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{{For|the 2006 novel by Ally Kennen|Beast (Kennen novel)}}

{{infobox book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name          = Beast 
| image         = Peterbenchleybeast.jpg
| caption       = First edition
| author        = [[Peter Benchley]]
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| genre         = [[Horror fiction|Horror]]
| series        = 
| subject       = 
| publisher     = [[Random House]] (US)<br>[[Hutchinson (publisher)|Hutchinson]] (UK)
| release_date  = 1991
| english_release_date =
| media_type    = Print
| pages         = 
| isbn          =  
| dewey         = 
| congress      = 
| oclc          = 
| preceded_by   = [[Rummies]]
| followed_by   = [[White Shark (novel)|White Shark]]
}}
'''''Beast''''' is a [[1991 in literature|1991]] novel by [[Peter Benchley]], the author of ''[[Jaws (novel)|Jaws]]''.

==Plot==
A fishing community in [[Bermuda]] is disrupted by a series of mysterious disappearances at sea, including the vanishing of wealthy couple Howard and Elizabeth Griffin, their boat having mysteriously sunk. Veteran fisherman Whip Darling suspects the truth, and after discovering two large hooks alongside first mate Mike Newcombe, he advises confidant Marcus Sharpe, a local Navy pilot, that the culprit is ''Architeuthis dux'': a [[giant squid]].

A [[marine biologist]] called Herbert Talley also guesses the truth after the latest disaster and convinces Osborne Manning, the millionaire father of two of the victims (Scott Manning and Susie Manning), to fund a hunt for the creature. Local mayor St. Liam John attempts to overrule all parties and participates in an exploratory mission on a mini[[submarine]], but he is killed when the creature destroys the vessel, alongside Captain Wallingford, Hector, Stephanie Carr, Andy, Eddie, and Mike Newcombe.

Although reluctant to participate any further, Whip Darling is blackmailed when Osborne Manning assumes ownership of his outstanding mortgage. Leaving wife Charlotte Darling and daughter Dana Darling at home, Whip Darling, Marcus Sharpe, Herbert Talley, and Osborne Manning embark on a new hunt, although Osborne Manning is later killed in an accident. The creature is attracted by  [[hormones]] Herbert Talley cultivated from a pair of dead giant squid in an attempt to trap it. The trap fails, and the enraged squid attacks their vessel. Whip Darling wounds the creature with an explosive Marcus Sharpe and he had made, but the creature survives. Before the squid can kill them, however, a [[sperm whale]], (presumably the mother of a young whale the squid had eaten earlier) arrives and kills it.

Whip Darling’s vessel is lost, but the group survives on a floating piece of debris and is driven back to land by the current. However, they are oblivious to the fact that an abnormally large number of the squid's offspring have survived, and due to [[overfishing]], will grow to adulthood unchallenged.<ref name=reads>{{cite web|title=Beast|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/825282.Beast|publisher=goodreads.com|accessdate=7 November 2013|archive-date=12 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012203757/http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/825282.Beast|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=amazon>{{cite book|title=Beast|isbn=0449220893|last1=Benchley|first1=Peter|year=1992|publisher=Fawcett Crest }}</ref><ref name=review>{{cite web|last=Ellis|first=Richard|title=Book and Movie Review: BEAST|url=http://www.tonmo.com/reviews/beast.php|publisher=tonmo.com|accessdate=7 November 2013|archive-date=24 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224011701/http://www.tonmo.com/reviews/beast.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=google>{{cite book|title = Beast|isbn = 9780679403555|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a_Jv9reyfQsC|accessdate = 7 November 2013|last1 = Benchley|first1 = Peter|year = 1991| publisher=Random House |archive-date = 22 July 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220722124907/https://books.google.com/books?id=a_Jv9reyfQsC|url-status = live}}</ref>

==Adaptation==
''Beast'' was adapted into a [[TV movie]] called ''[[The Beast (1996 film)|The Beast]]'' in 1996, starring [[William Petersen]] as Whip Dalton (name changed from Darling). Aside from an altered ending with the squid being killed by an explosion instead of a whale, Marcus's character being female, Manning being unrelated to any of the squid's victims and only wanting it as an exhibit for an ocean park, Whip's teenaged daughter having a subplot, and the setting being changed from Bermuda to the Pacific Northwest, the film is regarded as very faithful to the source material.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115109/|title=The Beast (TV Mini Series 1996) - IMDb|website=[[IMDb]] |access-date=2018-07-01|archive-date=2018-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326115157/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115109/|url-status=live}}</ref> The film was well received and earned high ratings, both earning a nomination in the Daytime Emmy Awards and encouraging future adaptations of Benchley's other works, such as ''[[White Shark (novel)|White Shark]]'' being adapted as ''[[Creature (miniseries)|Creature]]'' in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/peter-benchleys-beast|title=Peter Benchley's the Beast|access-date=2021-07-25|archive-date=2021-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725053548/https://www.emmys.com/shows/peter-benchleys-beast|url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Giant squid in popular culture]]
<!-- already cited*[[Jaws (novel)]]
 -->
==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Peter Benchley}}


[[Category:1990s horror novels]]
[[Category:1991 American novels]]
[[Category:American horror novels]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into television shows]]
[[Category:Books about cephalopods]]
[[Category:Horror novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Nautical novels]]
[[Category:Novels about animals]]
[[Category:Novels by Peter Benchley]]
[[Category:Random House books]]
[[Category:Giant squid]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Beast (Benchley novel)|access_date=2026-02-26}}