June 19, 1767. The peasant Jean Chastel kills the Beast of Gévaudan in the forest of Ténazeyre, just after it had attacked and killed its hundredth victim. All of them women and children. The beast is embalmed and sent to Paris, where it is examined by Buffon by order of King Louis XV: it was a wolf of remarkable size, unfortunately in a state so rotten and advanced that it had to be disposed of immediately. But are we sure that the wolf sent to Paris was really the Beast?
In modern times, at the conclusion of a conference, a young woman named Margeride approaches a scientist to discuss cloning. She reveals to him that since the 18th century, her family has kept a terrifying relic, a fragment of skin and fur that belonged to the monster.
Together they manage to recreate the legendary animal, but the creature escapes and the murder of children begins again. The same question as in years past: does the Beast act alone or under the command of a master? In the frozen solitude of forest and moors, the return of the monster reawakens troubling instincts. The Gévaudan inside us.
WARNING! An identical work was released in 2019 by a different editor under a new title, Terror of Gévaudan.
Be careful not to be fooled (as I was) that this is new novel by Mr. Mignaval.
Year of publication of the current edition : 2006 (256 pages)
Editor : Le pré aux Clercs
The author : Philippe Mignaval was born in St. Flour (Cantal) in 1956. For thirty years he was a regional journalist. Today, he devotes himself to writing novels and humorous books. Among other fictional works, he is the author of Je Vous Marie, Salut (Ramsay 1991) and Saint-Flour: L'exil Terrestre (Belfond 1997). In 1998, he received the national prize Alphonse-Allais for Le Sottisier des Journalistes. With Gévaudan in 2006 and Vierge Noire in 2009 (published by Pré aux Clercs) Philippe Mignaval launches himself into “esoteric French thrillers”, stories revisiting the myths of old Europe.
