If you haven’t figured out by now, I’m loving this series.  Shan has an amazing ability to keep emotions and actions in his young characters real and true to life.

In the third book in the series, Darren’s been a half vampire for over a year and we’ve seen him grow, figuratively speaking, over the course of these books.  While he still can be a petulant child (mainly because he still kind of is one), he’s grown into his vampire assistant role and matured beyond what anyone his age would simply because, a lot of the times, he’s on his own.  Not many children live with a band of traveling freaks nor have to force themselves through the unpleasantness of having to drink human blood in order to survive.  He spent nearly all of the first two books fighting it.  Now he’s at peace with it and does it out of want more so than need.

The ending threw me for a major loop and I was very afraid that Darren was going to take a departure from his personality and character for the sake of the plot.  Boy was I wrong and boy is Shan sneaky!  He utilized an excellent first person device that worked wholly to his advantage and shows just how much Darren has matured.  Two books ago, to be perfectly frank, Darren wouldn’t have had the balls.  Now he’s a faster thinker and knows what he needs to do in order to stay alive.  And does it and Shan isn’t afraid to show that.

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