Cirque de Freak: Killers of the Dawn by Darren Shan

This book is the ninth in the Cirque de Freak series, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Darren is a half-vampire and is now a prince. The main conflict is that Darren and his small band of friends must defeat the Lord of the Vampeneze, but they're not exactly sure of his identity. They are trapped, escape, arrested, escape, and then trapped again. They're never sure who to trust, since the policeman who helped Darren escape was actually an enemy. There's a great deal of action, and the plot builds to a climax under the ground where Darren and his group face the Vampeneze Lord and his army. The giant fire pit below adds to the problem.

I read the first book in the series a year or two ago, and then read this ninth book. I enjoyed it, but I know I didn't understand many things that must have happened in the previous seven books. I'm thinking about going back to read them. Despite the characters being vampires, there's no biting in the book, and there isn't any graphic violence. I liked the character development, the surprises, and there was enough action to hold the reader's interest.