When the future you always pictured falls apart before your eyes, what will it take to stay afloat? Jared Paulsen hangs everything on the girl of his dreams. They're perfect together, and he looks to the future with infinite possibilities and anticipations. All he's got to do is ask her out before he loses his nerve and his chance. Devon Hill tries to support his friend, but Jared is quickly growing distant in pursuit of his imagined future. Devon struggles to maintain their precious friendship, especially as unforeseen difficulties mount. After graduation, the two embark on a summer road trip across the USA. One that they, and the reader, will never forget. The Beast, Scott Mathews's debut novel, is a story about a moody, sometimes lost, college grad struggling to rediscover what matters to him in a large, lonely world.