In the seventh book of this series, not long into his years as a Prince, Darren is once again visited by Desmond Tiny (the creator of vampires and Little People). He explains that the three hunters must find and hunt down the Vampaneze Lord if they have any hopes to win the war. He announces that two of them are Darren and Mr. Crepsley, but the third one they must find on their way. The hunters are told by Mr. Tiny that they will cross paths with the Lord of the Vampaneze four times throughout their quest, and have only those four chances to destroy him. They leave and go to Lady Evanna for help as they were instructed by Mr.Tiny. On the way they meet with Vancha March, another Vampire Prince and the last hunter. Vancha''s skin is a dark shade of red, due to his constant battle with the sun (he thinks that the sun, like any other enemy of the creatures of the night, can be defeated) and does not like to use weapons, using his bare hands instead. Though, he does use the shurikens that are strapped to his belt when necessary. He prefers to wear only clothes made from animals, and doesn''t care for having many manners. He claims to be a ladies man, though Darren perceives him as someone whom all women dislike. The three get to Evanna''s house, and she lets them stay with her for a few days so they can discuss what Mr.Tiny said and where they should go next. Leaving Lady Evanna''s house, they set their sites back towards the Cirque Du Freak, following Darren''s gut feeling as a Vampire Prince and the main hunter. While they are staying there, Darren notices Lady Evanna leaving the Cirque one night and follows her to a nearby forest. He witnesses Lady Evanna meeting with a group of Vampaneze and fears the worst. Darren gets the others, and they prepare an attack. After launching what seemed to be a successful strike on the group of Vampaneze, two of them get away. One being Vancha''s brother, and the other being a servant of the Vampaneze. Vancha lets them get away after realizing that one is his brother. However, little to their knowledge, the servant was actually a disguise and it turned out to be the Lord of the Vampaneze! After a few more nights at the Cirque to once again come up with a strategy, they set off to once more try to encounter the Lord and destroy him to end the War of the Scars. Preview the Book. fa:شکارچیان غروب

Hunters of the Dusk

The book takes place mainly in the Florida Keys, where Serge heads to "reinvent himself". After flirting with becoming the next Jimmy Buffett (undaunted by a total lack of musical talent), he finally decides to marry. All he has to do is find the right woman. Given Serge''s personality (a mixture of bizarre topic-hopping as his attention drifts and his penchant for brutal honesty), this proves quite a challenge. And somehow, he''s picked up a legion of devoted followers continually begging him for pearls of wisdom. After briefly courting a few unwilling prospects, he falls in love at first sight with Molly, a new hire at the local library. She initially seems to be stereotypically meek and prim, but is won over when she inadvertently watches Serge beat a man to death for insulting her. She agrees to his hastily-scheduled wedding (held during an underwater concert) and quickly proves to be more than a match for Serge''s formidable libido. He is quickly baffled by the intricacies of a "normal" relationship, however, and his bride resents all the time he spends with his dim-bulb pal Coleman. Arguments and cold silences follow. With all of this frustration, Serge barely notices the brown Duster following him or the repeated attempts on his life. Meanwhile, the regulars at the No Name Pub are vexed by Gaskin Fussels, an obnoxious rich loudmouth who flies down to the Keys every weekend to "whoop it up". They ignore him as best they can until Fussels, obliviously following a half-joking suggestion, steals and accidentally destroys a prized possession of the local viciously psychotic drug lord obsessed with the movie Scarface. Simultaneously, downtrodden waitress Anna discovers that her abusive husband has been murdered, along with her brother and his wife. She flees for her life, trying to decide who to trust and how to free herself from the trouble in which she suddenly finds herself. She finds an ally, and later a lover, in Jerry, the desperate-to-be-liked bartender at the No Name Pub. Gus is a deputy in a small police station. Gus can''t escape his mocking nickname of Serpico or the humiliations his ex-wife heaped on him, both of which his partner Walter is happy to mention. Suddenly the fax starts spitting out bulletins about possible serial killers headed their way and dangerous cars to be on the lookout for. A slimy ex-CEO, recently tried for improprieties that robbed thousands of people of their retirement funds (in an apparent reference to the Enron scandal), decides to spread a little "goodwill" around the Keys. But he is obviously buying people''s support before announcing his plans to obscure some of Florida''s most beautiful shoreline with condominiums. Legally, he should have lost nearly all his wealth, but thanks to the quasi-legal dealings of his equally slimy lawyers, he is still spending other people''s money and living the good life. In the end, of course, very few people are who they seem and identities are unmasked as all the plot threads come crashing together. Molly is a serial killer even more deranged than Serge, Fussels is a fed investigating Jerry (who is actually "Scarface"), and Anna and Gus find themselves in possession of a solid gold boat anchor worth millions.

