I love this series and and I'm hoping there's going to be more of the series coming out, loved seeing what the characters was doing and finding out more about the creatures that you meet in book one, this series just keeps getting better with each book, with that said I want to think Netgalley for letting me read it and review it and for falling in love with these characters all over again.

I've been fortunate in that I've been able to visit two different Mayan pyramids in my travels - Tikal in Guatemala and Chichen Itza in the Yucatán. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned that McBride was going to be using the pyramid at Teotihuacan as one of the main settings in his second Unit 51 opus.

Six months ago, a discovery was made in Antarctica. Deep under the ice, scientists discovered what they thought was evidence of an ancient civilization. A team of the world's brightest minds, along with the best paramilitary unit and engineers money can buy, carved down below the layers of ice and set up a top secret archeological dig. They prepared themselves for the discovery of a lifetime. What they found was something that nothing could prepare them for...and they woke it up.

That was SUBHUMAN. The first book from Michael McBride's Unit 51 series. Now, with FORSAKEN, the nightmare hasn't ended. In fact, it's just beginning. Six months after waking up a prehistoric alien under the ice, Barnett calls upon his cast of scientists to help him once more in Antarctica. They thought the alien was destroyed. They were wrong. Not only is it alive, it's multiplying. Meanwhile, in the ancient ruins of Teotihuacan near Mexico City, a tunnel system has been discovered under the pyramids with symbols on the walls that depict a mysterious relationship with the Antarctic city under the ice and the crop circles in England. How are they all tied together? What does it all mean?

McBride has done it again. He has expanded the Area 51 universe he created in SUBHUMAN and added more branches to the ever-twisting tale. I love how he ties it all together in a way that makes you think more than once - "yeah, that could actually see that happening." I'm amazed at the realism he brings into these stories. The science. The historical facts. The geographical locations. The attention to detail in all of these categories is mind boggling. I've wikipedia'd more stuff from this book than I have in the last ten that I've read. It's like being in the middle of an Indiana Jones/Alien/The Thing/Predator combo movie. If I have one critique that prevents FORSAKEN from being a complete 5-star read, it would be that you can pretty much tell which characters are going to be offed and which ones will survive. Kind of like the old Star Trek series. Whoever the no-name was that was being transported down with Kirk and Spock you knew was surely going to be a goner. The same is true for FORSAKEN. In the thick of the action, characters are suddenly introduced on the spot and they might as well have a big bullseye on their back. Was it a dealbreaker? Hell no. McBride puts way too much good stuff in here to let a slight hiccup like that knock you off course. One more point. I would recommend that you start with SUBHUMAN before moving on to FORSAKEN. I think you have to have the backstory and characters firmly cemented in your head from the SUBHUMAN first to get the most out of FORSAKEN. Otherwise, you'll end up asking yourself over and over "Who was that? " and "Now whats going on ?" With that being said, this is my favorite series that I've read in years. I simply can't wait for the 3rd installment. Bring it on, McBride!


4 1/2 Booby Traps out of 5


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It is so very hard to classify this book. It seems to be a blend of Preston & Child/Foster/Crichton but it is definitely in a league of its own.
The story takes place six months after a top secret paramilitary team (Unit 51) was sent in to destroy an ancient and deadly organism that scientists had found in Antarctica. It was assumed that the mission was accomplished but it was not and now the threat to humanity is even more dire. A group of diverse researchers who were drawn together in the events of book one of this series (Subhuman) are gathered together once again as an unsettling discovery is made in an ancient temple in Mexico that is connected to the one in Antarctica.
There was not too much depth with the characters but it did not detract from the book itself as there was so much action, suspense, and adventure that the book didn't really need characters with that much depth. I loved the fast pace of the writing and the vivid description of scenery. The theories seem very well thought out. My only regret is that I wish I had read book one of the series first. "Forsaken" is okay to read on its own but there were references that didn't make a lot of sense so I really would recommend reading Subhuman before you read Forsaken. I really did enjoy reading the book and am now reading Subhuman so that I will be ready for the next book in the series.
I received a copy of this book from Kensington Books through Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fast-paced, exciting, thrill of a read. I was initially intrigued by the blurb, since this sounded like a Crichton-type science fiction book and I am a huge fan of his work. I was not disappointed by this offering from McBride. I enjoyed the blend of science, mythology, and horror and kept turning pages right up until the end.

