Book Review: Hydra by Michael McBride
Action Packed, Inventive, And Horrifying. This tale combines arguably even *more* insane pacing than the most frenetic action Matthew Reilly or Jeremy Robinson have *ever* been able to pull off (which is saying quite a bit!) with equally arguably even more inventive chimeras than even Robinson pulled off in his Island 731. (Which features at least one creature nearly as terrifying as anything in this tale... and that McBride managed to *outdo* even Robinson on "terrifying creatures" is rather remarkable given the particular creature I'm referring to from Island 731.)
Picking up just after the events of Book 2, Venom, this is truly an utterly *insane* - in the best possible ways - action thriller with just enough intrigue to elevate it just enough for the "thinking man" while still giving military technothriller/ horror purists everything they want. Hell, there's even a *very* tenuous connection to Marvel's The Avengers. (Yes, it is there, technically, but even I have to admit that one is a bit of a stretch, and McBride here makes it a *far* more realistic take on this particular scene. To the level of being horrifying in its own right.)
As with the rest of this series (and indeed much of McBride's tales generally, at least those I've read), the science is *just* plausible enough for those of us who don't know exact details that it works within story to keep the disbelief suspended enough to sit back and enjoy the ride without being so technical as to throw us out of the zone and force us to think things through too much. In other words, pretty well spot on in the sweet spot for such a creature based tale.
At just a hair over 300 pages, the length here is still decently short... and with the pacing McBride maintains throughout here, it will ultimately feel a *lot* shorter than it actually is. You're going to blow through this book and feel like you've ran a world record marathon even if you can barely move a mile in 30 minutes in the "real" world.
Very much recommended.
This review of Hydra by Michael McBride was originally written on September 24, 2026.
