphan X follows Evan Smoak, a former government assassin who now helps people with nowhere else to turn. A new rescue brings him into conflict with enemies from the clandestine program that trained him.[19]
As the opening installment, it establishes his operating rules, Los Angeles home, and uneasy connections with civilians, providing the foundation for the continuing story.[19]
2. Buy a Bullet
Buy a Bullet (2016)[2] Buy a Bullet follows Evan as he notices a woman being abused by a wealthy technology entrepreneur. His investigation leads him to consider turning his specialized training toward helping someone outside his former assignments.[20]
This self-contained origin episode shows the beginnings of the Nowhere Man, placing its events before the opening book’s present-day storyline.[20]
3. The Nowhere Man
The Nowhere Man (2017)[3] The Nowhere Man places Evan in captivity while a young trafficking victim still needs his help. His captor wants access to his fortune, while operatives connected to the Orphan Program continue searching for him.[21]
This book develops the unfinished conflict with his former organization and complicates the personal history established in Orphan X.[21]
4. Hellbent
Hellbent (2018)[4] Hellbent sends Evan after a message from Jack Johns while former Orphans are being hunted. The search brings him into contact with Joey Morales, a teenager whose training makes her both capable and vulnerable.[22]
Her arrival expands the continuing narrative from Evan’s own survival to the responsibilities of protecting someone shaped by the same program.[22]
5. The Intern
The Intern (2018)[5] The Intern follows high school intern Aurora and a tabloid reporter as they search for the elusive Nowhere Man. Their visit to a damaged church puts Aurora in danger after a new group has occupied the building.[23]
This self-contained encounter shows Evan from an outsider’s perspective and builds on the aftermath of a gang episode in Hellbent.[23]
6. Out of the Dark
Out of the Dark (2019)[6] Out of the Dark pits Evan against the president connected to the Orphan Program while a grieving man seeks protection from a criminal organization. A Secret Service investigator approaches the same conflict from the government’s side.[24]
The parallel missions bring the conspiracy developed in the earlier books into a confrontation with its political leadership.[24]
7. Into the Fire
Into the Fire (2020)[7] Into the Fire follows Evan’s effort to protect Max Merriweather, whose murdered cousin left him a dangerous piece of evidence. Evan hopes the mission will be his last, but each apparent solution exposes another layer of corruption.[25]
The investigation tests his proposed retirement and advances the personal circumstances carried into the next stage of the series.[25]
8. The List
The List (2020)[8] The List centers on Joey after a student’s death draws her into investigating a degrading fraternity spreadsheet. Her response combines surveillance and hacking with difficulties that her assassin training has not prepared her to manage.[26]
This book develops her university life and relationship with Evan, adding context to her growing independence without continuing his larger government conflict.[26]
9. Prodigal Son
Prodigal Son (2021)[9] Prodigal Son draws Evan out of attempted retirement when a woman claiming to be his mother asks him to help a threatened man. The rescue leads into a conspiracy involving autonomous weapons.[27]
It takes up the personal mystery introduced by Into the Fire and makes Evan’s origins part of his present responsibilities.[27]
10. Dark Horse
Dark Horse (2022)[10] Dark Horse sends Evan to help a drug kingpin whose daughter is missing after a cartel attack. The assignment forces him to weigh the client’s wrongdoing against the daughter’s need for protection.[28]
Alongside the rescue, this book develops his commitments to Joey and Mia and carries forward the consequences of his return to action.[28]
11. The Last Orphan
The Last Orphan (2023)[11] The Last Orphan places Evan under government pressure to investigate a powerful financier in exchange for renewed protection from prosecution. His inquiries lead to a family seeking answers about two deaths.[29]
The assignment tests whether he will accept another institution’s choice of targets while extending the personal situation left unresolved in Dark Horse.[29]
12. The Recital
The Recital (2023)[12] The Recital follows Joey as she prepares a piano performance and asks Evan to bring the people she considers her family. Securing their attendance draws him into several separate favors and operations.[30]
This character-focused episode brings his established allies together around Joey, developing their sense of belonging rather than advancing an unresolved enemy plot.[30]
13. Lone Wolf
Lone Wolf (2024)[13] Lone Wolf begins with Evan struggling after a personal encounter, before a child asks him to find a missing dog. That modest request draws him into an assassin’s work and a technology company’s activities.[31]
