Lone Wolf is the ninth book in the Orphan X series by best-selling American author, Gregg Hurwitz. After a rather unsatisfactory trip to Texas to meet his birth father, Evan Smoak is off his game. He drops off the radar, leaves his RoamZone behind, and consumes a lot of vodka. A concerned Joey Morales tracks him down, dresses him down, and makes him take a case that seems way too simple.

It’s in the execution of that task that he stumbles on a murder-in-progress and, now a witness, becomes the assassin’s next target. Within the first quarter of the tale, there is a fifty-page non-stop dramatic sequence of action and chase with one tiny interlude involving a literal slipping into a bar and a nip of vodka.

At the murder scene, Evan manages to save a life, but understands that he needs to track down the assassin if the life saved is to remain so. The victim, Dr Benjamin Hill, was a key AI code researcher with Solventry, a tech company that specialises in AI, and when Evan checks out the CEO, he is thoroughly repulsed by the man when he demonstrates the massive potential for harm that results from AI in the wrong hands.

He meets two CEOs who have “fallen into the gravitational pull of their own ego” although one of them does seem to have more of a conscience than the other. He manages to discover the motive for the researcher’s death, and steps up to take necessary action. Joey’s IT skills are very much in demand.

This instalment sees Evan putting up flyers for a lost dog, being attacked by a ninety-seven-year-old grandma, caught in the midst of a very snarky campaign for the president of his building’s HOA, facing a novel problem after dealing with a bunch of human traffickers, and making like a gecko. There’s a delivery robot, lots of fancy tech, the need for advice on teen issues and, of course, a hefty body count.

Joey Morales is a breath of fresh air and the perfect foil for serious Evan: every page that features Joey and Dog the dog is pure entertainment. It’s fun how characters from previous books become regulars with their own occasional special roles, mainly due to their particular, often unique, talents, in later books, although there’s a shocking reveal concerning one of those that Evan finally admits are his friends.

Evan’s humanity is developing: he’s beginning to understand that Jack’s Fourth Commandment, Never make it personal, might be flawed. “Some people deserved to be left behind. Others didn’t.” ; There’s plenty of action as well as lots of dark humour. Less suspension of disbelief is required for this one, but it’s still advisable to do so where necessary and just enjoy the ride. Hugely entertaining action drama.