Birth of a Killer the Saga of Larten Crepsley by Darren Shan

Birth of a Killer the Saga of Larten Crepsley by Darren Shan is a prequel to the Cirque du Freak series. This book tells the story of a young Larten Crepsley and how he came to be a vampire. It begins when Larten and his cousin, Vur Horston, work for an evil boss (Traz) at a silk factory in their home town. One day, Traz snaps and attacks meek and timid Vur, drowning him in a vat of boiling water. Seeing this fills Larten with rage and he stabs Traz and kills him. Knowing his life is over is he is caught, Larten flees the city, seeking refuge in a graveyard. Here, he meeds Seba, a vampire. Seba offers to make Larten his assistant, and seeing no other options but truly believing this is his destiny, Larten accepts. Seba tests and trains Larten as a human for many years before changing him. When Seba goes to attend the summit at Vampire Mountain, he leaves Larten in the care of Mr. Tall at the Cirque du Freak. During this time, Larten meets Wester, another human boy who reminds him of his cousin, Vur. Larten takes Wester under his wing when he realizes that a strange version of vampire (vampaneze) has murdered Wester's family. Together they try to slay the vampaneze, but are unsuccessful. As a result, Larten and Wester return to Cirque du Freak. When Seba returns, he agrees to take Wester as his assistant as well. Once they are both vampires, Larten's and Wester's training continues until they are allowed to go the the next summit at Vampire Mountain. Following this, the trio goes back to traveling, but Larten begins to feel some unrest. Eventually, the two young vampires break from Seba, preferring to take part on more humanly pleasures - at least for the time being. This is when Larten Crepsley is noticed by Desmond Tiny...

This was a great prequel to the Cirque du Freak series. I've read the whole series, so I really enjoyed learning the back story of Larten Crepsley. It was interesting to learn about his family, how his hair became such a vivid shade of orange, and how he grew up. This book does have a little gore, so it may be for more mature readers. I recommend Birth of a Killer and the Cirque du Freak series to anyone who enjoys a good horror novel!