The Hydra Protocol

Jim Chapel #2

by David Wellington

To prevent nuclear annihilation, Special Forces operative Jim Chapel must infiltrate a top secret Russian military base and disable an unstable supercomputer in this high-adrenaline, action-packed adventure thriller from David Wellington, the acclaimed author of Chimera—an exciting, science-based thriller reminiscent of the works of Lee Child and James Rollins.On a routine mission involving a sunken Soviet submarine in Cuban waters, wounded Special Forces veteran Jim Chapel, back in action thanks to medical technology, unexpectedly meets Nadia, a beautiful Russian agent.Nadia shares shocking intel about HYDRA, a forgotten Cold War supercomputer that controls hundreds of nuclear missiles aimed at the U.S. Just one failsafe error, and America will be obliterated. And there have been glitches in its programming. . . .To disarm HYDRA before it plunges the U.S. into nuclear winter, Nadia and Chapel must travel across Eastern Europe and infiltrate a secret base hidden deep in the steppes of Central Asia. But as these uneasy allies discover, not everyone wants the weapon out of commission.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Action, Science Fiction, Adventure, Mystery

Mass Market Paperback

First published April 15, 2014

About the author

David Wellington is a contemporary American horror author, best known for his Zombie trilogy as well as his Vampire series and Werewolf series. His books have been translated into eleven languages and are a global phenomenon.

His career began in 2004 when he started serializing his horror fiction online, posting short chapters of a novel three times a week on a friend’s blog. Response to the project was so great that in 2004 Thunder’s Mouth Press approached David Wellington about publishing Monster Island as a print book. His novels have been featured in Rue Morgue, Fangoria, and the New York Times.

He also made his debut as a comic book writer in 2009 with Marvel Zombies Return:Iron Man.

Wellington attended Syracuse University and received an MFA in creative writing from Penn State. He also holds a masters degree in Library Science from Pratt Institute.

He now lives in New York City with his dog Mary Shelley and wife Elisabeth who, in her wedding vows, promised to “kick serious zombie ass” for him.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hardback/Thriller: I liked, but... I knew what was going to happen. I knew who was going to betray who and who was lying. Usually I'm pretty dense when it comes to red herrings and I'm like a sponge and believe everything, so I'm pretty proud of myself in figuring out stuff. Yes, there were things I didn't see coming.
This book is pretty good and I do recommend it. It is fast-paced and keeps you guessing.

I want to spill the beans, but this book just came out, so no spoiler here. I didn't like the romance because I thought it was false. I felt it was more military thriller than science fiction. I liked the parts in Romania and the Russian territories. I learned a lot about Siberian politics and the desert lizards. I liked most of the characters and I liked that the author wrapped up all the questions I had.

I did get this book from Goodreads for an honest review.

[Charlie Hecke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast paced, exciting action book. David Wellington weaves a great plot (disarming a very dangerous cold war era soviet nuclear system). The characters are multi-faceted (Jim Chapel - the one arm hero) and Nadia, the sexy foreign agent.

My favorite character is Angel, the handler who whispers electronically in Jim Chapels ear. She finds answers, supports field operations and flirts! Jim and Angel never meet face-to-face,but you will enjoy their relationship.

If you are looking for a book that grabs your attention and holds it, you will enjoy The Hydra Protocol.

Charlie Van Hecke
www.salestrainer4u.com

[S.B. (Beauty in Ruins) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Damn. I can't remember the last time I read a book that frustrated me to extent that The Hydra Protocol did. There were aspects of it that were amazing, and others that made me want to bang my head in frustration. I'm tempted to say I forced only myself to finish it so I could sit back and say "Ha! I told you so!" but, as much truth as there is to that statement, it was an enjoyable enough ride that I didn't want to get off before the end.

The Good
The latest Jim Chapel mission from David Wellington is an exciting, action-packed thriller that evokes a very classic cold war sort of vibe. It's something of a throwback to the 80s, but with some more contemporary technology and cinematic battle sequences. Jim gets some great moments here, starting with a deep-sea dive into a scuttled Russian submarine, and ending with a rather foolish leap onto a moving plane (that we'll get back to when we talk about The Bad). Rendered strangely vulnerable by troubles in his personal life, Jim really struggles to maintain his professionalism here, opening up to (and taking his frustrations out on) Angel, and skirting the line of impropriety with Nadia.

As for Nadia, she's a gorgeous Russian agent with the body of a gymnast and the heart of a patriot. She's a fun, mysterious character, with some incredible fight scenes of her own. She's at her best when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, but she's not too shabby with stolen construction equipment either. There are some great set pieces here as well, with the action taking us across the globe, from the waters off the shore of Cuba, to the Afghan desert, to the strip-mined landscape of Siberia.

