Catastrophic hurricane Andrew has uprooted a half-dog, half-hog black beast known as El Chupacabra, "The Goatsucker." It is forced to move by the rising waters west through the Everglades, its hunger driving it to seek food. Lauren, a Fish and Wildlife officer, and her boyfriend Matt, a Miccosukee Indian, survive the storm and are assigned the task of finding and tagging a panther which has been injured by a car on the Tamiami Trail. Two dimwitted escapees from a work release gang, Ed and Travis, hide out under an overpass during the hurricane, loot some stores, steal a boat and head out into the islands to do some manatee poaching. Sam and Holly, who own a fish camp, are busy catering to their customers, dishing up, amongst other things, big vats of alligator stew. Mike is a wildlife photographer who wants to get one good photo of The Beast. Will anyone capture or kill The Beast, and if they do, is it really gone for good...........? The novel is set entirely in South Florida, during and just after hurricane Andrew.