Heart-Beast

By Tanith Lee

Book Overview

Wanted for murder, Daniel Vehmund travels the world, lured by a brilliant diamond and damned by a curse that transforms him into a beast. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440214556
• Release Date: August 1993
• Publisher: Dell
• Length: 356 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

"Season of the Beast"

"Heart-Beast" is one of the few Tanith Lee books published under Dell's short-lived, yet terribly missed, Abyss horror imprint. ("Dark Dance" was another, a book I liked a lot better than this one.) It's about a man named Daniel Vehmund who comes into possession of a powerful diamond that metamorphosizes him into a werewolf during the full moon. It also leads him back to England where his life is intertwined with that of a young country woman's, Laura Wheelwright.By anyone else, "Heart-Beast" could very well have turned into a "cheap thrills" werewolf story--not that that's a bad thing; I've read some really good lupine slashers--but coming from Tanith Lee, you know the plot's going to be well thought out and twisted. "Heart-Beast" is all that, but the book does drag in more than a few places. Although it's not worthy of a "5" (I had a hard time remembering the story; albeit I was in high school when I read it, I read several other Lee books then too, and most of them were memorable and worthy of five stars), it's not too terrible to deserve a "3" or lower.In summary: good for Tanith Lee fans, but it's not one of her finest horror novels.

Fairy Tales stripped of their Child audience

With this one book I am hooked on the personality known as Tanith Lee and will probably search the world looking for everything else she has written, although that might be hard since she has written a lot which makes me feel foolish for missing her so long. This is a lyrical fairy tale about a man who isn't exactly a werewolf, but fits the bill to an extant and a woman trapped in a marriage who is his true love. This is one of those few books that reads fast but leaves you wanting more

An intelligent and enthralling horror-dark fantasy

The age-old battle between creation and destruction is the subject of Tanith Lee's "Heart-Beast." After finding an unusually flawed diamond, Daniel Vehmund turns into a murderous beast every full moon. When he meets Laura, there is instant attraction on both sides. But at the end, Laura must resist the seductive nature of Daniel's destructiveness and save herself. Lee conveys this hypnotic story in her usual poetic prose, along with some bizarre symbolism. "Heart-Beast" is for anyone looking for reading material that is thought-provoking, unusual, and a successful mix of horror and fantasy