Changes

|title=Blood Beast (The Demonata)

|author=Darren Shan

|buy=Yes

|borrow=Yes

|pages=272

|publisher=Harper Collins Children's Books

|date=June 2007

|isbn=978-0007231324

}}

In ''Blood Beast'', the fifth book in Darren Shan's Demonata series, the lycanthropic nightmare continues for teenager Grubbs Grady. He's already lost his parents and his sister to the family werewolf gene and the battle to save his half-brother Bill-E from the same fate has cost Grubbs and his uncle, Dervish, dearly. So now, when the full moon approaches, and Grubbs begins to experience nightmares and fevers, he fears the worst. And it's almost too much to bear. We last saw Grubbs on a demon-ridden film set, rejecting his magical abilities in favour of a normal teenage life, having friends, staying out late, chasing girls. So, like most teenagers would, Grubbs makes a potentially fatal mistake and tries to keep his fears to himself. He doesn't tell Dervish. He tries to cope alone. And it's not easy...

Cliffhangers aside, I don't have a bad word to say about ''Blood Beast''. It's tense and exciting. It's chilling. It's full of betrayals and distrust and fear. However, underneath all the schlock horror, there's a solid base of morality in which friendship and family ties can redeem us all, if only we establish who it is we can trust and then trust them implicitly. Shan seems to understand his audience completely. He knows children are bloodthirsty little beasts. He appreciates that there is no such thing as too much gore. But he also knows when to stop. There's enough camp and enough high-spirited joy in the telling of a story to keep his readers feet (and fears) firmly on the ground.

My thanks to the kind people at Harper Collins for sending the book.

{{amazontext|amazon=0007231326}}

[[Category:Fantasy]]