Hybrid

Hybrid is a surreal horror-scifi novella which, despite that not being one of my preferred genres, I chose to read for its vegan author. The adventure is set almost entirely underground, in an American facility under Australia, and incorporates alien species, the last of the dinosaurs,the remnants of a long dead civilisation and an insta-love romance. I told you it was surreal! While I didn't find the storyline in any way plausible and I did have to read several of the gorier scenes through my fingers (yes, I'm a wuss!), I did find Hybrid to be an entertaining read. There's a lot of gung-ho action and just-in-time escapes from seemingly insurmountable predicaments. I was intrigued by the cave complex which is vividly described and, for anyone with even a light sense of claustrophobia, is pretty terrifying. I would have liked deeper character portrayals - other than our first person narrator, Van, everyone else seemed rather too predictable. Unlike my other recent scifi read, The Body By The Shore by Tabish Khair, I didn't come away from Hybrid with any sense that its premise might actually be real, but overall this is a fun story and a good bit of escapist fiction.