In the fourth book of the bestselling Cirque du Freak series, Darren Shan begins a grueling, three-part adventure.

Darren has settled into life as a vampire''s assistant and feels at home in the Cirque du Freak. But now he must leave the freak show and his friends behind. With Mr. Crepsley as a traveling companion, he embarks on a dangerous trek to the very heart of the vampire world. But they face more than the cold on Vampire Mountain—the vampaneze have been there before them.

Will a meeting with the Vampire Princes restore Darren''s human side or turn him further toward the darkness? Only one thing is certain: Darren''s initiation into the vampire clan is more deadly than he can ever have imagined.