Hyde & Seek

Jekyll & Hyde Inc. #2

by Simon R. Green

With the monsters of old wiped out, Daniel and Tina of Hyde, Inc., face a greater foe— from beyond the stars.

Whatever happened to all the old monsters?

The vampires, the werewolves, the ghouls . . . Daniel & Tina Hyde wiped them out, to make the world a safer place. But nature abhors a vacuum, supernature even more . . . Something’s got to fill the gap left by all those monster clans. The question now is, what happened to all the old aliens? The Martians, the Bug-Eyed Monsters, the Reptiloids and the Greys?

They’re coming out of the shadows with a vengeance, and Daniel and Tina Hyde are about to discover there are much worse things than monsters. Fortunately, Hydes love a good fight.

Daniel and Tina are in for the fight of their lives, with the whole world at stake.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy

289 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 7, 2024

About the author

Simon Richard Green is a British science fiction and fantasy-author. He holds a degree in Modern English and American Literature from the University of Leicester. His first publication was in 1979.

His Deathstalker series is partly a parody of the usual space-opera of the 1950s, told with sovereign disregard of the rules of probability, while being at the same time extremely bloodthirsty.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Emmalynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun adventure with Tina and Daniel!! This time they are battling aliens being on taking over the world.

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will borrow liberally from my review of the first book of this series because this second book is not much different from the first, a carbon copy really, just different enemies to fight, aliens instead of monsters.

Fans of Simon R. Green will find this quick novel a bit disappointing. As usual, Mr. Green has a fascinating premise: with the monsters of old dispatched by the Hydes in the last chapter, the hidden aliens are now coming out to fill the vacuum. Daniel Carter, ex-London cop transformed into a Hyde by the wonderful elixir of Edward Hyde, and his partner Tina Hyde take on each alien group one by one. They all happen to be in the London area, all happen to be plotting something at this exact time, and all happen to have a central base where they can all be taken out at once.

We get a little bit of banter, a little bit of the mysterious new armorer, a rushed fight with a new alien group, and repeat. Not very engaging, the relationships are all very rushed, and the fights seem repetitive. Not the best effort from Mr. Green.

[Henry Lazarus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simon R. Green tells tales about powerful characters facing impossible odds. Hyde & Seek (hard from Baen) continues the tale of Tina and Daniel who had transformed into Hydes. This tale starts with the destruction of Jekyll & Hyde Inc. (paper) and the two Hydes learn about alien invaders like Martians, Reptilians, and the grays all intending to destroy the Earth since the Hydes had destroyed all the monsters of London. Lots of fun, especially for Simon R. Green fans

[L & J Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daniel & Tina Hyde have defeated the monster clans of werewolves and vampires and killed their former master/business leader. So now there is a power vacuum in England and it looks like the various groups of aliens who also use Earth as a hunting ground are looking to take over. The Hyde organization seem to be the biggest threat to their plans.

[Derrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm done with this series... it was so trope and not funny. The fist one was just 'ok' and this one doesn't do anything to redeem it. I'll stick with his other stuff moving forward.

[Chris Townsend · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simon Green has been possibly my favorite writer since I first read Blue Moon Rising back in 1991. I have read many dozens of his books and enjoyed all of them. While the first Jekyll & Hyde book was one of his weaker efforts and was highly derivative of his earlier works, it was fresh enough to be enjoyable overall.

I cannot say the same for Hyde & Seek. This is a by the numbers sequel that follows all the same plot points (substituting aliens for monsters) but with considerably less substance. The obstacles placed in our heroes' path are quickly and easily overcome each time. A setup that feels like it could be the subject of an entire book, or at least several chapters, is resolved in 10 to 20 pages. Our main characters, Daniel and Tina, are incredibly shallow. It appears that Mr. Green is attempting to recreate the playful banter of Hawk and Fisher, but it's greatly overdone and has almost no substance to give that banter any meaning. For the majority of the novel, virtually all they do is remind everyone, and each other, that they're Hydes, in a very repetitive and tiresome manner. They even duplicate each other's annoying speech patterns, so much so that I'm left to wonder if it was an unintentional weakness of the author's writing.

Overall, this feels like a story that was banged out much too quickly and would have greatly benefitted from a re-write.