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 Book #1: A LIVING NIGHTMARE
by Darren Shan
Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316603406
Ages 10-up
272 pages
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The freak show was all I could think about that night. I tried forgetting it, but couldn't, not even when I was watching my favorite TV shows. It sounded so weird: a snake-boy, a wolf-man, a performing spider. I was especially excited by the spider....
Darren Shan and his two schoolmates are excited when their friend Steve comes across a flyer advertising the "Cirque Du Freak." The boys pool their money but can only purchase two tickets, so they play a game of chance to see who will go with Steve. Darren closes his eyes, and almost as if by magic, the ticket floats into his hand.
Darren and Steve are mesmerized by the fantastic and disturbing show, but when they get caught up in a deadly trap Darren must make a deal with the only person who can save him. And that person is not human and only deals in blood....
Soon to be a major motion picture from Warner Brothers, Cirque du Freak is the compelling saga of a young boy's journey into a dark world of vampires. Filled with grotesque creatures, murderous vampires, and an unexpected ending, Cirque du Freak will chill, thrill and leave readers begging for more.
 Book #2: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT
by Darren Shan
Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316606103
Ages 10-up
192 pages
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My name is Darren Shan. I'm a half-vampire. I wasn't born that way. I lived at home with my parents and younger sister, Annie. I enjoyed school and has lots of friends. I liked reading horror stories and watching scary movies.
When a freak show cam to town, my best friend, Steve Leopard, got tickets and we went. It was great, really spooky and weird. But the weirdest part came after the show...
Suddenly my days as a human were over. My nights as a vampire's assistant had begun.
Darren was just an ordinary schoolboy–until his visit to the Cirque Du Freak. Now Darren joins the powerful vampire Mr. Crepsley. As he struggles with is new life as a vampire's assistant, Darren tries desperately to resist the one temptation that sickens him...the one thing that can keep him alive.
 Book #3: TUNNELS OF BLOOD
by Darren Shan
Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316607630
Ages 10-up
224 pages
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Darren Shan, the Vampire's Assistant, gets a taste of the city when he leaves the Cirque Du Freak with Evra and Mr. Crepsley. When corpses, drained of blood, are discovered, Darren and Evra are compelled to confront a foul creature of the night who may prove to be the end of them all...
 Book #4: VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN
by Darren Shan
Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316608068
Ages 10-up
208 pages
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In VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN, the next gruesome encounter for the vampire's assistant, Darren Shan and Mr. Crepsley embark on a dangerous trek to the very heart of the vampire world. But they face more than the cold on Vampire Mountain—the vampaneze have been there before them. Will a meeting with the Vampire Princes restore Darren's human side or turn him further toward darkness? The gut-wrenching sequel to the New York Times bestseller CIRQUE DU FREAK, THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT, and TUNNELS OF BLOOD; VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN continues the frightening saga of Darren Shan.
 Book #5: TRIALS OF DEATH
by Darren Shan
Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316603678
Ages 10-up
180 pages
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The trials: seventeen ways to die unless the luck of the vampire is with you. Darren Shan must pass five fearsome trials to prove himself to the vampire clan --- or else face the stakes of the Hall of Death. But Vampire Mountain holds hidden threats. Sinister, potent forces are gathering in the darkness. In this nightmarish world of bloodshed and betrayal, death may be a blessing.
 Book #6: THE VAMPIRE PRINCE
by Darren Shan
Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316607096
Ages 10-up
168 pages
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Branded a traitor, betrayed by a friend, hunted by the vampire clan --- Darren Shan, the vampire's assistant, faces certain death. Can Darren reverse the odds and outwit a Vampire Prince, or is this the end of thousands of years of vampire
rule? Darren's initiation on Vampire Mountain draws to a stunning, bloody conclusion --- but the Saga continues...
 Book #7: HUNTERS OF THE DUSK
by Darren Shan
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316605964
Ages 10-up
224 pages
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The pursuit begins...
Darren Shan, the Vampire Prince, leaves Vampire Mountain on a life-or-death mission. As part of an elite force, Darren searches the world for the Vampaneze Lord. But the road ahead is long and dangerous---and lined with the bodies of the damned.
