Reviewed
by: Pete Barber
Genre:
Thriller
Approximate
word count: 100-105,000
words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
With
roots between Ireland and Boston, Graham has spent a life swinging
across the Atlantic, gradually becoming more and more European in his
thinking. He has worked as a real estate agent in Boston; a postman
in Cologne, Germany; and a Law Searcher in Dublin, before completing
his training in economics and settling into international public
policy. Along the way he's picked up three foreign languages, a
jellyfish phobia and a love of Scrabble. His short plays have been
published and performed on multiple stages in Ireland. The
Hydra
is the first of his series of political thrillers.
Description:
A
viral pandemic has spread worldwide and stricken billions of people
making them infertile. A natural disaster? No. This is a man-made
tragedy, because the virus was developed in a laboratory, and Brian
Matterosi, its creator, believes himself to be a hero for saving an
overpopulated world from spiraling into wars and famine and
regressing into the dark ages.
Appraisal:
On
occasions, I stumble across a novel in Big Al’s long list that
really stands out. The
Hydra qualifies on many
levels.
Firstly,
the premise is current and real. With seven billion humans forecast
to rise to eleven billion, overpopulation is, and will be, a major
contributing factor to many of the world’s problems. To his credit,
the author doesn’t preach an agenda. Rather, he offers up potential
future scenarios that allow the reader to consider and examine the
challenges facing the modern human multitudes.
But
this is far from a dry techno-thriller. Mr. Stull unfolds his plot
through the actions of a number of compelling, and wonderfully flawed
characters. The human aspects of the story made it more believable
and kept me enthralled from page one until THE END.
The
tale is told from two perspectives: One set in the near future where
Brian is on public trial for mass murder--a crime for which he faces
the death penalty. The courtroom provides a perfect vehicle to
illustrate the pros and cons of Brian’s act. And a second thread
that tracks Brian’s life and examines his upbringing as he develops
from an isolated child with extraordinary mental capabilities into a
genius, specializing in biology. As the two threads draw closer in
time, we get a fuller picture of the reasons for Brian’s acts.
If you
enjoy fiction with a political and/or scientific basis, I think
you’ll have a lot of fun with The
Hydra, and I suspect
it’ll make you think deeply. It certainly had that effect on me,
and isn’t that what we all want from good fiction?
Highly
recommended.
Format/Typo
Issues:
Very
clean copy.
Rating: ***** Five stars
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