Hybrids

Are you… A slave to your computer? Welded to your mobile phone? Joined at the hip to your iPod? Maybe one day you will be…

“A stunningly clever novel” – The Times
“Powerful and compelling” – Red House Books

Hybrids is available on Amazon, including as an e-book.

Winner of the HarperCollins-Saga Magazine Children’s Novelist competition and the 2008 Lewisham Schools Book Award, Hybrids is a YA novel also enjoyed by adults.

Britain is under quarantine. A virus is spreading that mainly affects teenagers. It causes them to merge with frequently-used technology to become… Hybrids.

“Hybrids is a terrifyingly realistic and contemporary novel … an absolute must read.” Verity Newman, Waterstone’s Brentwood, 5 out of 5

As hysteria grips the nation, hybrids live in fear of being rounded up by the Gene Police and sent to the mysterious and terrifying Centre for Genetic Rehabilitation, never to be seen again…

“There is vigour and validity in Hybrids… a commendable first novel.” James Lovegrove, Financial Times

Johnny Online (16, half computer) is a Grey — a class of hybrid declared illegal.

“Essential reading for the cyberspace generation. A powerful and compelling story.” Collins Educational, Book of the Month

He was abandoned by his parents, Muriel and David, when he was 13 and contracted Creep, an unknown virus that causes teens to merge with frequently-used technology.

“Brilliant. I can tell you for sure that you won’t guess how this one ends. Highly recommended.” – Reading Matters

Johnny lives on the streets of London, fighting for the rights of all hybrids. The author of the Declaration of the Rights of Hybrids, Johnny is gradually turning into a computer.

“An immense number of ideas, shaking up the situations in surprising ways time and time again.” – Starburst Magazine

Kestrella Chu (15, her hand’s a cellphone) is a Blue — a class of hybrid permitted to live at large as long as they have a minder and are registered.

“What singles out Hybrids is its well-crafted characters and finely spun tension.” – Bookseller’s Choice, The Bookseller

Johnny’s life changes when he meets Kestrella, from a privileged background. She enlists Johnny’s help to find her mother, a French ex-model turned hybrid, who has recently disappeared.

“The writing is sharp, the dialogue good, and the action pacey and page-turning. But there’s a real depth to this story, too. Like all good fiction it makes the reader see the world in a different light.” – Orange-prize winning author Helen Dunmore

“A fast-paced plot, good dialogue and engaging characters. Thorpe injects a seriously Orwellian feel.” Donal Cumiskey, Childrens Books Ireland

A tv series is under development.

View a three-part interview with David about the writing of Hybrids on the British-American BookView TV YouTube channel, with the charming Denis Campbell. He talks about the genesis ofthe novel and planned series, the characters, like Johnny Online, Kestrella Chu and their parents, Malcolm Winter and the Gene Police; what the novel means to him; the process of writing; and his hopes for the future of the series and a television/film project.

It’s in three parts:

 Part One

 Part Two

 Part Three