However, as with some other fast-paced science fiction, the characters suffered here. I unfortunately did not realize this was a sequel before I started reading, and had a lot of trouble differentiating between characters. There are a lot of point of view changes throughout the story and it was disorienting at times.

I would recommend to other readers who, like me, need something to fill the Crichton sized hole in their heart, but also enjoy a healthy dose of blood and guts. I plan to read more of McBride's offerings in the future (hopefully with a few less POV characters).

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this amazingly horrific book

this is the second book in the series of unit 51 and carries on the story from where it left off...though the characters have gone their separate ways they are drawn back into the action

its a very detailed book with big words but once you get over that the action comes thick and fast and very gory, shockingly so.....but very edge of your seat stuff...

this author is fast becoming my favourite horror storytellers and i put him in the same catagory as james herberts the rats trilogy micheal crichton books...well worth a read

keep an eye out for this author he is shockingly good, and you will need strong stomachs for some parts of this book

DNF - I found it boring and too stereotypical of the action/adventure genre.

I had not read the first book so I was a tad lost in parts of this but it's a pretty good read as a standalone. This is nonstop action- the characters are not particularly well developed but that's not why you're reading this. It's. combination of horror and sci-fi, with lots of action and shoot-em-up stuff that would make it a good movie. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Hard to synopsize, not my usual genre, but still a page turner.

Oh yes! This book is my new favorite movie: adventure, action, mystery, mayhem, monsters, bloody violence, and romance.

McBride has combined X-Files, Aliens, and Jurassic Park to create a wild page turning ride.

Book One was an investment. Book Two, and hopefully the entire series, is the payoff.

I could not be happier!

Apparently, Forsaken is the second book in the Unit 51 series. Not having read Subhuman, I wasn't really sure what I was in for. What a wild ride!

The book primarily flips back and forth between Forward Base Atlantis in Antarctica and ancient ruins in Mexico, with some diversions to England the African jungle. A few months earlier, creatures that had been frozen in time beneath the ice in Antarctica were unearthed by several scientists. Unfortunately, said creatures were not dead, merely in a state of hibernation that the scientists unwittingly terminated. And they aren't friendly. Now one creature (formerly one of the original scientists) is being observed in Antarctica. But it knows something they don't, and isn't anxious to share.

Simultaneously, the ancient ruins in Mexico are providing some interesting information. Drawings in the ruins are similar to some found in the pyramid in Antarctica. Then some flooding allows the scientists to stumble across an ancient maze that doesn't quite have a prize in the middle. And the maze is the same design as the crop circles in England, which mirrors one of the few clues provided to the Antarctican scientists by the living creature...

I don't know if I'd call this horror or science fiction or thriller (there is a LOT of shooting and special ops guys in there), but it was really entertaining. It was interesting how there were events occurring all over the world that were seemingly linked. I have to agree with some of the other reviewers that there are a lot of characters to track and it can get confusing jumping back and forth. Overall, the tale was quite good.

Genre absolutists will have a field day trying to classifying Forsaken, the second in Michael McBride's Unit 51 series. Like its Subhumanpredecessor, McBride seamlessly blends scientific thrills with plenty of action, globe-hopping adventure, and some moments of delicious horror, all of which add up to a gripping read that's difficult to adequately categorize.

Having spent the bulk of Subhuman slowly unravelling this series's premise with methodical deliberation and stage-setting for the books to follow, McBride drops readers straight into the deep-end in Forsaken. Six months after the startling discoveries beneath the Antarctic research base Atlantis, readers are reunited with the Unit 51 team as the book's core of researchers have returned to their research and explorations. Soon enough, each are drawn back into the thick of things as alien encounters in the Antarctic and the discovery of a buried Mexican temple point toward a common threat, as well as the emergence of a new enemy that may be pining for the end of the world.

