Product Description

Darren Shan, the Vampire's Assistant, gets a taste of the city when he leaves the Cirque Du Freak with Evra and Mr. Crepsley. When corpses, drained of blood, are discovered, Darren and Evra are compelled to confront a foul creature of the night who may prove to be the end of them all...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #184775 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780316607636
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Following his blood-curdling adventures in A Living Nightmare and The Vampire's Assistant, half-vampire Darren Shan is settling into his day-to-day life at Cirque Du Freak, the traveling freak show he has joined. But before he can get too cozy, his vampire master, Mr. Crepsley, whisks him off to the big city for a mysterious mission. Soon, Crepsley, Darren, and Evra the snake-boy are embroiled in a bloody battle of wits between the vampire community and a mad, "vampaneze," a creature from a separate, more murderous race of vampires. Along the way, Darren meets his first girlfriend, and winds up putting her life, as well as everyone else's, in grave danger.

The latest installment of Darren Shan's bestselling saga will surely satiate his legions of bloodthirsty fans. As fast-paced and thrilling as ever, his writing will encourage even reluctant readers to devour the series. Luckily for all, it looks as though we haven't seen the last of this appealing, well-meaning (if occasionally bumbling) half-vampire. (Ages 10 and older) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
A visit to the city leads Darren and Evra, the snake boy, to a startling discovery (blood drained corpses) and sends them on a mission to discover the foul creature responsible, in Darren Shan's Tunnels of Blood, the third installment in the Saga of Darren Shan, that began with Cirque Du Freak.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8-Shan will continue to draw "Goosebumps" (Scholastic) graduates with this third installment in the series. Here, he sends his eponymous teenaged protagonist, who is still not quite a full-blooded (so to speak) vampire, along with scaly snake-boy Evra and century-old Larten Crepsley on a mysterious mission. They are to kill, as it eventually turns out, a rogue "vampaneze," a member of a minority group that believes in killing its victims, draining their blood rather than just taking sips. In the process, young "Darren" meets vivacious human (probably, but stay tuned) Debbie Hemlock, and learns a little more about Mr. Crepsley's checkered background. The game's a little slow to develop, but after a gory meat-locker scene, much running about in sewer tunnels, and lines like "When I came to, I found myself face to face with a skull. Not any old skull, either-this still had flesh on it, and one of the eyeballs was floating in its socket," the vampaneze meets a suitably horrible end, described in stomach-churning detail. The story is compulsively readable, but it's not for the squeamish.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Mystery, suspense, horror, oh my!
The third installation of Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak series takes us to an unnamed city plagued by an elusive killer. Darren and his mentor, Larten Crepsley, are paid a visit from an old friend of Mr. Crepsley's named Gavner Purl, a Vampire General. After a clandestine conversation with Gavner, Mr. Crepsley announces that he must leave the Cirque for a while and go live in the city, and Darren as his assistant has to go with him. Dismayed at the idea of having to be alone all the time in a strange place, Darren convinces his best friend Evra Von to join him.

While Mr. Crepsley is away or sleeping, Darren and Evra spend time enjoying themselves in the city, going to zoos and other interesting places. Darren even meets a girl, Debbie Hemlock, who adores the fact that he's just a little strange and that his best friend is a snake-boy. Coming home from Debbie's one night just before Christmas, Darren finds Evra transfixed by a TV news show that is reporting the finding of six dead humans, all drained of their blood. Evra and Darren argue as to who the culprit is, and Darren immediately suspects Mr. Crepsley, who is never home at night. He tracks Mr. Crepsley to a slaughterhouse, prepared to kill his master, but finds out that he's fighting an enemy he never could have dreamed about. It will take every wit Darren and Mr. Crepsley have to conquer the mad murderer, as well as a lot of luck.

Darren Shan has created yet another spellbinding volume in the story of a young boy's training as a vampire's assistant. This book gets four stars instead of five because the trademark suspense and thrills usually present throughout the books is left until the end. It seems that this books serves as more of a vehicle to show Darren's growth and knowledge of humanity, rather than scare the readers. Don't worry, though, there's plenty of gross stuff for everyone, and Shan sets up what promises to be a fascinating fourth novel, as Darren faces a new enemy and learns more about the vampire world.

Yet another great book by Mr. Shan
This book continues the nonstop action that is in the Saga of Darren Shan. When a mad vampaneze runs loose in Mr. Crepsley's hometown, Darren, the snakeboy, Evra Von, and Mr. Crepsley must journey there to stop him. Mr. Crepsley goes out every night to investigate. Darren and Evra become suspicious when they hear of several bodies that were found DRAINED OF BLOOD!!! (They do not yet know of the mad vampaneze.) Darren and Evra start following Mr. Crepsley. In a butcher's shop, Darren comes face to face with the mysterious vampire's cousin. In another heartpounding adventure, Darren once again delivers a brilliant book. Highly recommended.

Author Darren Shan does it again!!!!
"Tunnels of Blood," the third volume in Darren Shan's "Cirque Du Freak" series, is buy far the best so far. In this volume, we learn lots more about vampires and one of their greatest enemies, and also a bit of history. Like all the "Cirque Du Freak" books, this one ends with the dreadful last three words (as all the books would I predict) TO BE CONTINUED, and the fourth book is not coming out till September!!!!! The publisher has got to get with it and start publishing more than two books in this series a year!!! People in the U.K. are soon to get the SIXTH book in the series. A great read!!!