This novel is the first in Darren Shan's vampire saga. I'm reading the whole series in one long go* so I'll save my reflections on characters, themes, style, and the overarching plot - as well as my recommendations about the series as a whole - until my post about the final instalment, and here will just give a quick [spoilers] outline of the plot.
Darren Shan is a pretty normal kid. He and his best friend, Steve Leonard, manage to get tickets to the Cirque du Freak - a travelling freak show. A fair amount of the book is just them at the freak show and descriptive depictions of all the acts (which include a bearded lady, a wolf-man, a two-bellied man, and a snake-boy); though chief among these for story purposes is Mr Crepsley and Madam Octa, his trained spider. Darren loves spiders and is immediately envious of Madam Octa - but after the show he overhears Steve talking to Mr Crepsley and realises that the spider-training freak is an actual vampire. So he steals the spider and leaves a blackmail note saying that if Mr Crepsley tries to get Madam Octa back he'll tell the world he's a vampire. Unfortunately however - Darren's new pet spider bites Steve, and to save his friend's life from the spider's venom our protagonist has to strike a deal with Crepsley: become a vampire himself and serve as Crepsley's assistant.
Pretty great premise to kick a series off with, don't you agree?
* I have read the whole saga before but I was about 14 so this was half my life ago. Feels like it warrants a revisit to see if it holds up reading it as an adult.
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