Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Damage Man by Gregg Hurwitz Narrator: Scott Brick
Series: Orphan X #11.5
Published by MacMillan Audio on September 1, 2026
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Length: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
Once the U.S. government’s deadliest off-the-books assassin, Evan Smoak was known only as Orphan X. He broke free from the Program, vanished, and reinvented himself as The Nowhere Man — the last hope for those with nowhere else to turn.
When Evan has a chance encounter with a desperate father named Rusty, he agrees to help find Rusty’s estranged son, who has fallen in with the wrong people — violent, unforgiving men who will stop at nothing to get their way. What looks like a straightforward rescue quickly spirals into something far more dangerous and personal.
At the same time, Evan is forced to confront the one ghost he’s never been able to the birth father who abandoned him. In a world where every move could be his last, Orphan X will finally have to face the past he buried—if he can survive the deadly present.
I LOVE the Orphan X series. I recommend reading from the beginning, in order, for the character and world developments. Evan has grown and become more personable throughout the series. He is a support for the people at Castle Heights, especially Mia and Peter, and a parental figure, at least a caretaker for Joey. He violated the terms of his informal presidential “pardon” so now the government could come after him Instead, they want him to be their contract assassin. The pardon was always a fallacy because they could take it back anytime, plus if he was in the normal view, there would be people trying to kill him. He needs to stay hidden.
The Damage Man is a short listen, only a couple of hours, however it accomplishes a lot. There is someone to be saved from a bad guy, a loan shark operation. A father is being attacked to get the son’s attention to make his payments. Evan turns the tables on the enforcer and gets information about his boss.
Evan calmly gets to the boss and gets information on the whole operation and then leaves him detained for law enforcement. It turns out there is a whole group of these “damage men” who all report to a bigger boss. Evan goes to those offices and rounds them up with evidence as well.
He leaves “anonymous” messages for Mia on where to find the criminals and the evidence. This is hilarious.
During all his work, he thinks about the father and the son and their relationship. Then there is Joey who helps him and their relationship. Finally the relationship with his own dad, who was basically only interested that he might have money.
So Evan does a lot of personal growth on relationships and the ending is brilliant.
Narration:
Scott Brick is amazing in narrating this series. I am completely settled into his voices for the characters and loved his performance. He does a nice differentiation with all the ages and locations. I listened at my newer 1.75x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Scott Brick
Actor, writer and award-winning audiobook narrator Scott Brick certainly knows how to tell a story, in a way that keeps publishers, best-selling and award-winning authors, critics and the public at large begging for more. Hailed by Audible in 2012 as their most prolific narrator, Brick has narrated almost 900 audiobooks including titles such as: Jurassic Park, the Jack Reacher series, Alexander Hamilton, the Hunt For Red October, The Passage trilogy, In Cold Blood, the Bourne trilogy, Atlas Shrugged, Helter Skelter, Fahrenheit 451 and the Dune series.
Born on January 30, 1966 in Santa Barbara, California, Brick studied both acting and writing at UCLA, and joined the ranks of working professionals upon leaving school in 1989. Lauded by critics for his stage work, Brick spent ten years with the LA-based traveling Shakespeare troupe, Will & Company, appearing in productions of Cyrano, Hamlet, Macbeth and many others, and went on to appear in films such as Hit Parade, written and directed by comic book writer and co-Ben 10 creator, Joe Casey.
During this time, Brick continued writing. Having written hundreds of articles in a variety of genre publications such as WIZARD MAGAZINE, TOYFARE, COMICS BUYER’S GUIDE and CREATIVE SCREENWRITING, Brick was then hired by Morgan Freeman and Revelations Entertainment in 2000 to write the screen adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama, with David Fincher attached to direct. In 2005, he collaborated with author Orsen Scott Card to adapt a collection of the author’s short stories for the stage in a production titled (and printed in hardcover as) Posing as People.
Having just celebrated his 20th Audioversary, Brick’s venture into audiobooks is now considered legendary. To date he’s won over 60 Earphones Awards for his narrating skills, as well as five Audie Awards, five SOVAS Awards for voiceover, and a Grammy nomination for the multi-cast recording of The Mark of Zorro (2011). After recording 250 titles in his first five years, AUDIOFILE MAGAZINE named Brick “one of the fastest-rising stars in the audiobook galaxy,” and proclaimed him a Golden Voice, but it was the WALL STREET JOURNAL that sealed the moniker with a front-page article in November, 2004. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY then honored Brick as Narrator of the Year in both 2007 and 2011. That honor was followed up with another feature in the WSJ in 2019 and a recent appearance on the CBS Sunday Morning news show. And the ultimate distinction – being inducted into the Audible Narrator’s Hall of Fame in 2018. Having now recorded over 900 audiobooks, Brick has no intention of slowing down. He obviously won’t be happy until he’s recorded every book ever published.
Born to make a killer first impression, Brick’s newly completed debut novel, INSIGHT, is bound to leave people gasping for more from this innovative writer who is finally telling his own story. No news on who will narrate the audiobook.
About Gregg Hurwitz
GREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of twenty thrillers including OUT OF THE DARK (January 2019). His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in thirty languages. Additionally, he’s written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks. Gregg lives with his two Rhodesian ridgebacks in Los Angeles, where he continues to play soccer, frequently injuring himself.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 26-Audio
- 26-COYER
I can’t wait to resume this series. Miss the characters.
yes this one is just so good too. Short so not as much plot but everything thee is great.
I liked the whole leaving “anonymous” messages, too! I love getting more in this series!
It was a great installment even though it was less complex plot or action because it dealt more with the feelings and relationships which are also impotant.
This sounds like a good Netflix show 😉
The overall series would be with lots of action. This novella had more of a balance between action and character development.