If you love vampires (check) I think you’ll be in for a treat with Birth of a Killer. Okay the vampires don’t sparkle and shock horror there is no romance going on but you know what with an opening sentence that can’t fail to draw you in and writing as good as this if you’re anything like me you’ll be hooked.

I loved the refreshing take on vampires – the one’s presented in Birth of a Killer aren’t necessarily murders they’re actions are of their own free will, they don’t need a soul to keep them on the straight and narrow. They are part of what you might call a family all be it a large one which kind of has a code of conduct, or maybe it’s guidelines but whatever it is, it shows us a very different kind of vampire and let me tell you – I like!

I felt for Larten, the main character from the first page and the way in which he and Seba are with each other remind me of father, son relationship. I don’t know why but I think there situations when they first meet helps them form a believable bond and one which I genuinely cared about.

At one point we see Cirque Du Freak which if you don’t know is the first book in The Saga of Darren Shan (which is now on my wish list). It seems like a wonderfully exciting place to be and read about with all kinds of weird, wonderful and well meaning performers.

The story hurtles along at a very fast pace and covers numerous periods of time which is something I haven’t seen before but in a way makes a lot of sense considering how long vampires life expectancy seems to be. Why should their stories be crammed into such a short few years when you would think there would be so much story to tell. However I did feel that in order to keep the pace up that we missed quite a few years where I find it hard to believe that nothing happened.

It’s a fast paced, action packed read which I think at times will make you think, if you haven’t read a Darren Shan book I urge you to try this one.