Torpedo Juice

Cerebus arrives in the city-state of Iest, where he checks into the high-class Regency Hotel (whose design was based on the Chateau Laurier) and becomes embroiled in political machinations as the Chief Kitchen Supervisor to Lord Julius. Cerebus is kidnapped for ransom by Dirty Drew and Dirty Fleagle McGrew. Cerebus soon arranges with the kidnappers to split the ransom money, but when the time comes to pick up the ransom, Cerebus is betrayed by the brothers and knocked unconscious, and he enters a long dream sequence where he speaks once again with Suentius Po. When he comes to, Cerebus finds himself back at the Regency Hotel, where he is told that he is expected to pay back the ransom that was paid for his release. He discovers the Regency Elf in his room, who informs him that the brothers have been captured. He goes to talk with them at the prison, but finds out they never got the moneyall they got was a statue of a "duck". With the help of the Elf, Cerebus contrives to get the money to repay his ransom. At the moment that he seems to have schemed the money out of Holland M. Hadden, Hadden is assassinated by the Moon Roach (a new guise of the Roach; a parody of Moon Knight), who is under the control of Astoria. Cerebus is under the Inquisition''s suspicion for Hadden''s murder, and is only safe due to his diplomatic statusa situation which is complicated by the Moon Roach''s assassination of two members of the Inquisition. Astoria takes Cerebus under her wing, telling him she will make him "embarrassingly wealthy". ... ===Election=== Lord Julius puts forward a goat to run against Cerebus as Prime Minister. Election night ends in a draw, with one vote uncounted. Cerebus sets out with Astoria and the Roach (this time in a caricature of Sergeant Preston of the Mounties to find Lord Storm''send in snowy Northbell to secure the last vote. After talking with Cerebus, Storm''send lights a beacon indicating who he has voted for, but refuses to tell Cerebus whom he has decided on. Cerebus, Astoria and the Roach head back through the snow, but eventually are stopped due to a bridge being out. They check into an inn located by the bridge, where they find out that Cerebus has won. (Cerebus #45-50)

High Society

The play is about the last few days in the career of Andrew Crocker-Harris, an aging classics teacher at a British public school. The man''s academic life is fading away following illness and he feels that he has become obsolete. It starts when Taplow, a pupil who needs Crocker-Harris to pass him so he can go up to the next year, comes to him for help with his Greek, but Crocker-Harris is not in his rooms. Instead, Taplow meets Hunter, another Master at the school. We find out (after Taplow leaves) that Hunter, and Crocker-Harris'' wife, Millie, are carrying on an affair. When Crocker-Harris returns, he first has the lesson with Taplow, where he begins to show his true feelings through his love for literature. Afterwards, the headmaster arrives to inform him that the school will not give him his pension because of his early retirement, though he was depending on it, and wishes him to relinquish his place in the end-of-term speech-giving to a popular sports master. Mr. Gilbert, Crocker-Harris''s successor at his teaching post, arrives to view the Crocker-Harrises'' home. He seeks advice on the lower fifth, the year Crocker-Harris teaches, and how to control them. Crocker-Harris begins to relate to Gilbert his own sad experiences after Gilbert tells Crocker-Harris that the headmaster had referred to Crocker-Harris as the ''Himmler of the lower fifth''. Crocker-Harris, who did not realize he was feared by the boys, is very disturbed by this title. Taplow returns, and moves Crocker-Harris by giving him an inscribed version of Robert Browning''s translation of Aeschylus'' Agamemnon, at which point he breaks down crying. Millie, his wife, shows her callousness at Crocker-Harris''s emotional state by ruining this fond moment by implying Taplow only gave the gift to get the grades. Hunter breaks off the affair with her, instead turning his sympathies to Crocker-Harris. Crocker-Harris informs him that he knew of Millie''s affair with Hunter, as well as her previous ones, but despite this he does not wish to divorce her. As the play ends, Hunter makes plans with a reluctant Crocker-Harris to meet him at his new place of work, and an uplifted Crocker-Harris telephones the headmaster saying that he will make his speech after the sports master, as is his right. The ''Browning Version'' of the title references the translation of the Greek tragedy given by Taplow, Agamemnon, in which Agamemnon is murdered by his wife, aided by her lover. Although the name of the school is not given in the play, it is clearly Harrow School (which Terence Rattigan attended), something evident from the idiosyncrasies of the timetable that Crocker-Harris is in charge of writing.

