Five scientists who specialize in differnt fields are asked to come to Antartica by Hollis Richards. They are each given very little informaiton as to they their presence has been requested, but what they are given entices each of them to drop what they are doing and accept Richard's invitation. Each chapter is told from a different character's perspective with the beginning chapters being dedicated to learning about Richards and the five scientists. As with many thriller/horror books and movies, the beginning has a typical slower pace. There was some scientific gargon that I was not familiar with and was thankful for the dictionary on the Kindle. Once the excitment starts, it is nonstop action above and under the waters of Antartica. While reading this book I was imagining how it would play out on film and I defiently belive this would make a great movie. There are many horror books, but it was nice to read one set in Antartica. I give this book a 3.5 star rating rounding up to 4 stars.

After misshapen skulls, all bearing the same deformity and chromosomal irregularities, are discovered in various locations across the globe, a group of disparate researchers are whisked away to a secret research base in the Antarctic where an even more chilling discovery has been made - one that could redefine what we knew about humanity's origin.

I've only read a few previous titles by Michael McBride, and while each were terrific and exciting in their own way, they did little to prepare me for the scope and scientific depth of Subhuman. I have no idea what McBride's background is like, if he's an active scientific researcher or an armchair enthusiast, or just somebody who is able to distill a heck of a lot of information into a cogent story, but it's clear that a heck of a lot of research on a wide range of issues went into this book. I'm used to McBride's thrilling creature feature horror novellas, like the two Snowblind books, so it was really cool to see him stretch out and get comfortable with material more in the vein of Michael Crichton and James Rollins.

While the attention to science, both weird and otherwise, gets high marks, the characters suffer a bit in comparison. For such a large cast, we hardly get to know anybody over the course of 400-some pages beyond their names and affiliations. We have Roche, a former NSA decryption analyst turned UFO hunter; Jade, a war crimes investigator; Kelly, the seismologist; and Richards, the dude funding the whole excavation and fueled by a UFO sighting in his youth. A few other names are bandied about, but they get even less attention than the primaries. Each of the co-leads get a few nice moments to shine, but I never really found a reason to latch onto them.

Despite the shallow characterizations, there's plenty else happening to keep one's attention. I'm a sucker for horror stories that utilize weather extremes (one of the reasons Snowblind caught my eye, in fact), and the colder the better. Subhuman definitely brings the chills, along with a nifty sense of discovery that culminates in an Alien-like bloodbath that left me grinning. The story is a bit of a slow burn while the stage gets set and all the various pieces of scientific anomalies are put into place, but it's all oh so very worthwhile. For the last 100 pages or so, McBride sets the climax to roller-coaster speed, and things get freaking intense fast!

Subhuman marks the debut of McBride's Unit 51 series, and I'm more than ready for book two. Fans of Rollins's Sigma series (or lapsed fan like me looking for something fresh) would do well to check out this title ASAP.

[Note: I received an advanced copy of this title from the author in exchange for an honest review.]

A unique horror novel that was both fascinating & highly addicting. I seriously did not want to put this down!

Antarctica – cold, bleak, desolate, inaccessible. A place where you do not want things to go wrong. But there are five scientists together in this frozen wasteland trying to piece together an ancient and terrifying mystery. There appears to be a lost world beneath the ice, populated by a creature that appears to have made its way across the globe millenia ago. Luckily, they appear to be long dead, or are they? I love stories set in Antarctica, the knowledge that the protagonists are cut off from civilization and beyond help makes the book that mush more exciting. This one is a nail biter