For
months,
Vampire
Prince
Darren
Shan
has
been
on a
mission
to
kill
Steve
Leopard,
the
Vampaneze
Lord
and
Darren's
greatest
enemy.
Unable
to
shake
the
knowledge
that
either
he
or
Steve
must
rise
to
become
the
deadly
Lord
of
the
Shadows
and
lead
the
world
into
possible
devastation,
Darren
suffers
from
nightmares
and
frets
about
his
humanity.
He
is
now
living
back
in
his
hometown,
where
his
adventure
began
at
the
Cirque
du
Freak.
During
Darren's
travels,
Steve
has
amassed
an
army
of
humans
and
vampaneze
and
is
now
sending
them
to
harm
Darren's
friends
and
family,
including
a
nephew
Darren
never
knew
he
had.
No
one
but
Steve
can
kill
Darren,
but
Steve
is
determined
to
make
winning
the
war
as
difficult
as
possible
for
Darren
and
his
comrades.
Even
after
eleven
books
(of
twelve
planned),
this
series
still
has
great
momentum.
The
gory,
heart-pounding
action
sequences-a
staple
of
this
series-do
not
deflect
from
Darren's
personal
growth.
Darren
falls
in
love
and
experiences
some
very
painful
losses,
but
readers
who
pick
up
the
books
for
the
blood
and
guts
will
not
feel
dragged
down
by
the
human
or
vampire
relationships.
There
is
one
very
disturbing
murder
near
the
end
of
the
book,
but
it
is a
necessary
plot
point
to
fully
determine
that
there
is
no
hope
of
redemption
for
Steve.
Fans
of
the
series
will
anxiously
await
the
final
volume.