Man vs. Beast

CHERUB #6

by Robert Muchamore

CHERUB agents are all seventeen and under. They wear skate tees and hemp, and look like regular kids. But they're not. They are trained professionals who are sent out on missions to spy on terrorists and international drug dealers. CHERUB agents hack into computers, bug entire houses, and download crucial documents. It is a highly dangerous job. For their safety, these agents DO NOT EXIST.

Mainstream animal protection groups have always stayed within the law, but a new band of radical liberationists argues that if humans and animals are equal, then it's right to kill or threaten one human in order to save the lives of many animals. In a new mission, James and the other CHERUB agents must go up against the most radical group yet in a daring and violent attempt to save hundreds of lives . . . including their own.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Action, Adventure, Espionage, Childrens, Thriller

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2006

About the author

Robert Muchamore was born in Islington, London in 1972. He still lives there, and worked as a private investigator up until 2005 and the critically-accepted release of Maximum Security.

The Hunger Games phenomenon is part of the huge YA / Children's book explosion that has grown, thanks to the British Rat pack of YA authors, Anthony Horowitz, Robert Muchamore, Mark A. Cooper and Charlie Higson. We owe much of the hunger games sucess to authors such as Robert.

Robert was inspired to create the CHERUB series by his nephew after he complained about the lack of anything for them to read. CHERUB: The Recruit was Robert's first book and won the Red House Children's Book Award 2005 in the Older Readers Category.

Following the last book in the CHERUB series, it was revealed that a trilogy would be released starting from August 2011 that will focus on a new set of CHERUB agents centred upon Ryan Sharma and also involve an sixteen year old Lauren Adams. The first book will be called People's Republic.

Check out the Hendersons Boys series. Henderson's Boys is a series of young adult spy novels written by English author Robert Muchamore. The series follows Charles Henderson, the creator of the fictitious CHERUB organisation.
CHERUB is currently being made into a TV series.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man vs. Beast, the sixth book in the CHERUB series, is, in my opinion, the best and most interesting book Robert Muchamore has written. This science fiction story is compared by many to the Alex Rider series. The plot of both of these stories is centered on a young character that is a British spy. In Man vs. Beast, James, the main character is sent on a mission to infiltrate a group of environmental extremists. Throughout the story, the reasons for animal rights protestors are depicted, and James’ sister, Lauren, is convinced to turn vegan. As James delves deeper into the secret society of extremists, the stakes get higher. One of my favorite aspects of this story is how suspenseful it is. Imagine this: three British secret agents, inside a top- secret organization in the process of carrying out a highly illegal crime, just waiting to suddenly turn hostile and overpower the villains. In the end, this book is just awesome. With so many plot twists, suspenseful moments, and unexpected events, this book is definitely worth reading, especially if you like James Bond.

[rafiko32 · Rating 1 out of 5]

propagande macroniste me degoute

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the first half on audio, then swapped over to physical so I could enjoy it more. So glad I'm buddy reading these with some friends, I love revisiting this nostalgic childhood favourite series! This one packed a bit more of a punch than the other books, what with the graphic violence towards animals. This one was centered around animal cruelty and vegetarians, explaining all the stuff that meat factories do and how animals are treated. This one isn't for younger readers, that's for sure.

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

A big decline in quality from the previous books. The mission is just hard to get that interested in, the dialogue is uninspired and there is none of the glimpses into campus life at CHERUB, or the key character relationships which are so crucial for this series. And do the actions of the bad guys in this book just not seem particularly believable? They act like the bad guys from a kids book - previously Muchamore had portrayed some really well-rounded villains. I think this killed my CHERUB re-read. 2 stars.

[AJ rose]

very good book

[FA · Rating 5 out of 5]

No comment

[Mattpottebaum Isb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the sixth book in the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. In this series what I enjoy is that children and teenagers are the spies and not just adults, but both the children and adults are working side by side together to get the bad guys. Not only do I think this is interesting, but also unlike some other books about kid spies, the children and teens in this book still act like their age. The children don’t act like grown adults yet and are still experiencing an every day teen problems, with the crazy missions on the side to all this. This book is all about how the children spies get sent out to uncover an organization that kills people to protect animals from people. They uncover and organization called PETA, they are all about animal freedom, and they go around killing people who test bad things on animals that can kill them. This was a really good book that I think if people read and liked the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz they should definitely read this series.

[Lazybee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will not be able to eat meat the way I used to. Stupid book, you ruined meat.

