Man vs Beast

Man vs Beast is the sixth novel of the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore.

Plot summary

The book starts with a 14 year old witnessing his mother getting assaulted by two masked men who are working for the Animal Freedom Militia, an animal liberation group. His mother works for a research company that experiments on animals.

On campus, Lauren asks her brother James to help her and her best friend Bethany sneak into the basic training compound to give Jake, Bethany's brother, and Rat, Lauren's boyfriend, some food. James refuses but Lauren blackmails him by threatening to tell Kerry about him cheating on her during a mission a year before. They are caught by Mac, the CHERUB chairman. James is not punished too harshly as he was blackmailed, but Lauren and Bethany are given 400 laps and get pocket money taken to pay for the damage done to the fence. Later he, Lauren and Kyle are sent on a mission to bring down the Animal Freedom Militia. Together James, Lauren and Kyle succeed in their mission and return home. James helps a AFM member in an attack on a base. They gag the security women with a rag and tape, before trussing her wrists and ankles with tape, then set of an explosion. The group kidnap a celebrity TV Chef Nick Cobbs due to him testing a cleaning fluid on some rabbits due to a court case, and force him to drink some of the fluid, which could prove fatal in a few hrs unless he receives medical attention. James gags one of the two criminals he is with a cloth, then ties up the other one. He is told by the forces he calls that the two criminals, who are now blindfolded, gagged, and trussed, will be injected with a chemical that will knock them out for 12 hrs, and they will awake in confusion, then will be told they were arrested following a tip-off from a suspicious neighbour. On the mission Lauren becomes a vegetarian because of all the animal torture she has witnessed, and due to a former animal militia group founder who helps the group on the mission. Zara Asker becomes chairwoman of CHERUB. Cobbs is rescued and survives, but gets permanent damage to his internal organs.

Response to book

The book has been thoroughly recommended by The Sunday Telegraph.

Cover

The cover of the book features a pair of eyes hidden beneath a balaclava. The balaclava has a white CHERUB logo printed on the centre of the forehead. If the cover of the book is looked at the other way up, the eyes of the person become angry.