I found this book simply amazing, from the start to the finish. The book was a real page-turner and I found that the style of the author made it easy to read. In fact I could not put it down, even when I should have been fast asleep.
 
The main character in this book is a seventeen year-old boy called Stephen who lives in a foster home. Many dramatic and exciting events take place during the last few weeks he spends in the foster home, before he is due to leave to go to live at a hostel, called St Mark’s. For example his foster-family’s daughter holds a party at the village hall, during which her boyfriend has a fit caused by drugs and drink and has to be rushed to hospital. Stephen decides to accompany the boyfriend. However when Stephen arrives back at the hall, he is shocked to see that it is on fire and both the fire brigade and police are present at the scene.

Throughout the book Stephen always seems to find himself in trouble, sometimes with the Police. In fact he has had many scrapes with the law in the past.

As a boy he is given a baby crocodile as a birthday present. The crocodile grows and he has to keep it in a cage in a pipe connected to the local reservoir. In fact, it is the crocodile that gives the title to the book, Beast. At the end of the book the Beast breaks out of the cage and escapes into the country. Trying to capture the Beast was one of the most exciting parts of the book.

In a few areas of the book I did lose interest but then all of a sudden I was on the edge of my seat again. Indeed, I think this has been one of the best books I have read in the last year. The book was riveting particularly as the pace of the excitement increased at the end when everything went wrong trying to recapture the crocodile.

I thought this book was very enjoyable to read. I would rate it 8 ½ out of 10.