Bestial: Werewolf Apocalypse by William D. Carl

• Title: Bestial: Werewolf Apocalypse
• Classification: Adult Fiction
• Genre: Horror
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Permuted Press; Reprint edition (December 27, 2011)
• ISBN-10: 1451646852
• ISBN-13: 978-1451646856

On September 16th, just minutes before the sun goes down, the unsuspecting citizens of Cinncinati go about their daily routines. In the midst of a bank robbery, after the sun has shed its last ray of light, things take an unbelievable turn as people keel over in pain and start sprouting fur and fangs. Nearly all the population (95%) is affected, but those who aren't quickly become the prey of those that are unless they think quickly and find a sturdy shelter fast. It would be a long and tragic night. With the first rays of light, those who morphed into bestial entities become human again. Slowly gunshots can be heard sporadically throughout the day as people who can't come to grips with the animalistic tendencies they displayed are not able to live with what they've done. Unfortunately, those who caused the bestial epidemic are amongst the casualties, at least two by their own hands. If a cure can't be found this may be the beginning of the end. The apocalypse may be upon us.

I enjoyed the book, but beware, this is definitely a horror story and not for the faint of heart. This one would definitely make for one gory movie. I actually grew up watching scary movies and loved getting the you-know-what scared out of me. As you can imagine, I was quite upset to find years later that after having my first child, I could no longer watch them. *sniff* Some sort of hormonal change took place that made it so I could no longer enjoy watching them. I have talked to others and found I am not alone in this. Luckily, I recently discovered that while I might no longer be able to watch them, I can still read them. Yay!

This story follows four characters as the bestial transformations take place. Two, Chesya and Rick, were at the scene of the bank robbery. One worked as a teller, while the other was one of the robbers. In order to escape, the two spend the night in the bank vault. Locking the vault door behind them, they will not know until morning, when the door's automatic timer opens it, what horrific sights the daylight will bring. The two are as different as night and day, but decide their best bet for survival is to watch each others back and work together.

The other two characters are a mother and son. The son is a seventeen year old who was sexually abused by his father and his friends. When no one, not even his mother believed him, he left home. Living on the streets, he spends that first horrific night of the transformations in a freight elevator of an abandoned building. Whereas Rick and Chesya have no idea what is happening outside their secure bank vault, Christian gets an up close and personal view, barely missing being killed. He's smart, resourceful, and will need to put his survivor skills to the test to survive.

Cathy is Christian's mom. She lives is in her exclusive Indian Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati with her husband, Karl, when things start turning bestial. She hasn't seen her son for several months and when all hell breaks loose, she wonders if she'll ever see him again. She's lived a rather pampered life and will be forced to stand on her own two feet for the first time if order to survive. 

I liked how Mr. Carl chose these four very different characters to be the focus of the book. I enjoyed how they uncovered the mystery of what happened to cause the metamorphosis. Each brought a different skill/talent to the mix and when circumstances bring them together they worked as a team in an attempt to stay alive. The book kept my attention and had me wondering how the four would survive. The only thing I questioned was the way the werewolf condition was initially spread, but this is definitely not the first paranormal book to make me question something. Overall, I gave this one 3 out of 5 roses. There was plenty of action and drama with a touch of romance added in.