The Browning Version

The novel is divided into four sections. Each detail a particular day in the four months that spanned the summer of 1958. In June takes up half of the book and shows the narrator meeting up with various teenaged friends and some adults in various parts of London and discussing his outlook on life and the new concept of being a teenager. He also learns that his ex-girlfriend, Suzette, is to enter a marriage of convenience with her boss, a middle-aged gay fashion designer called Henley. In July has the narrator taking photographs by the Thames, seeing the musical operetta H.M.S. Pinafore with his father, has a violent encounter with Ed the Ted and watches Hoplite''s appearance on Call-Me-Cobber''s TV show. In August has the narrator and his father take a cruise along the Thames towards Windsor Castle. His father is taken ill on the trip and has to be taken to a doctor. The narrator also finds Suzette at her husband''s cottage in Cookham. In September is set on the narrator''s nineteenth birthday. He sees this, symbolically, as the beginning of his last year as a teenager. He witnesses several incidents of racial violence, which disgust him. His father also dies, leaving him four envelopes stuffed with money. Suzette has separated from Henley, but still seems uncertain as to whether she should resume her relationship with the narrator. The narrator decides to leave the country and find a place where racism doesn''t exist. At the airport, he sees Africans arriving and gives them a warm welcome.

Absolute Beginners

In an ambiguous future, the Earth has gone through an unnamed "Disaster" and subsequent "Age of Confusion." During this, a group of scientists build a great self-controlled city called Arc One to house the survivors and save all human knowledge. Knowledge has been regulated to devices called "info paks" which enable the wearer to tap into Arc One''s computer to access the information, but with a caveat: info paks may be rejected by the wearer. Those who reject the info paks become slaves, soldiers, or workers. Those who accept the info paks become Lords of the City, and the effective ruling class. Many generations later, the son of one of the leading Lords of the City, Tomi, is on his Access Day, the day when he first gets to receive his final info pak, and gain total access to Arc One''s computer. Two of his close friends reject the info paks, and become a slave and a worker respectively. Sensing Tomi''s discomfort with how his friends violently reacted against the info paks, Tomi''s teacher prescribes recreation at Dreamland, a fantasy computer program. The next day, during a ceremony to honour the New Lords, the slaves rebel. Tomi is taken prisoner but manages to escape and hide in a garbage shute. However, when the soldiers arrive to gas his captors, Tomi loses consciousness and slides down the chute, emerging outside the City in a rapidly flowing river. In the outside world, Tomi encounters a primitive community living in freedom, and is confronted with shocking truths about the world he left behind.

Devil on My Back

As the book opens, James R Herold, prosperous businessman from Omaha, Nebraska, consults Wolfe about re-establishing contact with his son, whom he had (at it eventually transpired) falsely accused of theft eleven years before. The son, Paul Herold, had consequently broken almost all ties with the family, changed his name and moved to New York City. Even the latter meagre information was only known because Paul has recently sent his sister a birthday card postmarked NYC. The father has already taken obvious steps such as an ad in the newspaper and consulting the Missing Persons Dept of NYPD. Although the present name of Paul Herold is unknown, Wolfe suspects that he has at least retained the same initials, and therefore places an advertisement in the newspapers the following day advising PH that he is innocent of the crime of which he was once suspected. Needless to day, more than one person with those initials thinks he his falsely accused of a crime, and the advertisement attracts many telephone calls to Wolfe''s office the next day. The advertisement is also silent about the crime of which the man is innocent. Meanwhile, a man known as Peter Hays has been on trial for murder, and the case is already with the jury, and a verdict is expected soon. Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, Nero Wolfe''s amanuensis, are sufficiently distracted by enquiries about Peter Hays being the man named in the advertisement (and that he is by implication innocent of the murder for which Hays is currently being tried) that Wolfe dispatches Archie to visit the court room to hear the verdict against Hays. By comparing the man he sees in court to photos supplied by the father, Archie tentatively identifies the two names as referring to the same man. This sets up a confrontation with Hays'' attorney, Albert Freyer, who suspects Archie of duplicity (since Archie earlier told Freyer, among others, that the advertisement referred to a different crime, not the murder of Michael Molloy for which Hays has just been tried), but Wolfe and Freyer, after some discussion, quickly come to an agreement on how to proceed to the best advantage of all concerned: * Although Wolfe might collect a substantial fee by immediately notifying his client that his son has been found (albeit in mortal jeopardy), Archie''s identification is still not certain, and Wolfe''s his client would be more satisfied if he was able to deliver the son as a free man, * Peter Hays has refused to give his lawyer any information on his background, something that counted against him with the district attorney, and seems depressed to the point of hopelessness, using the novel''s title Might as well be dead to describe how he feels. This tends to validate Archie''s tentative identification, but a personal meeting of Archie with Hays would be needed to be sure. * Peter Hays has limited funds, and although Freyer is convinced of his client''s innocence, it would be vastly preferable to have help both in the form of Wolfe''s assistance and the financial backing of the father * Therefore, Freyer will start an appeal (initial steps are not costly) and meanwhile Wolfe will work on clearing Hays/Herold, and delay informing Wolfe''s client for the time being. Later on, Wolfe sends some of his operatives, including Johnny Keems, to investigate some of the friends and associates of Michael Molloy. The next day, the body of Johnny Keems is found killed by a hit-and-run driver. Since his pockets lack $100 in money Archie gave him to bribe potential witnesses, Wolfe and Archie consider it to be linked the Molloy murder, but the authorities make no such connection since the apparent murderer of Molloy has already been convicted.

