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Man-Eater
Hear the "jaws" theme? This time it's a tiger.
- GenresHorror
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
1 person is currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Ted Willis
55 books2 followersTed Willis (1914-1992) was a British playwright, novelist and screenwriter who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party. He was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most prolific writer for television, and also wrote 34 stage plays and 39 feature films.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 10, 2018
I knew what I was getting into when I started researching when-animals-attack novels from the 70s. Of course, Jaws would be a good read. What I expected of the rest of the lot were stinkers like Nick Sharman's The Cats. Imagine my surprise when I came across overlooked nuggets like Herzog's Orca and now Ted Willis's Man-Eater.
It's not a perfect book. Reading from a 21st century mindset, I realize that the boys' club atmosphere of writing at the time was at epidemic proportions. Like Herzog, the women who inhabit this book are there for eye candy, and Willis's close third person perspective--always from a male gaze--is consistently sizing them up. (It's worth noting that in Sharman's novel, women are all but absent from the yarn.) The first victim, a mild-mannered city counsel member, is mauled by the tigers after having a back-seat encounter with his mistress. She flees the scene in fear, and much of the initial mystery revolves around the speculation of a potential affair. Local law enforcement can't figure out if he would be having a fling because his wife is a strident adherent to "women's lib" and has a short haircut, thus having his stones in her hand, or if he is prone to extramarital activity for that very reason.
Once you get past the blatant sexism, however, there is a lot to unravel. The novel begins with an unnamed man pulling a trailer deep into the misty moors of Cornwall and unleashing two underfed tigers into the wild. After the cats grow accustomed to their newfound freedom, they begin to hunt, leaving a trail of carnage that starts with our local official, moves to wild hinds and fawns, sheep, and eventually back to humans. Mysterious hermit David Birk--formerly employed by the British government for unclear purposes that hint at wetworks--has also spent time in India, where he was tasked with putting down tigers who had become "man-eaters." He hears the roars reverberating through the forest, sees the bloody entrails, and immediately recognizes what's happening.
What ensues is a fast-paced jaunt, with Birk trying to convince the local authorities of his claim, people in danger of the hunt, a corrupt constable trying to cover everything up, and an intrepid reporter going for the scoop of his life.
A recurring theme in this genre is the portrayal of humans. The attacking animals, though deadly to humankind, are merely acting on instinct. Many of the people who populate the narrative are corrupt and equally bloodthirsty, though their transgressions are inexcusable. Like Jaws, even the well-meaning humans who want to stop the bloodshed are flawed, and, like Benchley's landmark book, this makes for an interesting 21st century read. In 1975, as Spielberg was adapting Jaws for the big screen, he remarked that Benchley's characters were so corrupt the reader rooted for the shark. In 2018, after The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, et al, audiences are conditioned to seeing anti-heroes. Perhaps it is this sentiment that leads me to appreciate the novel Jaws far more than the movie and also to have really enjoyed this book.
There's a lot more to unpack. Written in 1977, there are still shades of the UK coping with its loss of the Empire and its role in the world. It's noteworthy that the protagonist spent time in India and that the exotic animal doing the killing is an import from the corner of the world where Britain lost its hold just three decades before this story's publication.
The eco-critical angle is wide open. Not only is there talk of the attempt to re-forest the depleted landscape, though with species of trees that are not indigenous, but the frantic attempt to rid the land of the Bengal menace inadvertently sets off a raging fire that will take down much of the recently replanted trees.
In the end (and spoiler free), the fire and the tigers become the stuff of legend. Though I wouldn't call the novel literary, Willis is clearly channeling the famous poem "The Tyger," where Blake refers to the feline as "burning bright." "What the hand, dare seize the fire?" the poem continues. Fire, like the nature represented through the tigers, is nurturing, helpful to humanity. But it can also consume and be deadly.
To say more would give away what is a worthwhile, fast read. Also, it would impede on my scholarship that I hope to publish somewhere in the coming months.
Suffice to say this novel may appear to be trashy pulp that should be relegated to the dustbin of English letters, that it's the literary equivalent of a B-movie. Well, it is the latter, but there are some B-movies out there that will get the old grey matter firing. This book is no different.
I highly recommend it.
It's not a perfect book. Reading from a 21st century mindset, I realize that the boys' club atmosphere of writing at the time was at epidemic proportions. Like Herzog, the women who inhabit this book are there for eye candy, and Willis's close third person perspective--always from a male gaze--is consistently sizing them up. (It's worth noting that in Sharman's novel, women are all but absent from the yarn.) The first victim, a mild-mannered city counsel member, is mauled by the tigers after having a back-seat encounter with his mistress. She flees the scene in fear, and much of the initial mystery revolves around the speculation of a potential affair. Local law enforcement can't figure out if he would be having a fling because his wife is a strident adherent to "women's lib" and has a short haircut, thus having his stones in her hand, or if he is prone to extramarital activity for that very reason.
