The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery

Gabriel Knight, an owner of rare books store in New Orleans and, as revealed in "Sins of the Fathers", a descendant of ancient bloodline of mysterious shadow hunters - Schattenjagers, decided to stay in Rittersberg, Germany, after his uncle Wolfgang Ritter died and bequeathed him the Schloss Ritter castle. Since he became a new Schattenjager, he was asked for help by villagers to solve a fearsome murder. A little daughter of a villager has been killed by something what seems to be a werewolf! Gabriel agrees to look for a werewolf and kill it. After exploring the crime scene and finding several interesting details, the trace leads to a prominent hunting club with kind of very curious members and moreover, the werewolf case seems to be very similar to an old werewolf curse of ancient German history ...The book is as great as its prequel. Jane Jensen proved again that she is a master of horror fictions based on real history. And if you do not like adventure games, maybe you will change your mind after trying the video game version of this book [actually, the book is based on the video game]. I hope that "Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the sacred, blood of the damned" will be also novelized by Jane Jensen because nobody else is able to narrate Gabriel Knight mysteries better.

I was a bit hesitant to purchase The Beast Within novelization after reading Sins of the Fathers novel by the same author (based on the first Gabriel Knight computer game), but eventually decided to get it due to the storyline which includes subjects that interest me -- Wagner and lycantrophy, for instance. Fortunately, The Beast Within works much better in the non-interactive form than the first in the series and makes a suspenseful reading, admirably mixing real-life facts and characters with pure fiction. The book also explains things that were skipped in the game (or that at least didn't catch my eyes or ears). Highly recommended for the fans of the game series.

I thought this book was excellent. Even though I played the game the book was far more detailed in explaining the background of the story. I am in the process of ordering Millenium Rising. Mrs. Jensen is truely a gifted artist.

I confess that I almost didn't buy this book because (a) I generally don't care for murder mysteries; and (b) I'd previously finished the PC game from which the book is derived, and so I already knew the ending. But that would have been my mistake, for the book itself is so very entertaining. And as a collector of about 200 titles on werewolves and lycanthropy, I can attest that this is one of the better-written examples of that genre.Moreover, the book has broad appeal: it is a murder mystery with a complex plot, and with understated, yet undeniably sensual, sexual overtones (for both straight and gay sensibilities).And historical fiction fans will enjoy the book's imaginative twist on the death of a fascinating and rather misunderstood historical figure, King Ludwig II, who played a significant role (albeit a tragic one) in the creation of the German state. So, even if you've already played the computer game of the same name, please go buy this book!

In Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within, author Jane Jensen takes you on a roller coaster of suspense, horror, and adventure. Set in a small German town Gabriel must take a case as the Schattenjager, and fufill his duty of keeping the family name honorable. Little does Gabe know that soon he will be dealing with a hungry werewolf. Backed up by a rich story line, and a great cast of characters, The Beast Within is a must have for all Gabriel Knight fans.