Book Review - Birth of a Killer

Title: Birth of a Killer
Author: Darren Shan
Series: The Larten Crepsley Saga 
Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks
Release Date: 30th September 2010
ISBN13: 9780007315857

Synopsis
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 cousin/bestfriend 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.

My Review
Having read and mostly enjoyed the Cirque Du Freak series I wanted to know more about Larten, he always was one of my favourite characters from the series so I was quite excited to find out he had his own series. All the events happen a long time before those in Cirque Du Freak, way back when Larten was still a human. The series will then lead you through his life until it meets back to where we first met him performing at the Cirque. This is book 1. I have made these reviews harder on myself as I read the first 3 books in one day and am now trying to separate them in my head as to what happened in which. So if things get a bit muddled, forgive me!

I actually found this book started off quite slow, I kept waiting for something great to happen but it took a while to get going. I was glad I stuck with it though as it does get more interesting quiet quickly once it gets going. And it was interesting to see how this mighty vampire started out. I could never have guessed how he got to where he ended up when he met Darren and this answers so many questions - especially the hair!
It's also nice to see the other sides of his personality, from scrawny but quick witted young boy, to feisty and aggressive to scared and adventurous and rebellious. It really makes him seem more real as a character and brings him to life off the page. 
It was quite fun meeting characters we already know and trying to place their names and situations. There are obviously some characters that are new to us, those that don't get mentioned in the Darren Shan series, but placing those I did know was fun.
This book is quite short at just 253 pages and I read it in a couple of hours, but it is definitely worth a read. Once you get into it you will rip through it. 
Made me want to read the next book for sure. Larten's life is certainly no easy ride and it makes for gripping reading.

My Rating