Once you get past the blatant sexism, however, there is a lot to unravel. The novel begins with an unnamed man pulling a trailer deep into the misty moors of Cornwall and unleashing two underfed tigers into the wild. After the cats grow accustomed to their newfound freedom, they begin to hunt, leaving a trail of carnage that starts with our local official, moves to wild hinds and fawns, sheep, and eventually back to humans. Mysterious hermit David Birk--formerly employed by the British government for unclear purposes that hint at wetworks--has also spent time in India, where he was tasked with putting down tigers who had become "man-eaters." He hears the roars reverberating through the forest, sees the bloody entrails, and immediately recognizes what's happening.
What ensues is a fast-paced jaunt, with Birk trying to convince the local authorities of his claim, people in danger of the hunt, a corrupt constable trying to cover everything up, and an intrepid reporter going for the scoop of his life.
A recurring theme in this genre is the portrayal of humans. The attacking animals, though deadly to humankind, are merely acting on instinct. Many of the people who populate the narrative are corrupt and equally bloodthirsty, though their transgressions are inexcusable. Like Jaws, even the well-meaning humans who want to stop the bloodshed are flawed, and, like Benchley's landmark book, this makes for an interesting 21st century read. In 1975, as Spielberg was adapting Jaws for the big screen, he remarked that Benchley's characters were so corrupt the reader rooted for the shark. In 2018, after The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, et al, audiences are conditioned to seeing anti-heroes. Perhaps it is this sentiment that leads me to appreciate the novel Jaws far more than the movie and also to have really enjoyed this book.
There's a lot more to unpack. Written in 1977, there are still shades of the UK coping with its loss of the Empire and its role in the world. It's noteworthy that the protagonist spent time in India and that the exotic animal doing the killing is an import from the corner of the world where Britain lost its hold just three decades before this story's publication.
The eco-critical angle is wide open. Not only is there talk of the attempt to re-forest the depleted landscape, though with species of trees that are not indigenous, but the frantic attempt to rid the land of the Bengal menace inadvertently sets off a raging fire that will take down much of the recently replanted trees.
In the end (and spoiler free), the fire and the tigers become the stuff of legend. Though I wouldn't call the novel literary, Willis is clearly channeling the famous poem "The Tyger," where Blake refers to the feline as "burning bright." "What the hand, dare seize the fire?" the poem continues. Fire, like the nature represented through the tigers, is nurturing, helpful to humanity. But it can also consume and be deadly.
To say more would give away what is a worthwhile, fast read. Also, it would impede on my scholarship that I hope to publish somewhere in the coming months.
Suffice to say this novel may appear to be trashy pulp that should be relegated to the dustbin of English letters, that it's the literary equivalent of a B-movie. Well, it is the latter, but there are some B-movies out there that will get the old grey matter firing. This book is no different.
I highly recommend it.
February 27, 2017
This is one of my favorite "monster" stories. I read it about 35 years ago, and there was one particular passage that was so chilling that I have never forgotten it. It's a short book, moves briskly, but creates all the suspense to be expected from the introduction of a pair of man-eating tigers into a rural British community. The story doesn't have a lot of character development, but neither are the characters one-dimensional. I liked this one as much as I did "Jaws".
("Jaws" got a better movie treatment - I mean, Spielberg! - but "Man Eater" got a decent B movie for itself. If you want to see it, be sure you get the 1978 movie called "Maneaters Are Loose", with Steve Forrest and Tom Skerrit, NOT the 2007 "Maneater".)
("Jaws" got a better movie treatment - I mean, Spielberg! - but "Man Eater" got a decent B movie for itself. If you want to see it, be sure you get the 1978 movie called "Maneaters Are Loose", with Steve Forrest and Tom Skerrit, NOT the 2007 "Maneater".)
October 14, 2017
I am not quite sure why I bought or read this book originally although at the time I think it had more or less to do with the interesting cover (unfortunately the cover for this particular edition isn't the one that I came across first). Instead I found that the cover although way more sensationalized than the story within its pages also did a great job in concealing a high-packed thriller that in a sense isn't as much a horror as it is an adventure book.
The story is full of savory twists, shocks that rear out of the darkness of the read and a bit of gore to emphasize the character of the story. Each page is a page-turner that will hold the reader for the majority of the ride while for the re-reader it drags them back down a story where they cannot restrain themselves to get to the end and for the beginning reader it yanks them through a story where the ultimate monsters aren't truly those who scream in the night.
Due to it is an older read and also from an English author it makes for an interesting comparison to more modern and more American reads. The part about a girl's time of the month slowing her down from escaping isn't highly exaggerated as well as some other parts but I guess the author being male just didn't want to hunt down how that really works for us females.
All in all this will be one thriller/horror novel that will stick with the reader even after the back cover is closed upon the story.
The story is full of savory twists, shocks that rear out of the darkness of the read and a bit of gore to emphasize the character of the story. Each page is a page-turner that will hold the reader for the majority of the ride while for the re-reader it drags them back down a story where they cannot restrain themselves to get to the end and for the beginning reader it yanks them through a story where the ultimate monsters aren't truly those who scream in the night.
