Germline (n.) the genetic material contained in a cellular lineage which can be passed to the next generation. Also: secret military program to develop genetically engineered super-soldiers ( slang).

War is Oscar Wendell's ticket to greatness. A reporter for The Stars and Stripes, he has the only one way pass to the front lines of a brutal war over natural resources buried underneath the icy, mineral rich mountains of Kazakhstan.

But war is nothing like he expected. Heavily armored soldiers battle genetically engineered troops hundreds of meters below the surface. The genetics-the germline soldiers-are the key to winning this war, but some inventions can't be un-done. Some technologies can't be put back in the box.

Kaz will change everything, not least Oscar himself. Hooked on a dangerous cocktail of adrenaline and drugs, Oscar doesn't find the war, the war finds him.

Review

"It takes real skill to lead readers into actually seeing, smelling, and hearing (and maybe even tasting) the realities of war." - James F. Kelly, for Wired.com

"Gritty and furious debut novel" and "a fantastic story of what war may become" -Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing

"Rapid-fire military sf adventure that explores the relationship between the runaway development of technology and biotech and the long-term consequences that ensue." -Library Journal

"A tour de force about a futuristic war and its aftermath." - SF Revu

"It's not often that a sci-fi military-thriller mass paperback will remind you of a Pulitzer nominee, but that's certainly the case with T.C. McCarthy's absolutely astounding literary debut Germline. Astute readers will also see a lot of Graham Greene and Ernest Hemingway in this book" -Chicago Center for Literature and Photography

"Compelling debut," "a portrait of the effects of battlefield stress that is difficult to bear but impossible to put down," and "one of the best SFF novels of Fall 2011." - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Brilliantly written...one of the most compelling science fiction books of the year. Germline is much more than a novel about a futuristic war." - Impact Magazine

It's not just good...it's the mil-sf book I wish I could send back in time to beat out Forever War for a Hugo. I never would have guessed McCarthy was an analyst...I was sure he'd been on the pointy end for a long time. - Ernest Lilley, SFRevu (Reviewer Emeritus), on Germline

From the Author

Germline: winner of the 2012 Compton Crook award!