The Bad
It's hard to talk about The Bad without getting too far into spoiler territory, but both Jim and Director Hollingshead make some very foolish, very stupid decisions here. When a beautiful Russian spy comes to you with an outlandish story, outside the normal diplomatic channels, there's probably a very good reason. When that same beautiful Russian spy comes to you with a mission that just seems too good to be true . . . well, it probably is. Unfortunately, Jim's foolishness doesn't stop there. Bogdan's frantic tapping away at a customized MP3 player had me suspicious from the start, but Jim doesn't bat an eye - even when it drives his electronic bug director crazy!

It doesn't stop there either. Jim makes one bad choice after another, and bestows far too much blind trust in two people he doesn't even know. Wellington is clearly trying to demonstrate a man on the edge, made vulnerable by a personal loss, but there's a big difference between softening a character and subverting him. Finally, to bring us back to that foolish leap onto a moving plane I mentioned earlier, it's one of the few scenes that stretch the willing suspension of disbelief too far, especially when you remember he's without his mechanical arm at the moment!

The Conclusion
Frustrating. Pure and simple. There was real potential here. Jim Chapel is a hero I've come to enjoy reading about; Wellington is an author whose style I like; and the cold war angle really appealed to me. There is a great story here at the core of The Hydra Protocol, but it's sabotage by Jim's foolishness. I realize he's always been set up to be something of a 'normal' man, rather than a brilliant, muscle-bound super-spy, but even the 'normal' man reading this can recognize when the hero is being an idiot.


Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins

[M. Sprouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel had rough beginning of say the first 60 pages. They were ultra corny and reminded me of some of the parts of those archaeological thrillers where the heroes find ancient clues that no one has put together in hundreds of years, but they do it in five minute type books. Fortunately the rest of the book was very good, almost five stars good. David Wellington packed a lot of action and story telling in a little over four hundred pages. This is a different book than "Chimera," probably I liked it better, but I missed the supernatural aspect and Jim's motor arm was pretty much ignored through the whole story.
Some reviewers mentioned that the sex was unnecessary, I disagree, but it did seem out of place. I liked the chemistry that Wellington built, but by the time and place the sex happened I lost interest or at least was distracted. The timing was off. Again, the sex needed to happen to help explain why a man with a missing prosthetic and only one arm would jump from a flying helicopter onto a plane. That was the one part of this novel that I could not even pretend to believe. I'm dwelling too much on the negative this book had an excellent ending and was a very good read.

[Maciej Jonasz · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is interesting. However, I am not all that thrilled by the author's style and ended up skipping all kinds of stuff. The worst was when he talked about a US submarine in the Caspian Sea - how is an American sub supposed to appear in a land-locked sea in Central Asia?? When I see that, it tells me of a lack of effort to do some basic research.

[Thea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot but I liked chimera much better because it was weird and kind of science fiction, this was more straight forward and weird.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

found this amusing--mc is very susceptible to feminine wiles. am hoping to discover angel is really bogdan with a voice synthesizer. also, couple of out-of-place sex scenes.

[David Atkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does not know how to create suspense. Had to push myself a little to finish it.

[Jim Eddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read. The main character has an artificial arm. I think Wellington refers to it too often. Other than that I enjoyed the story.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read 3 books in the series and they get better as you go along
This one is better

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

***Won in a GoodReads First Reads giveaway***

On this ARC, Wellington is compared to James Rollins. Having read Rollins, and ranking him as a #2 overall favorite author and #1 in non sci-fi/fantasy, I can honestly say, Wellington goes about his stories differently, but at times the pacing and adventure match up fairly closely.

To sum up, this story takes a man who is a former special ops soldier now working for the US Government as a sort of spy, and puts him on a mission across the globe to save the world. But there is no future technology or deep rooted bit of science and/or history that is driving the story. Indeed, a Russian spy comes to the US to request help in disarming a bit of outdated Cold War tech: automated nuclear defense systems should anywhere in Russia be bombed. The Russians needed some help finding old code books from a sunken Soviet submarine in order to decrypt and disarm the missile defense system.

And so a team is formed: US spy, Russian spy, and a Romanian hacker. They traipse across the world and end up near the Aral Sea. At this point there is a rather major twist in the story that allows the reader a chance to completely rethink the motives and intentions of all named characters. And the story ends near Lake Baikal (which these two locations are very much right out of Rollins' Eye of God).

At times the story slowed down, but it always sped back up, and provided with good thriller reading. I expect this to be a good summer book and an author to keep an eye on as further books emerge within the same series.

[Pat Byrnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first David Wellington book and I’m very impressed with his writing. The storyline had many twist and turns that kept me wanting to turn the page. I will put David on my list of authors to keep reading. I would put David’s creativity & skills up on the same level as Flynn, Thor, Baldacci, Berry & Cussler. The Hydra Project pulled you in on the first chapter and didn’t let you go till the end. The ending even adds a twist of pulling in the ex-girlfriend to launch the next book.

