Synopses & Reviews
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 had lots of friends. I liked reading horror stories and watching scary movies.
When a freak show came 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 his 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.
The compelling sequel to the New York Times bestseller Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare soon to be a motion picture from Warner Bros. The Vampire's Assistant continues the saga of Darren Shan and follows the grotesque creatures and blood-sucking vampires from Book 1, plus other monsters.
Review
"The sequel to Shan's successful horror debut is another guilty pleasure....Gross-out horror fans will devour it and clamor for the next in the series." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Chockful of wonderfully inventive details about the residents of the freak show...this stand-alone sequel lacks the poignancy of Anne Rice's early vampire books published for adults, but is well suited to young readers." Debbie Carton, Booklist
Review
"Fast-paced and full of macabre touches, Cirque Du Freak explores the powerful fascination of the dangerous and unnatural and also, movingly, the obligations of friendship." J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series
Review
"The first-person narration seems superficial, and there is little depth to Darren's character. That said, Shan creates heart-pounding, page-turning action that will keep kids reading. He certainly knows his horror..." School Library Journal
Review
"Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is just as enthralling as Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare. Darren Shan has given us another ghoulish feast full of gore and gristle definitely not for vegetarians!" Bookloons.com
Review
"The novel provides the requisite chills and suspense....Fans of the genre will definitely enjoy meeting Darren again....Moreover, this book stands on its own, offering readers enough background of Darren's past to appreciate fully the story." VOYA
Review
"[T]he action gets underway fast and furiously....Shan is uncannily skillful in sucking readers into his macabre world....With this book...it won't take long [for this series] to gain a faithful following." Children's Literature
Synopsis
Darren Shan was just an ordinary schoolboy until his visit to the Cirque Du Freak. Now, as he struggles with his new life as a Vampire's Assistant, he tries desperately to resist the one temptation that sickens him, the one thing that can keep him alive. But destiny is calling. The Wolf Man is waiting.
About the Author
Darren Shan was born in London, but at an early age he moved to Limerick, Ireland, with his parents and younger brother. He grew up watching old Dracula horror movies and reading spooky comics, which were the inspirations for this story. The Vampire's Assistant is the second book in the Saga of Darren Shan series.