The highly anticipated prequel to the New York Times bestselling Cirque Du Freak series! Before Cirque Du Freak... Before the war with the vampaneze... Before he was a vampire. Larten Crepsley was a boy. As a child laborer many centuries ago, Larten Crepsley did his job well and without complaint, until the day the foreman killed his brother as an example to the other children. In that moment, young Larten flies into a rage that the foreman wouldn't survive. Forced on the run, he sleeps in crypts and eats cobwebs to get by. And when a vampire named Seba offers him protection and training as a vampire's assistant, Larten takes it. This is his story.

Before Larten Crepsley was a vampire general... Before he was Darren Shan's master... Before the War of Scars... Larten Crepsley was a teenager. And he was sick of the pomp and circumstance of fusty old vampires telling him what to do. Taking off on his own with his blood brother, Wester, Larten takes off into the world to see what his newly blooded vampire status can get him in the human world. Sucking all he can out of humanity, Larten stumbles into a violent, hedonistic lifestyle, where cheats beckon, power corrupts, and enemies are waiting. This is his story.

Darren Shan, the vampire's assistant, is forced to march to Vampire Mountain where he will be judged by the vampire princes. Darren Shan and Mr Crepsley make a long and dangerous trek to the vampire's stronghold in the mountains. The trek is a test of skill and endurance - one which sees Darren's vampire nature develop, and a new understanding of the mysterious blue-robed servants of the sinister Mr Tiny. Gavner Purl makes a welcome return when he joins Darren and Mr Crepsley, but they face more than the cold on their way to the vampire princes - the vampaneze have been there before them... Will Darren's meeting with the Vampire Princes restore his human nature, or turn him further towards the darkness...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, “one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."—New York Magazine • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • SOON TO BE A MARTIN SCORSESE PICTURE “A shocking whodunit…What more could fans of true-crime thrillers ask?”—USA Today “A masterful work of literary journalism crafted with the urgency of a mystery.” —The Boston Globe In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. Look for David Grann’s latest bestselling book, The Wager!

In the third instalment in the creepy, captivating Larten Crepsley series, Larten finds out what it means to love... but is he also damned to find out what it means to lose?

Before Cirque Du Freak, before the war with the vampaneze, before he was a vampire, Larten Crepsley was a boy. This highly anticipated prequel to the "New York Times"-bestselling Cirque Du Freak series tells his story.

In the first of the four volumes in The Saga of Larten Crepsley, young Larten's life is thrown into chaos when his closest friend is murdered. Retreating from the world of humans, he finds refuge in the night-world of the vampire clan. He has the bravery, strength and skill to go far as a creature of the night, but he faces a number of troubling obstacles and setbacks. He never feels totally in charge of his life, and though he always tries to do the right thing, he makes serious mistakes . . . for which he must later pay.