PLOT OUTLINE

Book 5 of The Saga Of Darren Shan. Five Trials -- five chances for Darren Shan to prove himself worthy of being a vampire -- five ways to die!

But while Darren struggles to complete and survive his perilous Trials, other forces are at work deep within Vampire Mountain. Their goal: to wipe the Princes and Generals from the face of the earth!! Darren is poised to uncover a shocking conspiracy -- but will he live long enough to spread the warning???

Trials Of Death is the middle book of a gruelling, 3-part Darren Shan adventure. The story concludes in Book 6:The Vampire Prince.

AUTHOR NOTES

I sometimes get asked what the 5th trial would have been -- and the honest answer is, I don't know!!! When plotting the book, I knew I would only need to come up with 4 trials, so that's all I figured out!!!!!!

It was my decision not to include any teaser chapter of book 6 -- I thought it would be best to leave readers in total suspense, with no idea of what was going to come next!!!!

Book 5 was the last book in the U.K. with the old-style covers. Though I thought the original book 1 cover was great, I felt that the others weren't as strong, and that the books weren't catching as many eyes on shelves as they should. They looked a bit cheap and unimaginative. Collins agreed and set to work on redesigning the look of book 6 -- a look which was to last until the end of the Saga.