Might As Well Be Dead

After Spain’s favorite matador Juan Olivar dies from being gored by a bull it is up to his 3 year old son Monolo to live up to his father’s name. Six men tell Monolo he will have his first bullfight when he is 12 years old. But there is one thing Monolo won’t tell a soul, he is a coward. He doesn’t have the passion to be a bullfighter. He wants to become a doctor. All the people in the town of Arcangel are expecting him to be just as good as his father was at his first bullfight. Monolo’s friend Juan wants to be a bullfighter but can’t get anyone important to watch him. At Monolo’s tentena he realizes that he can’t be a bullfighter and he gives his bull and the ring to Juan and a doctor tells him “I knew you were no bullfighter, so how would you like to come work with me for a while?” Monolo agrees. The story takes place in the province of Arcangel, Southern Spain, but it never tells the year to date the book but you can get a pretty good idea from reading it. Twelve-year-old Manolo Olivar is the son of Juan Olivar, a renowned bullfighter who was killed in the ring when Manolo was only three. The people in the town of Arcangel, Spain, expect that Manolo will follow in his father''s footsteps. His best friend, Jamie, has a brother, Juan, who yearns to fight bulls like his father before him, but Manolo has been trying to conquer his own fears. Many of the townspeople have paid much attention to Manolo, mainly by comparing him to his famous father or taking him to bullfights to see how to perform the sport. Through all this commotion, Manolo is trying to learn more about his father. Everyone in the town always speaks of how great Juan Olivar, Manolo''s father, was, but Manolo wants to know the truth. Manolo has heard that his father first killed a bull when he was twelve years old. Manolo wants to know, did Juan Olivar have fear? After seeing the result of a bull goring, Manolo becomes more discouraged in becoming a bull fighter. He notices the old doctor cleaning the wound and, hearing that he was the only doctor who would touch a goring injury, decides that he could be the next doctor. Manolo still suffers from the problem that everyone wants him to be a bullfighter, not a doctor. Realizing that he should follow in his father''s footsteps, Manolo trains in secret as a matador with his friend''s brother Juan. The more he practices, the sooner Manolo realizes how big a coward he is. The days left until the annual fiesta, his first bullfight, are decreasing. Manolo is close friends with Count De La Casa, a very famous count who also knew Manolo''s father. Because of their friendship, Manolo is confident that the count would give him anything he asked for. Manolo goes and meets with Juan and promises him that he would ask the count if Juan could be invited to the party. Manolo does not tell Juan that he would like it if Juan fought Manolo''s bull so he can have a chance for the count to see him fight. The day of his first contest arrives, and Manolo is successful in the corrida. He knows all the moves and has practiced daily, but when it is time for the killing, Manolo realizes that he simply does not have the spirit of a bullfighter, and he finally offers Juan a chance in the ring. The doctor who Manolo had met previously offers Manolo an apprenticeship, allowing Manolo to follow his own dream. Manolo does live up to his father''s name, just not how people expected.

