Lord of the Shadows was a book that I enjoyed very much. It had an amazing plot with twists and turns that left you wondering. Darren Shan is a half-vampire. He was an assistant to a full vampire named Mr. Crepsley, who was killed by Darren's ex-best friend, Steve Leonard. The book I read is the eleventh book in the series. In this book Darren goes back to his hometown with the Cirque Du Freak, (a freak show). He meets Darius, a curious little boy, who in the end happens to be the son of Steve Leonard, a crazy vampaneze. Steve's minions kidnap Evra Von's ( Darren's friend, who is a snake-man) son, Shancus. At the end of the book Steve has Shancus and Darren has Darius. Steve kills Shancus and Darren is left to kill Darius as the evil in him grows. Then as Steve was about to abandon Darren to kill his son, he tells Darren that he would not only be killing Steve's son, but his own nephew.

http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/authors/books.cfm