Ontariese - Ontarian Cycle 99, and Earth's Rocky Mountain Demilitarized Zone - 2205

Trey dar Aune has always been a little jealous of his brother Tal because of his mystic abilities, and when Tal found his soulmate, Charlotte Layton, Trey envied their bond. Trey adores his sister-in-law Charlotte, the High Queen of Ontariese, and gladly accepts the task she gives him to rescue a woman who Charlotte believes is connected in some way to her long lost sister Krystabel. For ten years, Charlotte has attempted to use her mystic abilities to track Krystabel, and now she believes she knows where to find information about her.

With the new world order that Charlotte has brought to Ontariese, Trey feels displaced and unsure of what his future will be. The life he has been trained for, to follow in his father's footsteps in the political arena, is no longer a viable option. He's been trained as a warrior and has commanded his own ship for years. The mission Charlotte sends him on, of retrieving a woman from Earth, allows him to use the abilities and skills he's spent a lifetime learning. However, when Trey arrives on Earth and goes to The Center to rescue the woman from Charlotte's vision, he finds more than he could have guessed. Krystal, the woman from Charlotte's vision, is not the only occupant of The Center in need of rescuing, and something about the beautiful, angry Krystal heats Trey's blood.

Born and raised in The Center, Krystal has no idea what life in the outside world is like. She uses her anger to protect herself from Dr. Hydra and his sadistic experiments and to protect her twin sister Belle. The only thing that stops Krystal from destroying Dr. Hydra is the power he holds over her sister's life. When a stranger comes to The Center in search of a healer, Hydra offers Krystal's services -- in more ways than one -- for his own nefarious purposes. Krystal is drawn to Trey, but fears that he is in league with Dr. Hydra and cannot be trusted -- even if he does make her heart race.

Set on Earth far in the future, OPERATION HYDRA is a thrilling addition to Cyndi Friberg's Ontarian Chronicles series. A fast pace and likable characters make this an enjoyable and suspenseful tale. What exactly is The Center, and what is Dr. Hydra doing to the innocent women under his control? Trey and Krystal join forces to find out all of Hydra's secrets as well as rescue the other inhabitants of The Center. Krystal does not trust easily, and while she desires Trey, she's not sure she can trust him. Trey learns early who Krystal really is and doesn't feel worthy of her, but that doesn't stop him from desiring her with every breath. The interaction between Trey and Krystal is fraught with sexual tension and heats up the pages. The dialogue is crisp and realistic, and the secondary characters are as fully developed as the protagonists.

OPERATION HYDRA is a tale of one man's evil obsession and his torment of a group of women who know nothing of the outside world, or even where they really come from. When Trey and Krystal discover what is going on, they are shocked and enraged. Fraught with peril and heart wrenching emotion, OPERATION HYDRA is a spellbinding follow-up to the first story in the series, TAKEN BY THE STORM. I'm not a fan of science fiction, but the world created by Ms. Friberg is fascinating, and the characters who inhabit the world are magical, mystical and heroic. Dr. Hydra is a villain all readers will be hoping to see vanquished in any way necessary. Characters from TAKEN BY THE STORM make appearances, and two, Vee and Dro Tar, are integral to the plot.

For an adventure story that will captivate and spark the imagination, I highly recommend OPERATION HYDRA. When I first read and reviewed OPERATION HYDRA when it was previously released, I awarded it an RRT Perfect 10. While I can’t award a Perfect 10 again, it’s still one of the best science fiction romances I’ve ever read.

Terrie Figueroa