false 8962 31 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, <I>Cirque Du Freak</I> is a thrill ride that will keep even the most reluctant readers turning pages, but will never take its place in the literary canon.<p> 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.<p> 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.<p> 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) <I>--Karin Snelson</I> 724928 book 2000 Cirque Du Freak (The Saga of Darren Shan, #1) total:3101|5:1315|4:868|3:628|2:217|1:73| 3101 12438 4391 583 4 4 false false Fri Mar 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 13:00:13 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 06 08:55:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu Oct 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 16 16:26:51 -0800 2008 Fri Oct 30 14:51:59 -0700 2009 1
Well, this was a very interesting book. I didn't really like the idea of the freak show, but I did think that it was a novel way to introduce thi...more...]]> 4 2 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Mar 13 22:45:23 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 13 23:49:20 -0700 2008 Darren Shan
183 Pages
HaperCollins Publishers
UK £4.99
ISBN: 0-00-675416-3
A Living Nightmare will bring a chilling sensation right after you read the book told by the gruesome-styled author Darren Shan who is also the protagonis...more...]]> 5 3 false false Fri Nov 14 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 13 18:53:14 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 14 15:59:13 -0800 2008 1 2 1 false false Thu Feb 26 20:00:10 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 20:00:16 -0800 2009
Description: Darren Shan’s an ordinary schoolboy, until he and his best friend Steve get tickets to the Cirque Du Freak, a biza...more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Feb 18 08:17:37 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 18 08:18:04 -0800 2009
I recommend this book to people who likes scary books, and I just love the book. It starts out boring but it gets interesting. You see story is about a boy named Darren Shan who wins a ticket to the circus. Darren and his crazy friend Steve went to the circus and saw wond...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 27 15:20:05 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 16:12:36 -0800 2009 Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare is the first book in Darren Shan’s saga. And the protagonist of the book is the author, Darren. This fictional story started when Darren receive a traveling circus ticket from Steve, one of his best friend. The Cirque Du Freak collection consists of memories of ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Dec 22 17:24:41 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 22 17:48:15 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Feb 16 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 18 06:35:25 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 18 06:36:09 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Oct 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 30 10:13:20 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 30 10:34:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Oct 27 14:59:08 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 15:39:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Oct 12 16:54:47 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 20:56:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 09:04:50 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 09:18:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Sep 03 15:01:45 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 15:02:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Sep 03 12:23:54 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 19:06:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 21 22:26:53 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 21:33:50 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 22:26:53 -0700 2009
...oh.

Well, that's really the only reason I started reading this. I've heard many good things about this series but since I'm a contrary person, I...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 27 12:18:25 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 12:34:11 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Apr 01 05:39:27 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 01 05:50:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Dec 03 19:09:02 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 05 17:42:28 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false true Thu Nov 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 14:56:40 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 04:55:53 -0800 2009 Twilight sparkle lover I am not) I enjoyed the movie greatly. I figured I should give the book a try. Was rather excited to see that it's actually a series of 12 books and it ...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=8962