The series keeps getting better.

[Camilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barndomsminner 😍

[Oriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is probably one of the best cherub books. It was very exiting and had a lot happening all the time. Also I thought it wasn’t very similar to the other cherub books, which I think is good.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE THIS SERIES! And this book was yet another great addition to the series. Fast paced and exciting, each book on this series is completely different from the one before it with just the great characters and the a great premise of child spies to hold it all together. As much as I would love to read the next book in the series NOW I'm going to wait as long as possible because I know this series is going to end.

The main characters remain to be the Adams siblings, James and Lauren, now both Cherub agents and at the start of the book causing havoc on the campus. They go off on mission, this time to an animal rights activist group which they have to infiltrate. James and Lauren are both growing up, this was evident in this book with Lauren gaining a romantic interest and James maturing hugely.

There are a lot of secondary characters in this book but the main ones for me are the other members of team Cherub and I have already reviewed them or probably will in the other books in the series.

The storyline with this book is as original as all the others before it; but this is the first book in the series where I have actually noticed real character development with the main characters. The pacing is excellent and I look forward to reading more books in the series.

4 stars

[Abdullah Faisal Chaudhry]

4 people called James, Kyle, Lauren and Zara are off to Bristol (a town in England), where they want to and are assigned to infiltrate and take down a dangerous group called the AFA or the Animal Freedom Army. The AFA believes if killing people saves animals, then it is is the right thing and must be done. But along the way they are stopped by a man called Ryan Quinn, the ex-leader of an alliance group which put the AFA out of business for a while. So instead of going against him they decide to work with him and try to infiltrate the AFA with his years of expertise and skill. Then after James and Kyle had been invited to an AFA mission to kill a famous cook Nick Cobb, they rescued Nick Cobb and took him to safety whilst also arresting the most needed members of the AFA.

[Justin Larimore · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Man vs. Beast, CHERUB agents find themselves in ethical crisis. Mainstream animal protection groups have always stayed within the law, but a new band of radical liberationists argues that if humans and animals are equal, then it’s right to kill or threaten one human in order to save the lives of many animals. In a new mission, James and the other CHERUB agents must go up against the most radical group yet in a daring and violent attempt to save hundreds of lives...including their own.

[Clare Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars*

I feel like my reviews for these books are getting a tad repetitive, so I'll try to change it up a little here. I have noticed something over the course of the books, and especially in this one: James is an ass (like I've mentioned), but the author knows he's an ass. Like, all the other characters are constantly telling him to get over his ego. Even though I wish he'd go through a TOUCH more character development, I do appreciate him as a complex character.

Anyway, as for this book specifically, I enjoyed it, but it was a bit more gruesome than some of the others and I didn't enjoy the plot as much as the last one or the prison one (Maximum Security, I think that one's called?) I'm still in it to win it for this series. Maybe I'll have them all done by the end of the summer...

[Stormy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the 6th book in the series Man vs Beast this book follows James Lauren Adams and another agent it starts out with Lauren blackmailing James to go to the training camp to give the trainees some sweets and treats as they're not allowed them when they're going through cherubs training they are later found out by the head person at cherub and James finds out that Lauren had put pros and cons to him coming along and helping giving stuff to the training cherubs and find out that his sister a load of me things about him this is how the book starts later on in the book they go on a mission about Animal Rights people saying that humans and animals are equal and kill one human would be better than killing 10 animals but if you want to know how this book ends you should read it for yourself it's really good

[Karen Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty scary mission this time round - infiltrating an extreme animal rights group.
Lauren and James spend substantial amounts of time bickering. Kyle gets a boyfriend. There’s some pretty nifty action scenes, and some very unpleasant details about animal testing.
One thing I’ll say with this series, you know what to expect and Muchamore doesn’t disappoint.

[Blake Dodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Man VS Beast by Robert Muchamore is a very good book for action and for undercover kid agents out working for the British government. In Man VS Beast, the three kid agents went on a mission with an vegetarian man who is part of a alliance that is trying to earn rights for experiment animals in labs. The main character is James. For James he loved to eat meat and was hard since James mostly ate meat for food and was difficult for James to adjust to the vegetarian food because the man they had the mission with was a vegetarian and only hand vegetarian food. By the time the mission was done his little sister Lauren went from eating meat and dead animal to being a vegetarian and trying to spread it to her friends. The final agent was Kyle who was James’s gay friend. As for Kyle in his last moments of the mission, he had to go against something he wished he never did. But overall the book was great. I would give is a 8.5 out of 10 and would recommend it to people who love action and thrilling moments.