This book carries forward the family questions raised earlier and sets up a conflict involving one of Evan’s closest relationships.[31]
14. Nemesis
Nemesis (2025)[14] Nemesis follows Evan as a dispute with Tommy Stojack exposes a divide between their ideas of loyalty. Their disagreement becomes entangled with violence in a small town and another threat pursuing them both.[32]
This story develops the confrontation prepared by Lone Wolf and forces Evan to test his code against a longstanding friendship.[32]
15. The Code
The Code (2025)[15] The Code follows seventeen-year-old Evan through training assignments arranged by Jack Johns. Physical hardship and a survival exercise test his discipline, his judgment, and his understanding of the man raising him.[33]
Set before Evan’s adult missions, this self-contained episode supplies background on the relationship between Jack’s care and the demands of the Orphan Program.[33]
16. Antihero
Antihero (2026)[16] Antihero sends Evan to New York after an abducted woman draws the attention of Luke Devine. Joey joins the investigation, which connects individual attackers with an organization distributing recordings of abuse.[34]
The case carries forward Evan’s difficulties after Nemesis while developing his approach to justice and his willingness to let Joey act independently.[34]
17. The Damage Man
The Damage Man (2026)[17] follows Evan’s agreement to help a desperate father named Rusty find his estranged son. The search brings Evan into conflict with violent men while his own birth father remains an unresolved part of his life.[35]
The rescue premise returns to the connection between his work for others and the family history he has struggled to face.[35]
18. Last Man Standing
Last Man Standing, which will be published on February 9, 2027,[18] follows Evan’s attempt to rescue Brooke Hawthorne from captivity and a criminal operation guarded by professionals. His intervention brings him to the attention of Boz, the man directing that operation.[36]
The premise extends the series’ tension between Evan’s commitment to helping strangers and the risks his missions create for those close to him.[36]
Related title
Orphan X: A Mysterious Profile is a related title featuring Orphan X, but it belongs to the separate Mysterious Profiles series rather than the main Orphan X sequence. Readers following Evan Smoak’s principal sequence may skip it.[38]
Orphan X: A Mysterious Profile
Orphan X: A Mysterious Profile (2025)[37] Orphan X: A Mysterious Profile takes place after Nemesis, during a quiet interlude in Westwood Village as Evan and Joey turn a proposed game of Truth or Dare into a personal conversation. Joey’s questions lead Evan to revisit memories of his childhood, his training, and Jack Johns’s influence on the part of him that remained human.[38]
This story is a character-focused interlude that deepens Evan and Joey’s relationship and adds retrospective context without advancing another Nowhere Man mission. Readers seeking fuller character context can read it after Nemesis, but it is not required for following the main Orphan X sequence.[38]
References
- Orphan X. Macmillan Publishers.
- Buy a Bullet. Macmillan Publishers.
- The Nowhere Man. Macmillan Publishers.
- Hellbent. Macmillan Publishers.
- The Intern. Macmillan Publishers.
- Out of the Dark. Macmillan Publishers.
- Into the Fire. Macmillan Publishers.
- The List. Macmillan Publishers.
- Prodigal Son. Macmillan Publishers.
- Dark Horse. Macmillan Publishers.
- The Last Orphan. Macmillan Publishers.
- The Recital. Macmillan Publishers.
- Lone Wolf. Macmillan Publishers.
- Nemesis. Macmillan Publishers.
- The Code. Macmillan Publishers.
- Antihero. Macmillan Publishers.
- The Damage Man. Macmillan Publishers.
- Last Man Standing. Macmillan Publishers.
- Orphan X. Minotaur. ISBN: 9781250758798.
- Buy a Bullet. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250141286.
- The Nowhere Man. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250845542.
- Hellbent. Minotaur. ISBN: 9781250865472.
- The Intern. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250225573.
- Out of the Dark. Penguin. ISBN: 9781405928564.
- Into the Fire. Penguin. ISBN: 9781405928588.
- The List. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250796479.
- Prodigal Son. Penguin. ISBN: 9781405942676.
- Dark Horse. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN: 9781405942706.
- The Last Orphan. Minotaur. ISBN: 9781250336538.
- The Recital. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250356475.
- Lone Wolf. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250343833.
- Nemesis. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250420954.
- The Code. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250429803.
- Antihero. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250871770.
- The Damage Man. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250469465.
- Last Man Standing. Minotaur Books. ISBN: 9781250424853.
- Bio. Gregg Hurwitz.
- Orphan X: A Mysterious Profile. MysteriousPress.com/Open Road. ISBN: 9798337203218.