It has been a while since I read Subhuman, so it took me a fair bit of time to reconnect with the women and men of Unit 51 and to try and remember who's who. McBride tosses in a lot of characters, a fair number of whom are disposable and make little more than a one-off appearance in order to be killed in various and interesting ways to help shuffle the plot along from point A to point B. This isn't a bad thing, in and of itself, but it does gives the primary members of Unit 51 a sense of imperviousness. While these characters constantly find themselves in peril and get all kinds of banged up along the way, I never really got the impression that they were in mortal danger simply because McBride reserves the bulk of Forsaken's grisly deaths for more minor, tertiary Redshirt characters. Character development is pretty thin and minuscule all around, a complaint I had regarding Subhuman as well, but one that is ultimately pretty low priority for me given how well everything else is done in these books. McBride keeps the pace amped up with kinetic fervor that I ultimately didn't much mind the disposable cardboard cutouts caught up in the mayhem. I was too busy flipping pages to find out what comes next and having myself a grand old time reading.

Despite my inability to connect with any of the characters, I found myself loving Forsaken simply because it's an incredible amount of fun. Fun goes a long way for me, and I can always count on McBride to deliver an entertaining read. Once he hits the halfway mark, Forsaken becomes an incredible actioneer, chockfull of adventure that carries the story along to the finish at a breathless, breakneck pace. The narrative hops between the various Unit 51 crew, ping-ponging between their ordeals in the Antarctic and the simultaneous, violent encounters in Mexico as the researchers explore the booby-trapped temple, and it's at this point that Forsaken becomes impossible to put down. This sucker is a roller-coaster, fueled on adrenaline and gunpowder, and with just as many turns and narrative wrinkles to jostle the car in a number of exciting ways.

Books like the Unit 51 series typically come in two flavors - dumb fun, like Matthew Reilly's Scarecrow books, or propulsive adventures wrapped around scientific plausibilities, like James Rollins's Sigma series. McBride falls in the latter category, exhibiting a rich scientific acumen, medical know-how, and plenty of attention to detail that gives both Unit 51 titles smarts to spare, as well as enough of a real-world pedigree to make the most speculative aspects of the plot wholly convincing.

I also like the fact that the Unit 51 series is shaping up to be a cohesive series. These aren't stand-alone adventures with all new stories for each installment. Unlike the Sigma series, Unit 51 is a legit, and massive, single story being told over multiple books in what I presume will be a trilogy. It's a safe bet a third Unit 51 title will be on the way, and I can guarantee I'll be reading it as soon as I can sink my claws into a copy.

FORSAKEN, by Michael McBride, is the second novel in his Unit 51 series.  Six months earlier, a clandestine team of various scientists and archeologists put into motion events that triggered an ancient organism to re-emerge from the depths of Antarctica--with deadly consequences.  After the events in SUBHUMAN, those that survived went back to their various fields, vainly trying to put the recent past behind them, thinking the worst was over.

They were wrong.

"We . . . know . . . you . . .  We . . . still . . . live."

The different groupings, consisting of Dr. Cade Evens and Dr. Anya Fleming, Martin Roche and Kelly Nolan, and Dr. Jade Liang, believed that Cameron Barnett--the "silent partner" of Richard Hollis, the man who assembled them together in the first place--had eradicated the threat.  However, that was only the story he chose to let them comfort themselves with.

". . . an open mind was critical when it came to rationalizing the inexplicable."

After the station in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, is back up and running more securely than ever, our previous characters begin to notice signs in their current work that dredge up memories of what they encountered previously.  Here, McBride does a phenomenal job in getting the readers intimately reacquainted with those first "met" in SUBHUMAN, as well as introducing some all new personalities into the mix.

One of the best things about this author's style, is that he can take even the most complex aspect of jobs and theories, and get them across to his readers in a way they can understand and relate to in some manor.  He gives enough information for us to assimilate and process without bogging us down with too much intel, that would be unnecessary to the momentum of the novel.

". . . When has mankind ever been content to merely observe? . . . "

What starts out as more of a suspense/thriller novel begins to escalate in terms of apprehension and anxiety as each of the different factions uncovers "clues" leading back to their fateful discovery in Antarctica.  Their combined finds quickly morph this narrative from thriller, to outright relentless horror that refuses to abate, never letting up long enough for the reader to disengage from the storyline.

