Subhuman: Unit 51, Book 1
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Subhuman: Unit 51, Book 1 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Michael McBride (Author), Neil Hellegers (Narrator), Tantor Audio (Publisher)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,657 ratings
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They are not human.

At a research station in Antarctica, five of the world's top scientists have been brought together to solve one of the greatest mysteries in human history. Their subject, however, is anything but human....

They are not natural.

Deep beneath the ice, the submerged ruins of a lost civilization hold the key to the strange mutations that each scientist has encountered across the globe: A misshapen skull in Russia. The grotesque carvings of a lost race in Peru. The mummified remains of a humanoid monstrosity in Egypt....

They are not friendly.

When a series of sound waves trigger the ancient organisms, a new kind of evolution begins. Latching onto a human host - crossbreeding with human DNA - a long-extinct life form is reborn. Its kind has not walked the earth for thousands of years. Its instincts are fiercer, more savage, than any predator alive. And its prey are the scientists who unleashed it, the humans who spawned it, and the tender living flesh on which it feeds....

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  1. Listening Length
    11 hours and 5 minutes
  2. Author
    Michael McBride
  3. Narrator
    Neil Hellegers
  4. Audible release date
    October 31, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Tantor Audio
  7. ASIN
    B076H7G6YS
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 11 hours and 5 minutes
Author Michael McBride
Narrator Neil Hellegers
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date October 31, 2017
Publisher Tantor Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B076H7G6YS
Best Sellers Rank #193,629 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#1,212 in First Contact Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#2,485 in Supernatural Thrillers (Audible Books & Originals)
#4,523 in First Contact Science Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
1,657 global ratings
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Captivating monster horror.
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Top reviews from the United States

K. A. Y.
5.0 out of 5 stars Easily the best book I've read all year!
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2017
Verified Purchase
SUBHUMAN is A Unit 51 Novel, by Michael McBride. I’ve frequently been impressed by this author’s attention to even the most minute details, his all-consuming atmosphere that makes you feel as though you are actually “in” the novel instead of merely reading it, and the thorough research he presents that make even the most improbable of scenarios seem possible. In SUBHUMAN, he takes all of these elements and combines them into an all new high.

A new discovery is made in the inhospitable region of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. Entrepreneur Hollis Richards–along with his best friend and body guard, Will Connor–begin to assemble the best open-minds in their respective fields, to assist in their revolutionary find. Richards is a man that instantly garners your respect. Unlike your “typically portrayed” rich-man-out-for-himself, McBride gives us a sympathetic, friendly leader of this mission–along with a brief bio of his childhood to back it up.

“. . . He figured the best measure of a man was how he treated those whose station in life didn’t always command the utmost respect.”

The reader is treated to the backgrounds and specialties of Dr. Cade Evans, Dr. Jade Liang, the enigmatic Martin Roche, Kelly Nolan, and Dr. Anya Fleming–among some of the other specialists on site. The characterization here leaves nothing out. I honestly found myself able to distinguish between, identify and/or sympathize with, each member brought on board. With few exceptions that make the situation seem even more realistic, this recently assembled group becomes "family" in a sense, each reaching out for a common goal, ready to discover something completely “new” to the scientific community.

“. . . there was nothing fictional about this . . . "

We are taken through many exploratory “guesses” as to exactly what the scientists are going to unveil, but the reality is that we have as much insight into this mystery as they have, themselves. This is perhaps the aspect that I enjoyed most in SUBHUMAN–while each scientist had an idea and a “hope” on what they will ultimately uncover, nobody was “certain” of anything. In this regard, we are discovering alongside them.

“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” (Carl Sagan).

The frigid temperature and overall remoteness of Antarctica provide the perfect and essential background to harbor a new discovery of such magnitude. This difficult–almost hostile–location is described with such vivid detail that the reader can feel the cold winds blowing, and actually believe that if a new scientific discovery was to have remained undisturbed for so long, THIS was the place it would be.

The atmosphere alone may have been enough for some authors to go on, but McBride takes that extra step with his detailed descriptions. In this approach, he allows for the reader to “discover” the mysteries beneath the surface as the main characters do. In SUBHUMAN, we have a novel that makes us a “part” of it–one that I found impossible to leave until the very end.

From a “safe” scientific venture, the action begins to morph into something much more sinister by planting subtle suggestions and clues along the way. Even knowing ahead of time that things are not quite what the scientists are expecting, this book still had the power to shock me with the new revelations as they came about. When a reader is so immersed in a novel for that to happen, you know you are reading something truly spectacular.

