Book Review: Cirque Du Freak: Hunters of the Dusk

Darren Shan is both the name of the author of this series, and the fictional main character--a young half-vampire prince. He started out in the first book of the series as a normal boy, curious of a local freak circus that was in town. He and his friend went one night to see the show, and he ended up stealing a precious spider, Madam Octa, from one of the main performers--a vampire named Larten Crepsley .

This started a chain of events that ended up with Darren becoming Larten's assistant, and being halfway blooded; a method of sharing blood that starts to turn one into a vampire. They went on to have several journeys, to head towards vampire mountain, where the vampires meet and the hall of princes is located, and in Darren going through initiation trials...And finally--in him being named as one of the infamous princes, against all odds (him being so young, not fully a vampire, etc.).

The vampires have enemies across the board, of course, and their cousins, the vampaneze--strong purple skinned, red haired/eyed creatures--are at war with the vampires in this the 7th book in the Cirque Du Freak series.

Darren, his rescued friend from the circus--a "Little Person" named Harkat Mulds, who is a short, neckless grey person holding a soul of a former self, but not actually human--Mr. Crepsley, and another vampire prince set off in search of the vampaneze lord, a creature who has been foretold to be bringing the end of the vampires, if he is not stopped.
They learn many interesting things along their journey--such as Darren's role in the upcoming battle being far greater than he knew, and of a Lord of Shadows--a dark evil creature, & how they will have 4 opportunities to kill the vampaneze lord on their journey, but that is all.
There are several characters that can foretell courses the future may take, such as Mr. Tiny, who is an odd, vile creature who is said to have created the vampires many centuries ago, and an old, ugly witch who breeds frogs...

The main reason I love this young adult horror genre series is because Darren Shan writes his books in first person, and they are far from the norm; his vampires are nothing like the blood-thirsty, sexually driven, white creatures turning into bats and drinking humans dry--though they are allergic to the sun! They live amongst human beings, yet in a world of their own, and very different, akin to the old ways.
The stories Mr. Shan weaves in the Cirque Du Freak books are not filled with gore or disgusting taste--but are still scary, and involving of death, and many aspects you'd expect in a good horror adventure type series.
Another aspect of this series I love is the speed of the books. Most people read these books in one sitting--the stories move along at flitting speed (vampires can't fly, but they can move much faster than humans, a super speed they call "flitting"), full of excitement and interesting characters, and always ending at a crucial point where you want to read the next book, but not in an unprofessional way.

Hunters of the Dusk is a thrilling, quick read, and heads towards Darren's dark, uncertain future.
If you've never read any of Darren Shan's Cirque Du Freak series, and you're looking for something spine-tingling, yet not gory, with an adult-like realistic telling, I suggest reading them all!