"A cornered animal is infinitely more dangerous."

The pace that McBride moves toward is more than simply frantic, it's all-consuming and inescapable.  I found the last two-thirds of this novel nearly impossible to put down for even a moment.  Mentally I was still "with" the characters even when not actively reading.

". . . Never in his worst nightmares had he imagined that something like this could happen . . . "

The variation in locations utilized here were written in such a way as to emphasize the stark differences, and yet simultaneously showcase the intrinsic similarities that connected everything together.  For example, from the frigid wind and ice ravaged station in Antarctica, to the sweltering humidity and heat in a subterranean tunnel system located 25 miles from Mexico City, McBride manages to paint each area in a way that places the reader right in the center of it all.  His descriptions have the power to make you shiver with cold while reading of the events in Queen Maud Land, and feel like mentally swatting insects and wiping off the perspiration dripping from your brow in the underground mazes in Teotihuacan.

". . . he knew all about curses, which tended to be a whole lot more bark than bite, but this one was oddly specific . . . "

In FORSAKEN, McBride incorporates a variety of historical legends and some mythology, giving a certain amount of credence to what would, on the surface, be too fantastic to believe.  This tactic of blending some of the past beliefs with our current scientific knowledge encourages the notion that this situation could be plausible.

"Nature abhors perfection.  At its most basic level, nature's essentially an agent of chaos . . . "

Of course, the realistic characters and the decisions they make along the way, contribute greatly to bringing this novel "alive" in the readers' minds.  When people behave in a manner consistent to what we would expect of them--under any circumstances--a plot becomes that much more grounded.

"You have a talent for stating the obvious."

"As you do for overlooking it . . . "

Overall, an incredible follow-up to the phenomenal SUBHUMAN, from an author whose imagination knows no boundaries.  Michael McBride just keeps getting better and better with each new release.  I expect to see his name at the top of the "bestsellers" list!

"We are . . . not . . . done with you . . . yet."

Highest recommendation!

Reading order:  SUBHUMAN; FORSAKEN . . .

The story somewhat bounced all over the place. It made for difficult reading. I normally love thrillers based on ancient mysteries. But, this story just didn't capture my interest. I struggled to finish.

So this is the 2nd novel in the series. You must, must, must read the first novel in order to completely understand where (and why) we are. Note: reading the 1st book isn't a hardship - it's a pleasure of an adventure.

So, jumping right into danger, drama, and serious adventure, the author continues a tale that reaches far into our past - and far beyond our world.

I liked most of the characters and thoroughly enjoyed the James Rollins-esque adventure!

I especially liked the archaeological aspects of things. McBride made me want to pack a bag and go exploring (carrying a supply of weapons, of course).

A Rollicking Read!

I read the Kindle edition.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

In Antarctica some months earlier a team of six heavily armed ex-soldiers are sent to eradicate a mysterious creature (creatures?). Unfortunately, they are all killed. A follow-up team is sent to discover what happened to them. At the same time, in Mexico, archeologists discover the remains of a strange human/creature.

Sometime later in the book, more people start to die. It looks like the “creatures” that the team has woken doesn’t like modern humans. After more people die, the mystery deepens. Peoples’ bodies a co-opted as it were for the creatures seem to need a host to survive.

This is a great adventure story, and more than a little bit of a “what if” scenario. As the reader literally runs through the jungles of Mexico and the Antarctica he or she is thrilled by Mr. McBride’s colorful descriptions and the taut action scenes. Most of this book is pure action. It is a fun read.

This is a remarkable novel. It is very well written and plotted. It starts out slowly while introducing all the main characters and their various backgrounds. The scientists are all varied in their specialties and are very intelligent. All the equipment described is top-notch. The science is incredible. The novel is packed with scientific facts and interesting theories. The research that must have gone into this book was surely extensive and exhaustive.

I’ve read many of Michael McBride’s books and have been very impressed at the improvement in the quality of his work.

I want to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books/Pinnacle for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely wonderful book to read and enjoy.