The Soul Eater

From the back cover of the Warner paperback: "Kill it and die! Some say it's a myth, others worship it, museums want it captured, and one man - Nicobar Lane - wants it dead. It has been called the Deathdealer, the Stardusters, the Straigor, and the Dreamwish Beast, and its legend has grown throughout the universe. Few who have seen it lived to tell about it, and those who have, regret they survived. Nicobar Lane, galactic bounty hunter, had traversed a thousand worlds fearlessly terminating his prey with a steel hand and a cool-blooded nonchalance... until he felt the grip of the Dreamwish Beast. Now he can't stop shaking, because for the first time he isn't killing for money, but for revenge - and the intoxicating taste of his own death."