A powerful novel about a community devastated by unemployment and shaken by the fear of a terrifying beast roaming the moors - which young Bill Coward is determined to track down at any cost. It started out as a game. A game that Billy and his friend Mick play to take their minds off the fact that the mill might be closing and everyone could lose their jobs. They'll hunt down the Haverston Beast, that's killing sheep and hens and maybe even men, and kill it. So what if the farmers say it's just a dog - they know that it's real and they're out to prove it. But then Billy's dad finds out that the mill might close for ever, and suddenly the game doesn't seem so much fun any more - and the terrifying Beast might be closer to home than Billy imagined... An astonishing novel about the monster that is unemployment, and its devastating effects on a local community, The Nature of the Beast is as painfully truthful and relevant today as it was when it was first published, to critical acclaim, in 1985.