THE VAMPIRE PRINCE: Book #6
Cirque du Freak Series
by Darren Shan
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316607096
Ages 10-up
168 pages

Trust authority. Trust tradition. Trust the wisdom of the older vampires. Darren Shan knows he is supposed to follow these lessons, but in his current position, caught in a violent tide coursing through Vampire Mountain, he's having a difficult time trusting anyone or anything. He has just witnessed the murder of his friend and advisor Gavner Purl at the hands of the Vampire Prince Kurda Smahlt.

While hiding with the wolves that rescue him from near-certain death, Darren puts the pieces of the Kurda puzzle together. He figures that Kurda, working in league with the enemies of the vampires, the vampaneze, is going to betray all the vampires and the Vampire Princes and allow the vampaneze to access the Stone of Blood. With the Stone of Blood, the vampaneze will have the power to find and kill almost every vampire in the world. Darren knows he's the only one who can stop Kurda, but how will he do it?

From the heart-pounding introduction through the twist at the end that brings Darren into a whole new way of vampire life, Shan never gives Darren, or the reader, a second to relax. While this book is not recommended for those who have not read previous books in the series, regular readers of Darren's saga will be intrigued by the mystery and the way characters are revealed. There is the trademark blood and gore here, but it takes second chair to Darren's growth and discoveries. Warning: Some readers may require a tissue at the end.

   --- Reviewed by Carlie Webber

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