[Luke Fitzpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Class as per.

10/10 would recommend to a friend.

I should probably stop reading young adult books for a while and read a normal adult book..

Kindle on iOS is the goat. Hardbacks should still be illegal.

[Eric Metcalf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the theme is that people sometimes forget where stuff is coming from and how its made. A example from the story is that animals are being tortured to make clothes and food.

[17atchaman187 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it isn’t the same as the other books. It was full of tension with a different amount of danger for the characters

[appleblossomorchard]

🚩 #2

[Owen S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short book. Liked the ending a lot but the beginning was a drag.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

** 3.75 STARS **

[James Clay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A triumph

[Adil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steady

[Larena · Rating 5 out of 5]

PG: PARENTAL ADVISORY: Conflict and Aggression are limited or moderate. May contain mild profanity suggestive language and brief scenes of nudity.

E:Easy: 3rd grade Vocabulary

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man vs Beast shows a lot that people don't really think about... Violent Animal Freedom Activists, and this makes the book very unique. In the book its about a boy named James and also his partners Kyle and Lauren, and they go and free a leader of a animal freedom group named Zebra 84, but there actual mission ends up being them joing a Violent group named the Animal Freedom Army (AFA) and they decided that if humans and animals are equal then it is fair to kill a human to safe lots of animals and this over time gets a little to far and James, Kyle and Lauren begin to have to act upon the AFA. I honestly love this book because it has so much that was improved upon since Divine Madness which with these changes are what makes this book my new favorite (The Setting and topic are both very new and creative).

[Peter Skurr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great young adult fiction.

[Catherine Muldoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems like any normal weekday, kids getting ready for school, parent organising themselves for another work shift. How could anything go wrong? A slow day flips into a dash of violent attacks on Andy and Stuart Pierce's mum with red paint supposing to symbolise blood. As a matter of fact, Christine Pierce works at Malarek Research centre which is a laboratory for testing on animals, so not everyone will be pleased on that. Especially animal activist groups or animal extremists. This fast paced section at the end of chapter 1 questions yourself, who the guys in the balaclavas were? etc., but altogether it makes you read on.

James Adams is 14, at this point he is on his 6th mission with Cherub. The mission to unearth the Animal Freedom Milta. As pointed, adults never suspect that children are spying on them. Yet this comes with difficult challenges fitting in. The task is set for James Adams, his sister Lauren and his (gay) friend Kyle. All face troubles and their demons of meat slaughter (James and Lauren), boyfriends(Kyle), animal cruelty (Lauren) and chances of human murder within the task (James and Kyle). At first I thought Robert Muchamore, was focusing on the character Lauren due to the little mission at the beginning, her punishment and her window smashed in, which is an interesting take. Nonetheless it refocuses on James and Kyle and Lauren doesn't have a major role, despite her being a black shirt.

Altogether the last 25% I could not stop reading or slow down as excitement levels rose. However, it doesn't mean the last 25%, the other 75% wasn't good, it was fantastic and well written. Overall, my favourite scene was the minor mission to help the new recruits and the extremist's group actions on the last few chapters.

The book includes all the action, excitement and tense situations of the CHERUB series so far, moreover it adds bits of information on vegetarianism and animal cruelty. In addition to the thrill that any teenager loves to read, Man Vs Beast will truly make you think about your beliefs of animal testing and cruelty. On the other hand, as much as I liked this book, I have a feeling Divine Madness (clue in the name) has the most excitable ending in the Cherub series.

To not end on a bad note. All of the elements of a good cherub book are definitely included in the book, it makes this novel worthwhile to read. Overall the whole mysterious story was well written for a mixed variety of genres. This' book target audience is for teens mainly boys, but I believe this can be enjoyed by female teenagers as well. I enjoyed every single novel of the cherub series so far and would definitely recommended the whole series.

This is a book you can lost in and let hours pass and is the series that started me to read again. TRUALLY RECOMMEND.

[Andres L · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about this kid who is apart of cherub a kid spy organization where he goes on missions. In his mission he goes to find more about pepole who destroy labs where stuff gets tested on animals. What I like about this book is how action packed it is what I dislike is the beginning. This book again made me feel a buzz while reading it. This book was very similar to the others in the series very action packed and fun to read. Pepole who love action would like this book.