The Beast Within Review

A serial killer targeting gay men is on the loose. As a result four men’s lives -- Devin's and Gary's, ex lovers -- Vanni's, a gay-club habitue -- and Hollis's, the detective in charge of the 'Heartless Murders’' case -- become intertwined.

Can they stop a killer and find love in the process?


CONTENT ADVISORY: This title involves a "happily for now" conclusion.




Be warned, there are spoilers ahead.

I fell in love with this story. It made me laugh, cry, want to scream, cheer for the characters, and made me believe in true love and that love can conquer. The shocking twist near the end was unexpected and I bawled like a baby while reading it. On that note, this book was very moving and covered a lot of the aspects of love; first love (in a way), love gained, love lost, love in the faced tragedy and illness, second chances at love, and learning how to love again. This book had a little bit of everything, from a man discovering he’s gay to a man discovering his worst nightmare just came true.

I truly enjoyed this book as it’s rare for a book to make me feel so much for the characters in so few pages. 200 pages are not usually enough pages to make you go through all these emotions and feelings without some disconnect. And with 4 main characters (and a fifth at the end), several plot lines including a murder, and being that short of a story, it’d be easy to get lost or confused or disconnect with the story along the way. Yet Mr. Kendrick does an amazing job at making everything run smoothly while still keeping the story realistic and a wonderful read. And as a writer, I can understand how difficult and impressive that is. I saw the characters as real people who I could meet just walking down the street and a few even reminded me of people I knew. And contrary to popular belief, it's not easy to make your characters that life like.

The only potential downside was that the ending was a HFN,which upset me since by the end of the book, I was very emotionally involved and I wanted a HEA for my boys. And the horrible tragedy that occurs near the end was very upsetting as well, but was necessary to help make this book as powerful as it was. Other than that, the story was…indescribable. There aren’t words great enough to define this book. I’ve got to say that I don’t often give many books 5 stars and very few have ever been books that I consider deserve a higher rating. This story is one of them.

I would definitely recommend this book for everyone who wants a wonderful read. I started this book at 2 in the morning and didn’t stop till I was done, it was so capturing! If you’re looking for a good read with a plot, this one is for you and you won’t regret it. And to dear Mr. Kendrick, I hope you continue writing and giving us wonderful books such as this one. And thank you for your portrayal of the police force in a positive light. I have several cops in my family and not everyone always shows that cops are regular, chill people who have feelings and are more than just "a badge."

5 stars