The United States is approached by a rogue Russian agent to destroy part of Russia’s nuclear systems. American Agent Jim Chapel teams with the Russian agent Nadia on a journey through the Motherland. Jim questions his objective, but is blinded by lust. Are the intentions of Nadia as she states or are there other reasons for her turning against the Motherland. You will have to read, to see why neither country would talk about what happened in the end.

Like I said above, I truly enjoyed David’s writing and will read the next Jim Chapel book. I will even go back and read the first one. I have noticed that new authors tend to try to spice of their books with some hanky panky and David is no exception. It is better to give a hint and let the reader’s imagination run wild, that to go into detail. Most authors seem to grow out of writing so much detail into the steamy parts of the books.

It’s only fair to mention, I received this book in a GoodReads giveaway….

[C.w. Browning · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway and was looking forward to reading it. I wasn't disappointed. This was a very action-packed story that kept moving and definitely kept the page turning. At times, the action was a little over-the-top, but over-all I expected an action thriller and it delivered.

I did find the plot-line predictable, but there were enough twists in it to keep me interested. The major twist, I'm sorry to say, I guessed at the beginning. However, I did enjoy seeing how my guess unfolded, and the writing style did keep my interest engaged. It was a face-paced, easy read that didn't require much thought and it kept me entertained throughout.

My only criticism, and what kept me from giving it 4-stars or higher, was that I found the relationship angle to be out of place with the rest of the story. This was my first Jim Chapel book and I loved his character, but I did feel that the parts of the book dealing with the female agent didn't necessarily need to be there. I didn't feel that they deepened my understanding of Jim Chapel's character or his motivation. There were a few sexual scenes that seemed out of place, almost as if they were thrown in because it was expected.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and will probably check out other David Wellington books based on what I read here.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a first reads giveaway. I had high hopes for it and looked forward to reading it, and most of those high hopes were fulfilled when I did read it. There were some things that I found disappointing, however.

First of all, this is a first-rate action thriller. That's what I was expecting going in, and Wellington delivered. The plot builds on the tension of the cold war between the U.S. and Soviet Union and brings it into a modern climate in a way that appears both plausible and enthralling.

One of the best features of this story is that its twists and turns are somewhat less predictable than those from many other books in this genre. There were definitely things I saw coming, but there were also some surprises that I appreciated and enjoyed.

The two things that I really didn't like were the extreme over-the-top action that just seemed completely implausible in many cases and a couple of sex scenes that felt very out of place. The sex itself seemed somewhat out of character for those involved, and the vivid imagery simply didn't fit in the story. My personal opinion is that it probably shouldn't have happened, and if it did, a little subtlety would have gone a long way.

Recommended for action fans that don't mind things a little over the top and a couple of steamy bits thrown in.

[Jean-Luc · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Wellington's super secret agent is back, and he's got missions! Once upon a time, the Soviet Union was terrified the United States would launch a nuclear first strike. And so they built a dead man's switch operating on a hair-trigger. Its goal: retaliate even if all of Mother Russia's children were already dead. The system was called Perimeter. And although the Soviet Union is dead and gone, Perimeter is still watching, still waiting.

Wellington's written about zombies, werewolves, vampires, and mutants, so why not the scariest monster of all? COMMUNISTS.

It starts on a yacht in Cuban waters. Will our hero reach the sunken Soviet submarine and make it back before the communists find him? And then it's off to Romania and other countries I can neither pronounce nor point to on a map. And don't you worry: finding and de-activating the ancient Soviet computer controlling Perimeter is only the warmup for the actual plot!

My favorite character is, obviously, the computer hacker, who is very, very good at what he does, but still dumb as dogshit. Not a trope!

Wellington's written yet another solid thriller w/ an incredible breakneck pace. The only pauses come for the occasional hilarious sex scenes. The ending promises a third book. Can't wait!

[Beau Raines · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a fun book about a super secret government spy, who happens to have lost one of his arms while serving in the Army. Sounds like a good premise.

But it wasn't until about mid-way through the book (I didn't read the first in the series) that it was clear that his prosthetic was actually a functioning arm. Even later in the book, we learn about the micro-connectors in the shoulder.

Then some of the decisions the characters make were less than believable. To avoid spoilers, I won't share them in this review, but I had to say "come one" more than once.

Enough of the bad things. It was still a fun story, gallivanting across the former Soviet Union, dealing with legacies from the Cold War in the 21st Century. I liked the descriptions of the cities and the torture resistance techniques. The Russian criminal networks and the hierarchy of power in the government were nicely described and fit in with the story.

There was a short vignette at the end of the book that I think ties the story back to the first Jim Chapel novel. I'm still torn if I want to read the other book or not.

[Elvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished up with David Wellington's Jim Chapel follow-up Hydra Protocol. After reading Chimera, I expected this book to continue with a more other worldly or supernatural theme. I was surprised when it didn't. Wellington choose to move away from the supernatural and science fictional aspects of Chimera to focus more on the espionage aspect of Jim Chapel's character and missions. If you've read Chimera and are expecting the same science fiction style of mission you'll be disappointed.

Overall Hydra Protocol was a very fast read. The story starts fast and continues throughout. Once I picked it up it was very hard to put down. There were very few places to naturally stop to put down the book for another day. Around each and every corner I wanted to push on to find out what happens next.

David Wellington is hands down one of my favorite authors and has been since picking up Monster Island years ago. I've read each and every one of his books since and I'm happy to have added this one to the list. If you're a fan of espionage books then I suggest picking this one, as well as the first Jim Chapel book Chimera, and digging in.

[Henry Lazarus · Rating 2 out of 5]

David Wellington writes about a Jim Chapel, a U. S. Spy with an artificial arm. Apparently the Soviets built a fail-safe computer, Perimeter, before the fall of the USSR, using The Hydra Protocol (hard from William Morrow) designed to launch all of Russia’s missiles if a nuclear strike was detected. A beautiful Russian agent needs Jim’s help to disable the ancient computer hidden deep in Kazakhstan. Chased by Russian FSB agents, they have to survive the desert and reprogram Perimeter so it cannot set off Russian Missiles. With action scenes borrowed from exciting movies and treachery in the worst places, it’s impossible to put down. I wish there had been more science fiction in it. Review printed in the Philadelphia Weekly Press

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty darn good book - first time reading a David Wellington book. Good plot build up - I was lead astray in my thinking how it might end - subtle but effective action. No fantasy world needed - this is one of those "it really could happen any day now" books. Plot covers from Cold war to current day. No need to stretch the imagination. All technology can happen today - or within next year or two. Very believable characters and interactions. Now I want to read the earlier novels in the series.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as part of the Goodreads First Reads program in exchange for an honest review.

The Hydra Protocol is a spy novel that spans the Cold War and brings the drama into the modern day. This book has plenty of action, intrigue, and some steamy bits that make for a fast and fun read, despire the slight predictability. David Wellington takes the reader on a fun adventure and I appreciated the opportunity to read it.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway. This was my first Jim Chapel novel and it was not that bad. The book had a great Cold War theme and the action / twists & turns were pretty good. The locations and different characters in the novel were described with great detail which is nice, as you are able to get familiar with the story's environment. Chapel is a character I have grown to like and I look forward to following him on his next mission.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book grabs you on the first page and takes you on quite a ride. Overall, it was a great action read, in the same vein as a Clive Cussler novel. I really liked the main character, Jim Chapel. The author's style is clean and crisp, making this book very easy to read. I did skip a few pages during the action scenes, just because some of them were long enough for me to lose interest. All in all, I enjoyed this book and will probably continue to read the Jim Chapel series.

[Ladiibbug · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** G/R First Reads ***

Special Ops/Spy Thriller

I enjoyed this book, especially the detailed descriptions of various locations in Russia and Eastern Europe.

David Wellington's zombie series are some of the most memorable books I've read -- terrific, fast moving & edge of your seat storytelling! I was so happy to see one of his books come up in the G/R First Reads Giveaway program, and was delighted to be one of the winners.

Will check out more Jim Chapel spy thrillers.

[Felix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Chapel is at it again! Fast moving action with plot twists. I loved The character Nadia. Chapel is a cross between Clancy's " Agent Clark,' & Matt Reilly's "Scarecrow!" Keep the adventures coming!

[Jacqueline Vicente · Rating 3 out of 5]

Halfway through the book, I lost complete interest. It was boring at times and it had too many details. I did enjoy the plot twist though, I was not expecting that. The epilogue confused me, it was an overall okay book.

[Harry Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good thriller with a different plot. Operative Jim Chapel must infiltrate a top secret Russian military base and disable an unstable supercomputer to prevent nuclear war.
I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway.

[Rue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chimera was better, but this series is nowhere near the Monster series.
I found the relationship to be unbelievable, and the sex unnecessary. Towards the end I found myself skipping pages just to finish.

[Bill Donhiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first encounter with David Wellington, his zombie series did not appeal to me. Jim Chapel is an engaging character and the book reads very well. I am looking forward to reading the first book in this series when I get a chance

[Jason Fryer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool plot, great pacing, and a few twists for good measure. I enjoyed Jim Chapel's sophomore adventure and I look forward to whatever he is thrown into next.

[Matt McRoberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great thriller type novel. Nothing supernatural-like in this one, but it didn't need anything like it. I enjoyed it over all and look forward to another Jim Chapel novel.