ALLIES OF THE NIGHT: Book #8
Cirque du Freak Series
by Darren Shan
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316155705
Ages 10-up
192 pages

Forget the mad animals that want to trample Darren Shan. Forget fires and life as a Vampire Prince. In the latest installment of Darren's quest to find and kill the Lord of the Vampaneze, he has to face his most frightening challenge yet: algebra.

Darren, Mr. Crepsley, and Harkat Mulds have returned to the city they first visited while hunting the mad vampaneze Murlough in TUNNELS OF BLOOD. They hunt vampaneze at night and sleep during the day --- until a school inspector visits Darren and tells him that if he doesn't enroll immediately at the Mahler School, the police will come after him!

Just in case going to school wasn't unnerving enough, Darren encounters two very important people from his past. They join him in his hunt for the Lord of the Vampaneze, and with Vancha March --- an unconventional but fiercely loyal Vampire Prince --- their small army heads for the sewers to stop a series of human murders. In the course of their fight, Darren discovers that someone he thought was a friend is in league with the enemy, and he has to think fast --- and act faster --- in order to save himself and those who are helping to save the fate of the vampires.

Mystery, mayhem and betrayal form the latest high-speed chapter in Darren Shan's vampire saga. Darren Shan isn't known for sparing the gory details, so for fans of a good thrill, this book is for you. Not recommended reading before bedtime!

   --- Reviewed by Carlie Webber

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