|
Unlikely
heroes
return
in the
eighth
installment
of the
bestselling
young
reader/young
adult
horror
series
Cirque
Du Freak.
In
Allies
of the
Night ,
the
misfit
trio of
half-vampire
Darren
Shan,
his
vampire
guide,
Mr.
Crepsley,
and
disfigured
ex-ghost
cohort
Harkat
are on
the hunt
for the
vampaneze,
who are
the
unmistakable
culprits
behind
the
serial
murders
of
humans
in Mr.
Crepsley's
hometown.
They are
hopeful
that
perhaps
they’ll
capture
the Lord
of the
Vampanese
in the
process.
Just
when the
trio
thinks
they
have the
edge in
the
pursuit,
a
confusing
roadblock
falls
into
their
path.
Someone
has
enrolled
the
eternally
youthful
Darren
in high
school,
and
there is
no
avoiding
the
vigilant
school
inspector.
The
group
agrees
that
Darren
should
begin
classes
to
protect
their
cover,
even if
it means
that he
is
walking
into a
trap.
Darren
finds
that the
danger
he is in
is the
least of
his
concerns:
he has
to find
a way to
fit in
with
suspicious
classmates.
Facing
the
uncertainty
of
adolescence
once
again,
he
struggles
against
his own
maturity
as he
tries to
pass for
a
fifteen-year-old
human
boy.
Darren
gets
jarred
back
into his
teen
years
when he
discovers
one of
his
teachers
is also
a former
high
school
flame.
While
he’s
been out
battling
the
vampaneze,
Debbie
has been
working
her way
through
college
to
become a
teacher.
Now he
has to
come up
with an
additional
cover
story
for the
fact
that
she’s
grown up
and he
hasn’t
aged a
bit –
and why
he’s
back in
school
as a
student
in her
English
class.
Meanwhile,
time is
running
out and
the
vampaneze
are
closing
in.
Steve,
Darren’s
friend
from the
beginning
of the
series,
is also
reintroduced
in
Allies
of the
Night.
During
his
absence,
Steve
has been
researching
the
vampaneze
and
training
himself
to
become
an
expert
hunter.
After
saving
Darren
from the
clutches
of a
hook-handed
vampaneze,
he joins
the
group in
their
nightly
quest.
But can
Steve be
trusted
despite
his evil
blood?
Shan
cleverly
introduces
new
readers
to the
series
through
a
prologue
and a
selection
of mock
newspaper
articles
chronicling
the
local
police
department’s
investigation
into the
murders.
Faces
from
past
installments
resurface
periodically,
providing
Shan
with
more
opportunities
to
familiarize
the
reader
with the
storyline.
None of
these
flashbacks
interrupts
the pace
of the
novel,
however,
as Shan
keeps
the
reader
intrigued
with
constant
twists
and
turns in
the
plot.
Shan
teases
the
reader
with a
cliffhanger
at the
end,
followed
by an
excerpt
from the
ninth
book in
the
series.
Following
R. L.
Stine’s
Goosebumps
legacy
with
monsters
that are
more
amusing
than
menacing,
the
Cirque
Du Freak
series
contains
just
enough
gore and
action
to
satisfy
the
adolescent
reader
without
invoking
nightmares.
Unlike
teen
horror
collections
of the
past,
Cirque
Du Freak
lacks
the
sugar-coated
“Leave
It to
Beaver”
detachment
from
reality,
which
makes it
all the
more
appealing
to
modern
readers.
The
intended
audience
is aged
nine to
twelve.
Darren
Shan’s
official
website
is
www.darrenshan.com,
which
contains
a host
of
ghastly
goodies.
Cirque
du
Freak:
Allies
of the
Night
is
published
by
Little
Brown
and
Company,
part of
Hachette
Book
Group
USA,
a
worldwide
company
that
brings
Cirque
Du Freak
to the
United
States
from
Great
Britain.
Cirque
Du Freak,
the
movie,
is
currently
in
production
and
slated
to be
released
in 2008.
http://www.curledupkids.com/cdfallie.htm |