Due to it is an older read and also from an English author it makes for an interesting comparison to more modern and more American reads. The part about a girl's time of the month slowing her down from escaping isn't highly exaggerated as well as some other parts but I guess the author being male just didn't want to hunt down how that really works for us females.
All in all this will be one thriller/horror novel that will stick with the reader even after the back cover is closed upon the story.
August 11, 2022
En Whitford, pequeño pueblo inglés, las cosas siempre han sido relativamente tranquilas, sus bosques, sus llanuras y sus páramos han atraídos a muchos turistas.
Un cierto día de verano, un extraño hombre deja en libertad a dos grandes tigres, Mohan y Ranee. Animales que fueron criados en cautiverio, ven por fin un poco de libertad al punto de enloquecer.
Gosford el sheriff y protagonista de esta historia comienza a tomar cartas en el asunto cuando un hombre desaparece en extrañas circunstancias dejando su auto desolado en la carretera.
Al mismo tiempo animales de granjas cercanas comienzan a aparecer mutilados , las bestias andan sueltas. ¿Quien será capaz de encontrar a estos animales en ochocientos metros cuadrados de bosque y páramo? ¿Cuántas personas serán víctimas de los instintos de estas bestias?
Mi opinión
Este es un libro que me encontré en una librería de usado y lo empece a leer sin saber mas que su sinopsis. Es una novela de mucho suspenso y drama, que juega con el subgénero de animales asesinos.
Me recordó bastante a Tiburón de Peter Benchley, otro punto que me sorprendió es las descripciones que da el autor cuando los animales atacan a las personas u animales, la verdad es bastante grafico a la hora de describir.
Su final me dejo un poco de dudas pero creo supo generar un equilibrio en la novela, su desarrollo al igual que sus personajes me gustaron mucho.
Como no cinco estrellas, si la encuentran cómprenla no se van a arrepentir.
May 30, 2021
Basically Ted "Dixon Of Dock Green", "The Churchill Commando" Willis etc Jumps on the "Jaws" bandwagon and does an animal-attack novel; the biggest case of bandwagon-jumping since Keith Warerhouse decided that anything the "Angry Young Men" could do, he could do better and wrote "Billy Liar", a hash-up of "Ulysses", "Walter Mitty" and "Cathcher In The Rye"; this novel is basically "Jaws" relocated to the Yorkshire Dales, not to a working class community (not a pit winding
gear , slagheap or pair of clogs in sight) but to an improbable high-income community; one can almost hear the locals chanting "Yah yah wine bar and nobody says "EE", "Bah Gum", "By 'eck", "Tha Knows" or even "Trouble At T'mill"! Also, there is more bed-hopping than "Emmerdale"!
This book was actually filmed for a TV movie called "Maneaters Are Loose" with the action relocated to a small town in California; it translated quite well considering the highly derivative source material.
gear , slagheap or pair of clogs in sight) but to an improbable high-income community; one can almost hear the locals chanting "Yah yah wine bar and nobody says "EE", "Bah Gum", "By 'eck", "Tha Knows" or even "Trouble At T'mill"! Also, there is more bed-hopping than "Emmerdale"!
This book was actually filmed for a TV movie called "Maneaters Are Loose" with the action relocated to a small town in California; it translated quite well considering the highly derivative source material.
January 16, 2023
I wasn't sure what to expect from this one as Willis was a personality before my time and I've never watched DIXON OF DOCK GREEN for instance. However, I was delighted by the quality of this book, which is head and shoulders above most in the 'animal attack' genre, slim paperbacks which are the literary equivalent of cinema's B-movies. MAN-EATER is something else entirely. It's taut and realistic, written without a single wasted word, and the thrills and suspense of the story are spot on. Everything that takes place is believable and the tigers themselves sympathetically portrayed. However, that's only part of the tale. Willis' skill is in his depiction of small-town life and the secrets and lies hidden beneath the surface which make it such an entertaining read and which makes the characters so engaging, even the unpleasant ones. Stephen King often does the same in his own novels but in a much more long-winded way, whereas this is a book you'll fly through.
April 11, 2022
This book was written in 1976 - it reminded me of a seventies low budget horror film. It was actually really well written and got some good messages across, about mans impact about the world around him and there were some good little side story lines. Most of bad guys got their comeuppance but a few good guys did to.
Ted Willis was also the writer for the TV series Dixon of Dock Green.
Evening All!!!
Ted Willis was also the writer for the TV series Dixon of Dock Green.
Evening All!!!
July 21, 2023
In the animal attack novels that happened in the forest, I prefer James Herbert's lair. And the forest burning scene is not as good as Stephen King's The Tommyknockers. But this book is not bad, Man-Eater still has an attractive and unnerving plot.
September 10, 2019
Spannend, soms een beetje vaag, doordat er ineens personages worden geintroduceerd zonder echte introductie. Wel in een ruk uitgelezen.
November 18, 2021
Good book, nice easy read
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews