Hybrids

Strieber, well-known for both horror (The Omega Point) and nonfiction about alien encounters (Communion), deals with the consequences of abandoned alien technology in this vapid thriller. Complex biomechanical hybrids, made with alien gene-splicing techniques and spawned in an underground facility deep below New Mexico, threaten the world, while the U.S. president rages against the scientists who have kept him in the dark. Human science proves ineffectual against the hybrids, and humanity's only hope lies in the first generation of hybrids, Mark and Gina, who are unaware of their own origin and hidden superpowers. Stilted prose, flat characters, cartoonish emotion, and implausible science combine to rob this book of any appeal. (Apr.)