About Gregory Ryman
Passionate Storyteller
Gregory Ryman is a Canadian author and retired technology executive whose passion for intelligence history and global politics fuels his tightly plotted spy thrillers. His novels are known for weaving together authentic detail, moral complexity, and high-stakes intrigue rooted in the modern intelligence landscape.
His debut, Louisiana Hydra, introduces Stephanie Borden, a brilliant international consultant who is inadvertently pulled into a dangerous conspiracy. Thrown together with William Stinson—a reserved but gifted CIA technology specialist—Borden is drawn deep into the agency’s orbit. By the novel’s end, she emerges not just as a survivor but as an unofficial CIA asset, her previous life left behind.
In the follow-up, Artificial Hydra, Stephanie finds herself pressed into a more formal operative role. With Stinson now acting as both handler and partner, she’s tasked with navigating a geopolitical minefield where artificial intelligence and global surveillance collide.
Ryman brings his background in technology to bear in stories that probe institutional power, surveillance ethics, and the fragile line between loyalty and self-preservation. His writing is driven by character, realism, and a deep curiosity about how intelligence is gathered, wielded, and often misused.
He continues to develop the Borden–Stinson thriller series, exploring the evolving nature of espionage in an increasingly digitized world.
The Hydra Series
Louisiana Hydra
Artificial Hydra
Artificial Hydra
William Stinson is considered the stuff of legend in the international hacking community, and his employment with the CIA is a closely guarded secret. He lives a secluded life, but on this day, he is enjoying a coffee on a quiet patio at the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
Stephanie Borden is a high-priced international consultant who had been called to a meeting with Senator Michael Glenway to discuss the recent disappearance of the whistleblower who was preparing to break his silence. He had documented an active threat against the US that employed a strategy that most could barely comprehend. Borden and Glenway met on a patio at the National Cathedral in Washington DC, right next to a man sitting alone, quietly reading a book.
Neither Stinson nor Borden realized what had happened as the first bullet struck the senator. However, there was no doubt when the second bullet ended the senator’s life. And in that moment, Stinson and Borden were thrown together in a race to not only save their own lives but to unravel a conspiracy that would start in a tavern in Oxford, England, make its way through the streets of Paris, France, and then finally cut a path down the muddy waters of the Mississippi to Louisiana.
Stinson is accustomed to the insidious nature of those who plan and execute these types of crimes. However, for Borden, the evil she must face as they unravel this mystery threatens to drag her into a darkness she may be incapable of returning from. And time is running out.
Artificial Hydra
Artificial Hydra
Artificial Hydra
Stephanie Borden never expected her life to be entangled with the CIA. But after a deadly act she believed was a justified response to an existential threat, she now finds herself bound by an unofficial agreement to lend the agency her unique expertise. Her latest assignment, however, has turned into her worst nightmare.
Taken hostage alongside a team of elite AI scientists, Stephanie becomes a pawn in a dangerous three-way power struggle between global superpowers. Forced into the role of negotiator with only a fragile connection to her CIA handler, William Stinson, she must navigate treacherous waters. One adversary seeks to corrupt the highest levels of the U.S. government, exploiting vulnerabilities to infiltrate the heart of America’s security systems. Another, a long-standing enemy, offers a tenuous alliance—but can they be trusted?
Artificial Hydra exposes the dark underbelly of today’s technology and the lengths some will go to exploit it. As the lines between diplomacy, tradecraft, and survival blur, Stephanie races against time to outmaneuver enemies on every front. With the fate of the nation hanging in the balance, and every major intelligence agency in the world out to stop her, failure isn’t an option—but neither is survival guaranteed.