Darren is a reluctant half-vampire — though he has resigned himself to his new role — and finds drinking the blood of humans to be very distasteful and unethical. But of course, he needs to in order to survive. This is just one of the things he must learn as a vampire's assistant, and just one of the things he confronts in The Vampire's Assistant, Book 2 of the series. He finds his new home — the Cirque Du Freak itself — an oddly friendly place where he gets to meet in person those same freaks who had entertained (and frightened) him only days earlier. He learns of the small, hooded creatures who serve the freaks (called the Little People), and who feed on furry animals. He rooms with the snake-boy Evra Von, performs on stage as a freak, has a scary run-in with a wolf-man and an environmental activist, and memorializes a good friend in a terribly bloody way. Book 2 is especially interesting because we get to meet the unusual characters at Cirque Du Freak up close. It is fast-paced, and sometimes the suspense concludes with scary or sad result. The expected doesn't happen, while the unexpected does.