Soul of the Beast by Wes Phelan

About the book

The main characters are John Sexton, an English teen, Mick Kelly, an Irish convict's son, and Zhong, a Buddhist monk from a monastery hidden in the Himalayas. John has two diamonds that are the keys to finding the Soul of the Beast, a large blue diamond with mystical powers. The novel follows the trio's quest to find the Soul and escape from an assassin cult called Thugs. The Thugs are committed to killing them and possessing the Soul.

In Australia, John and his friend, David, are falsely arrested for murder and thrown into jail. David is hanged by a Thug named Rasheed. Mick bails John out of jail to save his life and puts his life in danger too. The Thugs pursue them to Calcutta and almost kill them several times but they are saved each time by a mysterious oriental man who can disappear.

In India, John and Mick discover the Soul is in the Himalayas and meet Zhong. Zhong saves them from the Thugs who chase the trio across northern India into the Himalayas. The trio survives perilous situations such as capture by bandits, an attack by a tiger, and the extreme cold of the upper mountains. Zhong's unusual abilities enable them to survive.

The Thugs ultimately corner the trio within Zhong's monastery in the Himalayas. John and Mick learn the Soul is real and inside a temple. A fierce battle ensues and the Thugs slaughter the local villagers and the monks. But the monks can control minds and keep the villagers and the trio from receiving fatal injuries and trick the Thugs into killing each other.

When the trio recovers and leaves the monastery, the Soul begins pulsating with a blue light. The Soul of the Beast has begun to awaken and fulfill its unknown destiny.

About the author

Wes Phelan is a native Southern Californian who grew up on the beach. His odyssey through college began at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He went on to earn his M.D. at Creighton University of Medicine, and subsequently began a residency in Gynecology and Obstetrics at the University of California, Irvine. Wes later changed residencies and studied Diagnostic Radiology at the Medical College of Georgia.

Wes thought about the many bizarre events he had experienced as a physician and put his thoughts on paper. He was surprised by how much fun it was to write and kept going. Working sixty to ninety hours per week and unable to type, his development as a writer was slow. Wes eventually became a writer and the proof is Soul of the Beast, his first completed novel.

Wes and his wife, Judy, have four grown sons. They live in North Carolina near the Outer Banks where Wes practices Diagnostic Radiology, writes, and dodges the occasional hurricane.