 Book #8: ALLIES OF THE NIGHT
by Darren Shan
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316155705
Ages 10-up
192 pages
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Darren Shan, Vampire Prince and vampaneze killer, faces his worst nightmare yet --- school! But homework is the least of Darren's problems. Bodies are piling up. Time is running out. And the past is catching up with the hunters fast . .
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 Book #9: KILLERS OF THE DAWN
by Darren Shan
Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316156264
Ages 10-up
224 pages
Read a Review and Excerpt.
Out numbered, outsmarted, and desperate, the hunters are on the run, pursued by the vampaneze, the police, and an angry mob. With their enemies clamoring for blood, the vampires prepare for a deadly battle. Is this the end for Darren and his allies?
 Book #10: THE LAKE OF SOULS
by Darren Shan
Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316156272
Ages 10-up
224 pages
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Darren and Harkat face monstrous obstacles on their desperate quest to the Lake of Souls. Will they survive the savage journey? And what awaits them in the murky waters of the dead? Be careful what you fish for.
 Book #11: LORD OF THE SHADOWS
by Darren Shan
Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316156280
Ages 10-up
240 pages
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"All must fall to the Lord of the Shadows," Steve said softly. "This is my world now, Darren."
Darren Shan is going home - and his world is going to hell. Old enemies await. Scores must be settled. Destiny looks certain to destroy him, and the world is doomed to fall to the Ruler of the Night...
 Book #12: SONS OF DESTINY
by Darren Shan
Little Brown and Company
ISBN-10: 0316156299
ISBN-13: 9780316156295
Ages 10-up
256 pages
Darren Shan's life both began and ended on the day he reached into the air and caught a ticket to an underground freak show, the Cirque du Freak. Because of that show --- and because he couldn't resist the lure of Madam Octa, the performing spider --- he gave up his mortal life to save his best friend Steve Leonard from a deadly poison. In his new life as a half-vampire, Darren travels to extraordinary places like Vampire Mountain and the Lake of Souls. Most importantly, he has seen how every event of the past, no matter how small, can have a profound effect on the future.
With his fellow Vampire Prince Vancha March and Larten Crepsley, Darren was sent on a mission. Vancha, Larten and Darren were named as the only three vampires who could kill the Vampaneze Lord and prevent the murdering vampaneze from destroying the vampires. Darren met up with his old friend, Steve Leonard, now the Vampaneze Lord, and the two know that they must fulfill another prophecy: Whoever kills the other will live to become the Lord of the Shadows. While Steve believes that killing Darren will lead to a great future, Darren worries that if he's the one who survives the battle, he could cause the world to become a desolate, horrible place where no vampires, vampaneze, or people can survive.
As Darren predicted, he must face Steve alone in their final battle. Steve injures Darren badly, but Darren is able to deal a fatal stab. As Steve dies, Darren learns that Mr. Desmond Tiny has manipulated most of his life. Steve and Darren have been controlled in many small ways by Mr. Tiny since their births, and Darren is determined that he will not be manipulated again, even if it means his own death! The way Darren sees it, the only way to avoid a lifetime of being controlled by Mr. Tiny is to take his destiny into his own hands…but he's going to need Steve's help to do it.
When Darren emerges from the battle, he's in the last place he ever wanted to be: the Lake of Souls. Memories of the past plague him, and he almost resigns himself to an eternity of insanity when he is pulled from the lake. Given one more turn at life, albeit a very different life than the one he's known, Darren is determined not to waste his chance to ensure the safety of humanity. He travels back in time to a moment when he can change the future, but will he have the courage to do what he has to do?
Hold your breath and draw your sword for the last bloody journey into Darren Shan's world of battling vampires. Here there be dragons --- and vampaneze and circus freaks and humans and witches and Little People and a really icky lake. All your questions about Darren's past, present and future will be answered here, as well as some curiosities you may have about a certain Desmond Tiny. In the end, as always, the story is Darren's, but does he have any hope for a future? Only time will tell.
--- Reviewed by Carlie Webber
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