Snowbeast!

by Peter Tremayne

From the author of RAVENMOON, a horror story set in Scotland about a legendary savage beast which reawakens to maim and kill

Genres: Horror, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Peter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943) is a historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 90 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 95 short stories. His non-fiction books, articles and academic papers have made him acknowledged as an authority on Celtic history and culture. As Peter Tremayne, he is the author of the international bestselling Sister Fidelma mystery series. His work has appeared in 25 languages.

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chiller Thriller!

A small backstory without giving away spoilers:

The Scottish highlands is home to a creature that is part mythical and part legend. No one has really ever seen it and no one believes they ever will....until it is seen then it starts a chain of events that no one sees coming.

Ellen MacDonald decides to surprise her uncle with a visit to his remote cabin out in the mountains, but when she arrives he is not there so she decides to wait for him, but it will be awhile as her uncle is a doctor and he has traveled to a monastery to care for one of the monks.

One of the monks is very ill and something is not right with this illness as he has nightmares along with babbling incoherently about something coming. What the doctor and the fellow monks do not know is that somehow the nightmares are connected to the mythical creature.

Thoughts:

This story kind of alternates back and forth between the monk with his illness then back to happenings with the creature. It moves at a fast pace, but then slows down as well. There isn't much blood and gore, but more like mystery and intrigue. There were some tension moments but it reads more like a thriller than an actual creature feature story. Giving this one four "thriller" stars.

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much snow, not enough beast.

[Vickie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Compared to other cryptid books I've read, this one just didn't cut it. I also didn't care for the direction this story took with the telepathy angle and the monk. Umm...no.

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the leftovers of my teens and twenties, when anything with "horror" in the blurb and a sufficiently lurid cover was enough to draw my attention. This one about a Yeti-like beast was mildly interesting. Its appearance was somehow connected with a Buddhist monk falling sick; that's about as much as I can remember.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really good story that gets you hooked and keeps you there for the first three quarters if the book, then it gets sort of silly. Still, not a bad read.

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

What starts out as quite a decent thriller in the first half swerves into over-the-top territory in the last quarter or so. My overall impression of the novel was one of enjoyment.

[Laura Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a mythical beast dwelling in the Scottish mountains. Those not local to the area scoff at the tales of death the creature has caused. Those that know better don’t intrude on its territory. But the beast no longer recognizes boundaries. It goes where it will. Kills what it will. First, animals are found torn to pieces. Then the bodies of people. Something has changed and all should fear what’s coming.

This story had so much promise. I love crytpid tales, especially about the big hairy guys, sasquatch or abominable. Sadly, about halfway in this story got too strange, the thing with the Monk just didn’t work for me. I wanted more rampaging beast and less of the why.

I did like some of the characters and the author did put me in the location. I’m a sucker for stories where the environment plays a large roll in how the characters fight and/or survive. But again, not enough yeti. At least, not the kind of creature I wanted.

I’ve read a lot of Peter’s books and, even though they didn’t all blow me away, he had plenty of stories that managed to keep me dialed in. And I’ll always check out what he writes next.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice enjoyable quick read.

[Jeff Jellets · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sasquatches of Scotland.

Alongside the zombie apocalypse, ‘spooky bigfoot stories’ are a favorite sub-genre of horror for me. Peter Tremayne’s Snowbeast! brings the cryptozoological monsters to the remote mountain reaches of Scotland – which has its own indigenous folklore of mysterious hairy mountain men – and it’s not long before mountain climbers, monks, and a few salt-of-the-earth shepherds are running afoul of the Scottish yeti.

B-horror is a bit like ordering fast food. You kind of know what you’re getting when you begin and hope the execution doesn’t spoil things. Snowbeast!, while competently plotted, turns out to be not all that appetizing with a rather dull assortment of human protagonists, little in the way of either suspense, sex, or gore, and monsters that turn out leaning more toward the Harry and the Hendersons variety of bigfoot, rather than Beast of Boggy Creek. The climax is terribly by-the-numbers – complete with a conveniently timed natural disaster to wipe away the evidence – and mixes in a pet peeve of mine that has stuck in my craw since John Darnton’s Neanderthal -- primitive hominid on the outside, telepathy on the inside. Ugh … hate psychic cavemen!

Verdict: Gonzo, gory, salacious or snarky, I can get into just about any horror book, but Snowbeast! slips into the unforgivable crevasse of pedestrianism. Competent, but unexciting, if it were a movie, you’d make liberal use of the fast forward button.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel of the legendary Abominable Snowman gets high marks for an outstanding atmosphere--the icy Scottish setting is superbly constructed--but not much else. The characters aren't particularly engaging and the plot crawls along without much of anything to liven it up. I suspect the cover fills many potential readers with images of a berserk, frost-shrouded beast tearing all and sundry limb from limb until it's finally taken down in an exciting finale. Sadly, that is not the case. There are few killings and not as much of the monster as you might think. The mystery behind it all is ultimately resolved in a very unsatisfying manner and there isn't much suspense along the way. Whatever else this book is, it's certainly not the "harrowing thriller" the promotional copy promises.

[Kurt Springs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review was first published on Kurt's Frontier.

Synopsis:
People have seen them in many parts of the world. In the Himalayas, they are called Yeti. In Australia, Yowie. The Sasquatch roam North America. The Scottish have the Big Grey Man of Ben Macdui.

Ellen MacDonald makes a surprise visit to her uncle’s remote lodge in the snow-swept Cairngorms. She finds her uncle, Doctor MacDonald, tending a brother at the monastery of Saint Bechan. The brother seems to have a strange fever. The monks think it’s possession. People fall prey to an unknown creature in the nearby community with shepherds and their animals torn to pieces. In the mountains, people hear a terrifying wail in the winds. Some call it the cry of the Snow Beast.

Review:
I have previously enjoyed Peter Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma Mysteries. Snow Beast! is the first horror novel of his I have read. Doctor MacDonald receives a call from St. Bechan monetary when Brother Andrew falls ill. The good doctor believes it is a nervous breakdown, but some things don’t make sense. To the Abbot, it looks like possession. Doctor MacDonald returns to find his niece, Ellen, has returned. In the meantime, some mountaineers go climbing, and their leader is injured. People start dying, and there is a wailing in the wind. People start talking about a snow beast (the Big Grey Man).

I enjoy cryptid tails. The Snow Beast begins with mysterious, brutal deaths, promising something titanic. The result is something of a letdown. Peter Tremayne’s monster proves a disappointment, and much of the book becomes cliché. All that was missing was torches and pitchforks.

[Kathy Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this story didn't follow the traditional lines of the Bigfoot genre, I still enjoyed reading it. Action was not forthcoming, however, the monastery and details of the area made up for that.

I have added more books by this author to my reading list. I think what drew me in was the castle and monastery along with the "haunted high places".

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really had a fun time with Snowbeast!

The characters are all super entertaining and where the story goes was certainly a surprise.

The book is a little light on actual Yeti action but what we do get is really fun.

[Ifor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad

I quite liked the majority of this book, but I felt the ending didn't do it justice. It's only my opinion, you might think differently so give it go.

[Tony Entrekin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining '80s horror

Atmospheric tale of a Scottish incarnation of the Yeti. A surprising twist toward the end adds a touch of empathy and melancholy to the horror.

[Richard Bush · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like a story where maybe the true monster is mankind. Is this such a story? Read it and find out.

[Barry Leighton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read. Reads like a very low budget Hammer film (which for this reader is good, as I love Hammer). To enjoy though, one needs to look past the yoga practicing, telepathic, transcendental yetis.