This is the first Watt Key book to totally miss the mark for me. It's unbelievable, unrelatable, and at times, boring.

Adam's parents are missing after a car crash involving a large Sasquatch type creature. He's haunted by what he saw and can't rest until he gets to the bottom of what happened. He needs to talk to someone who can relate, so he sets out on a 20 mile walk to meet a guy who claims to have seen a similar creature.

Mr. Stanley turns out to be a reclusive type, mentally damaged from years of seeking the truth about the Florida Swamp Ape (aka Bigfoot), and not being believed. He comes off a little too deranged, so Adam steals some supplies and takes off on his own down the Suwannee River. It's not long before he capsizes and must hoof it through a vast Florida swamp. He survives by building a palm shelter and catching gar in a nearby spring. Throughout the two month ordeal, he interacts with a family of swamp apes. At times they appear to help him, at other times he fears for his life. Once again, he ends up unconscious and rescued.

I have many problems with this book. It starts off well enough but then turns lectury as we are given commentary on Bigfoot. Yawn. There had to be a better way. Adventure mode sets in when Adam goes in search of a man who might be able to provide answers. This part isn't bad, but I had a hard time believing a kid would do such a thing, walking down a deserted Florida highway in the middle of the night with a creature on the loose. Then we have a little interaction with the old codger, and finally he's on his own. This is where it drags. No dialogue, unrealistic survival skills, and 100% unbelievable interaction with not one, but four Bigfoot creatures. It was all just a telling. A straightforward recounting of detail without an emotional grab. I didn't feel wowed by anything I was reading because the description was just so surface level. He definitely needed a friend with him to add interesting dialogue.

Maybe there's a kid who would read this, but not many.

While I personally found this one a little underwhelming, I think some middle grader readers will love this Bigfoot adventure/survival story. I would be a great pick for reluctant readers and could serve as a HILO book for HS students.

Beast by Wyatt Key

I devoured this one in an afternoon! When Adam is driving back from Disneyworld late one night with his parents, his dad swerves the car to avoid hitting a sasquatch/bigfoot/ swamp ape. Adam wakes up and his parents have vanished and he is injured. No one believes him about the accident being to avoid a sasquatch and his parents cannot be located. Adam seeks answers which leads him into a survival/adventure that rivals any of the Brian stories from Gary Paulsen. I was pleased that Adam got his answers and found peace.

This book is going to appeal to my students that love intense action and adventure as well as the fans of the Roland Smith cryptid stories. Wyatt Key is a new author for me, but I will seek some of his other books for sure. Thanks for the awesome read!

Watt Key's books are pretty much always a hit in my 6th-8th grade class library, and I think this one will be popular as well. It was a bit different with a supernatural spin not included in his other books, but it also had some of the intense moments I expect in his writing. Adam heads into the Florida wilderness alone after a car wreck during which his parents disappeared and also that he believes was caused by a Bigfoot. He hopes to find evidence of these creatures' existence and ends up in a fight for survival. This book has some slower moments during which Adam is just waiting and watching, but I feel those are definitely outweighed by the intense moments of suspense and action.

Adam lost his parents in car accident when they saw a “beast” on the road. To find out what he saw, Adam leaves his uncle’s house for the swamplands of Florida. He lives in the swamp for two months, only barely surviving due to the kindness of a family of hidden Bigfoot creatures. It’s a fast-paced read that takes readers on an imaginative, seemingly realistic survival story.

What would you do to find your missing parents? Would you go into the deepest parts of the swamps of Florida and live off of only the things of nature? Adam and his parents were driving home from Disney World late one night when something stepped out in front of their car, causing them to crash. When Adam woke up, he was in the hospital and his parents were missing. He described what he saw, no one believed him - not the police and not even his Uncle John. It wasn't a human and it wasn't a bear. The newspaper report called it a "Sasquatch-like creature" and that's when he knew he had to start telling people he didn't remember anything from that night. Adam moves in with his Uncle John and has to start a new school. When he gets into trouble on day one for fighting a student makes fun of him for seeing Bigfoot, he knows he can't go on like this. He has to do something! He starts searching for Bigfoot sighting and he finds a man that lives just about 20 miles from where he is. He sneaks away and walks the 20 miles until he finds the house described in the article. Adam finds out that Stanley lost his wife and his daughter because of his Bigfoot sighting and is now an old miserable man. Stanley tells Adam to forget what he was and move on with his life, but that is hard for Adam to do since he knows his parents are missing. He has to either find his parents, or get a great picture of a Bigfoot so that people will know he is not crazy. He fills his backpack full of supplies that he finds in Stanley's barn, he takes his boat, and he heads to the Suwannee River. Not long after he sets off in the rickety old boat does he lose most of his food and supplies, thanks to an enormous sturgeon, he loses the boat. Adam is now deep in the swamp with only his pocketknife and a penlight, he has to learn how to survive off of nature. Adam lives in the swamp for two months. Does he ever find the elusive Bigfoot? If he does find one, can he get a picture to prove he is not crazy? After two months, does Adam ever find his parents? Does Adam even survive? Read this incredible book to find out these answers!

Watt Key is one of my favorite authors! His books will keep you on the edge-of-your-seat right from the beginning. If you love action and adventure survival stories, you will love this book! I admire Adam for his determination to find his parents and his, his bravery to face down a deadly creature, and cleverness for living off of the land and trying to survive at all costs. This is a must read!!!

Adam wakes up the hospital following a car crash. Both of his parents are missing, and Adam is hesitant to reveal the cause of the crash because he worries nobody will believe him. Since seeing the Bigfoot in the road that night, Adam is plagued by nightmares and an inability to focus. He needs answers. After tracking down another Bigfoot witness, Adam is convinced that the only way to move on is to find the creatures. He packs a few supplies and heads out into the Florida Refuge to find the answers, the Bigfoot. What he discovers changes his life and his world forever.

I absolutely loved this book. The story is gripping from the first sentence and I could not stop reading until the last. I think middle grade readers will particularly enjoy this because it's short but packed with action, mystery, and adventure. Watt Key does not disappoint!

People say it was probably a large animal in the road that caused the car crash. But Adam knows what he saw. Now his parents have disappeared and Adam wants answers because no one believes him. After doing some research online Adam finds another person who claims to have seen a Bigfoot in their area. So Adam runs away in search of him, and then after hearing his story, in search of Bigfoot.
Adam's experiences over the next two months are harrowing - alligators, losing his boat and supplies, near starving. But...he does see them and learns way more than he thought he would. What does he do with the knowledge now?
I liked it. Moderately short, action, survival... a good read.