Cirque Du Freak #1: A Living Nightmare: Book 1 in the Saga of Darren Shan (Cirque Du Freak: The Saga of Darren Shan)
Average Rating: 4.5 Stars
by Darren Shan
List Price: $6.99
Store Price: from $3.16
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
ISBN: 0316905712
Amazon.com Review
Anyone who loves the humorous but hair-raising horror in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series will devour British author Darren Shan's first novel with equal zeal. Some books are born with a surrounding buzz; this one even has Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling's stamp of approval: "Fast-paced and compelling, full of satisfying macabre touches," she writes. Warner Brothers will be making it into a movie, and the rest of the series is already in the works. Given all that, you'd expect a tour de force! Really, though, Cirque Du Freak is a thrill ride that will keep even the most reluctant readers turning pages, but will never take its place in the literary canon.
Darren Shan, author and narrator, sets the book up as a true story, warning readers: "Real life's nasty. It's cruel.... Evil often wins." Indeed, evil begins to win when Darren and his buddies find a flier for "Cirque Du Freak," a traveling freak show promising performances by the snake-boy, the wolf-man, and Larten Crepsley and his giant spider, Madame Octa. Darren and his friend Steve wouldn't miss it for the world.
So, Saturday night they sneak out to the old theater, tall and dark, with broken windows. "Every act you see tonight is real," croaks Mr. Tall. "Each performer is unique. And none are harmless." That's for sure. (A werewolf bites off the hand of someone in the audience, for instance.) Things grow very serious for the two boys when Steve not only recognizes Mr. Crepsley as a famous vampire, but professes his true desire to join him! To make matters worse, the spider-obsessed Darren goes back to the old theater to steal Madame Octa so he can teach her tricks in his room. (He does, with mixed results.) The plot further coagulates as Darren is faced with some terrible decisions about what to do to save his bloodthirsty friend Steve.
Readers may be too enthralled to notice some clumsy editing (the aforementioned bitten-off hand is later referred to as an arm, Darren stops dead in his tracks when he's already stopped, etc.). They may also not notice that the boys constantly use adult-sounding expressions like "his breath stank to the high heavens," though the book is clearly set in the 21st century. If this book gets under your kids' skin (and it probably will), they're in luck--we haven't heard the last of the Saga of Darren Shan. (Ages 10 and older, not for the faint of heart) --Karin Snelson
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Product Description
In the tradition of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot, Cirque Du Freak is the frightening saga of a young boy whose visit to a mysterious freak show leads him on a journey into a dark world of vampires. Filled with grotesque creatures, murderous vampires, and a petrifying ending, Cirque Du Freak will chill, thrill, and leave readers begging for more.
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Customer Reviews
Napolien Dale
5 Stars
Will you ever meet a boy that steels spiders or becomes a vampire assistant? Yes, Darren Shan dose all of that. Darren Shan is a kid that dose tons of things in his 12 series life. He starts to experience weird stuff from watching someone's arm getting bit of by a wolf boy to Mr. Crepsly eating spider webs. After the Cirque Du Freak, Darren finds his friend asking Mr. Crepsly to make him a vampire but Darren thought he was crazy. He had no clue he was a vampire. Steve, Darren's friend gets bit by Mr. Crepsly and he says that Steve has bad blood and he is evil. Steve doesn't take that as a complement. Steve says he will kill him with a silver stake. Mr. Crepsly laughed. Later that night it was after the freak show and Darren liked a spider that preformed in the Freak Show, so he took it from Cirque Du Freak. Yesterday, Darren had Steve over and told him to stad still while he did mind games with the spider. Steve moved on accident and the spider Madam Octa bit him.
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Cirque Du Freak
5 Stars
Darren Shan
Cirque Du Freak
Book Review
Will you ever meet a boy that steels spiders or becomes a vampire assistant? Yes, Darren Shan dose all of that. Darren Shan is a kid that dose tons of things in his 12 series life. He starts to experience weird stuff from watching someone's arm getting bit of by a wolf boy to Mr. Crepsly eating spider webs. After the Cirque Du Freak, Darren finds his friend asking Mr. Crepsly to make him a vampire but Darren thought he was crazy. He had no clue he was a vampire. Steve, Darren's friend gets bit by Mr. Crepsly and he says that Steve has bad blood and he is evil. Steve doesn't take that as a complement. Steve says he will kill him with a silver stake. Mr. Crepsly laughed. Later that night it was after the freak show and Darren liked a spider that preformed in the Freak Show, so he took it from Cirque Du Freak. Yesterday, Darren had Steve over and told him to stad still while he did mind games with the spider. Steve moved on accident and the spider Madam Octa bit him.
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8 thumbs up
5 Stars
Darren Shan was an ordinary schoolboy until he and his friend get tickets to a real freak show. There, he finds out his friend wants to become a vampire. This is an exellent series made by an exellent auther. If anyone doesn't like these books, you must have an IQ of 5. Anyone with a brain could tell that this is a great series.
~ kimberly,
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Very good beginnig book for a saga
4 Stars
I am not a young adult and yet I enjoyed this book greatly. It held my attention through out the whole book and even reminded me of my nephews with the characters of Steve and Darren. Will for sure recommend this book to others and can't wait to get into the next book to the saga.
~ A. Ballard, Fortuna,ca
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From J. Kaye's Book Blog
5 Stars
Darren Shan's friend, Steve, gets a flier for a freak show. Since these shows are illegal, they have to sneak out to watch it. After the show, Steve holds back to talk to Mr. Crepsley. He was one of the performers whose an act is with a cool spider named Miss Octa. Darren overhears their conversation and finds out that Mr. Crepsley is a vampire.
Later, Darren steals Miss Octa. Steve comes over and learns about the spider. While handling Miss Octa, Steve's injected with a powerful paralyzing poison. Darren knows that there is only one person able to cure him and he goes to Mr. Crepsley. The vampire agrees to help, but it comes with a price.
I didn't learn about this author until I read his other series, The Demonata series. Although I don't care much for vampire books, I wanted to give it a try. I didn't think he could get better than the Demonata series. I was wrong. It's better.
I'll be starting on the second book in the Cirque Du Freak series which is THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT. Until I catch up on both of Shan's series, this will be all I'm reading.
~ J. Kaye Oldner, http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/
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