Before Madame Octa... Before the Cirque... Before Darren Shan... Larten Crepsley was a young man. After failing his mentor and killing the entire crew of a ship in a bout of revenge for the death of his assistant Larten is bereft with guilt. He no longer has the drive to live the vampiric life and hides out in Paris masquerading as a human. There he finds some happiness even falling in love with a girl. But the darkness inside him is too great for humanity and he is forced to make a choice: hide in the shadows of the human world or take his place among the vampire clan and protect those weaker than himself. But enemies are waiting traps are laid and Lartens path is bound to be strewn with bodies.