“. . . That’s not a hallmark of superior intelligence; that’s a predatory instinct.”

SUBHUMAN is an easy contender for my number one read of the year. I sincerely hope to be seeing more from this author in the future.

Highest recommendation!
38 people found this helpful
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lara
4.0 out of 5 stars Potential for a really good series.
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2018
Verified Purchase
I bought this book for three reasons: I liked the excerpt, I liked the idea that this seemed to be the first book in a series called Unit 51 and third it was in a mass market paperback, which meant it was not self-published, but edited and coherent.

The "hunt" was good. The individual characters started out as distinct, but pretty soon they all meshed into a few generic characters, in other words I had to go back to the beginning to see who was who.

The monster/s was/were disgusting. Who or what they were and what they represented never became clear except for some disjointed conversation response from one of the monsters. Maybe that is a come-on for the next book. Regardless, the story was interesting, but a "little bloody" as in "oceans of blood running all over the station." The plot devolves into how to keep from dying and how much more stupid can they, the potential feed bags, be.

The hunt started out good. And then, that's it. Death and destruction and then more death and then more blood and then more death and then destruction and then, boom more death.

I have a question, when they [the survivors] were in the garage and they were "freezing to death" WHY didn't they all pile into a truck or whatever and TURN ON THE HEAT? At first I thought that there was something wrong with the trucks, maybe they didn't work, something I missed UNTIL one of the characters crawls into the truck and starts it so that she can use the radio and the author makes pains to write that "warm air came out of the vent." Or something like that. And I am thinking, WHY DID SHE GET OUT OF THE TRUCK AND GO BACK TO WHERE EVERYONE WAS FREEZING? Why didn't everyone just pile into the truck and turn on the heater every so often?

OK, will I buy and read the next book? I don't know. I buy this kind of book for the "hunt" and the "uncovering of secrets" not for monster of the week or millennia.

The characters start out interesting. And then they become, literally nothing more than blood bags. I pretty much skipped through the chases and running, because one chase is pretty much like another. It would have been better for me if the author had started a chase and then put in parenthesis "Long Chase here, lasts for about twenty minutes and then...." and then starts up with the next important item to happen.

McBride can write. He holds your attention. But, and this is the problem that most authors do not seem to understand, less is more. Hints rather than a bucket of blood dumped on my head is more interesting. Curiosity is the engine of imagination and telling too much destroys the potential of a "secret" or a plot.

This book is worth a reading. It will entertain you, will it scare you? Not so much. "Things that man is not meant to know" is the refuge of people who don't know where they are going with the plot. McBride does lay it out, he kills people wantonly, he does not make it scarier than someone jumping out from behind a door in a dark room. True horror is not what can kill you, but what you cannot escape from. That no matter what you do, no matter how you fight, you cannot win. That is true horror. Not buckets of blood, but buckets of futile fighting.

Yes, I will read the second book. Perhaps the first book is merely an intro to a bigger story. If it is, if it is not just more slaughter and blood, there is the potential for really interesting series of books. I hope so.
33 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Kim Nicholson
5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable !!!!!
Reviewed in Canada on October 9, 2020
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When I first read a sample of this book it triggered a sudden desire to read more, so I got the entire book and let me tell you once I started I couldn’t stop, it was like the best rollercoaster ride ever, ups and downs and heart stopping action the whole way, it also made me stop and think .... what if ???? I guarantee you’ll love this book I know I did !!! Now onto the next book !!!
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Denise
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book I Have Read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2020
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This book was brilliant from the first page, I just couldn't put it down, very intriguing story line, all the characters were interesting and likable, the story was fast paced and exciting from beginning to the end. I truly hope they make this into a film one day, it would be epic!!!
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Derrick Neal
4.0 out of 5 stars Book 1
Reviewed in Canada on September 13, 2021
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I read the second book before this one. I was moderately pleased with this book. Four stars. It was good but not great.
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Jack D Ripper
5.0 out of 5 stars I haven’t read this yet, looks exciting though and ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2018
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I haven’t read this yet,looks exciting though and I’ll be ordering the series.
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Beta119
4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Interesting Take on an Often- Told Story
Reviewed in Canada on December 4, 2017
Verified Purchase
The book was based on an interesting theory based on alien intervention with respect to hominid and other animal species. As a Biology and Applied Science graduate, I found the technical jargon quite palatable, but readers not exposed to these disciplines might found the referrals either boring, or challenging to decipher while piecing together the plotline of the story.
- I found the story interesting, and I would like to try more of this author's writings.
2 people found this helpful
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