Shadow of a Bull

After having faced down vampires in the previous novel, Laura Caxton is more than happy to continue her career as a trooper in the Pennsylvania State Police. Her life is upended again when Special Agent United States Federal Marshal Jameson Arkeley contacts her to help investigate the discovery of a cache of Civil War-era coffins underneath the grounds of the Gettysburg Battlefield. There are one hundred coffins in the underground crypt along with ninety-nine hearts removed from the moldering vampire bodies, but one coffin is smashed and the vampire body is missing. Hobbled by his crippled hand, Arkeley presses Caxton into service as his field operative to hunt down the missing vampire body before another horrific outbreak of vampirism infects the local population. In a series of flashbacks told through letters, journals, and military reports it is revealed that the 150 year old vampires are the remains of a Union Army vampire corps that was used to turn the tide against the South at Gettysburg. Promised to be revived as human once a cure for vampirism was found, the soldiers were imprisoned in their tomb and were almost immediately forgotten by their commanders. The archeologist who discovers the tomb uses the vampires in a plot for his own personal gain.

99 Coffins

During a routine day, Det. III Shane Scully accidentally strikes John Bodine, a homeless schizophrenic African America man with his car. After getting him medical attention and trying to offload the man without a lawsuit, Scully is called to a homicide where he finds a cop and former Crip gangbanger in his wife Alexa''s car, and Alexa missing. A series of leads eventually finds Scully interrogating Lou "Luna" Maluga, a psychotic sociopath, and his estranged wife Stacy, the titular "White Sister," both big names in the rap music industry. After being repeatedly ordered to cease investigation and threatened with criminal charges or dismissals, Scully is given an out if he returns his wife''s personal computer, only to find a series of romantic emails between his wife and the "Dark Angel," the same police officer found shot in Alexa''s car with Alexa''s weapon. Later, his son will point out that the majority of the text are veiled references to several rap slang terms and groups, making the messages coded transmissions from the undercover officer. During this time, he receives a phone call from Alexa where she confess to the murder and apparently commits suicide, leaving her in critical condition. Following Stacy Maluga, Scully is eventually lead to Derek Slater, another rap artist whom Stacy is attempting to turn against her husband by exercising an escape clause in his contract, and Bust-A-Cap, a well dressed, well educated, eloquent gentleman outside of his rap artist persona. Scully plays several tapes showing that Maluga is setting up Derek and planning to murder both him and Bust-A-Cap, which he appreciates but does not seem perturbed by, having been targeted with violence before. During this, Alexa undergoes surgery and slides into a coma, and is presumed guilty by the media forces arrayed against her. After learning that the "Dark Angel" really is an undercover officer on long term assignment, he begs that the department attempt to dissuade the media from continuing to slander his wife, and is flatly refused. After preventing there murder at Bust-a-Cap''s latest concert performance, Scully eventually winds up in Vegas, and is captured along with Derek and Bust-A-Cap, and led out into the desert to be executed. Once there, Scully notices there are three dug graves, which is unusual as only Derek and Bust-A-Cap were targeted for murder and Scully was not expected to be in Las Vegas, let alone captured. As they stand around the graves, Scully idly asks Lou Maluga when he is planning on marrying his mistress and divorcing his wife. Extremely confused by the question, Lou Maluga allows Scully, over Stacy''s shrieked objections, that Stacy can''t allow Lou to divorce her, as the court costs and division of property would ruin the rap label she''s struggled to maintain despite her husbands repeated violent episodes and husband''s bungled business practices. After pointing out the number of graves, and explaining how the third one was originally meant for Lou, a violent shootout occurs. Lou Maluga and a few of his bodyguards are killed. Stacy, after confronting Scully and explaining how this doesn''t affect her plans, is shot by her bodyguard "Insane Wayne," an undercover California Sheriff''s officer. After collecting all the survivors, several quickly confess that they hijacked Alexa and her car, picked up the undercover officer, and executed him with Alexa''s weapon, before forcing her to confess to his murder and shooting her in the head. Wayne, having been brought into the Maluga family by the "Dark Angel" was in danger by his relationship, and so no info had been allowed out that might''ve cleared his wife. Scully, enraged by the LAPD for throwing his wife under the bus, agrees to not sue for character defamation and slander in exchange for not being charged or punished for his violations. Alexa, still in a persistent vegetative coma, is scheduled to be taken off life support despite Scully''s strong objections. But when he attends the hospice where she is kept, he finds her body gone. Finding a fire alarm going off in the basement, Scully heads down there to find John Bodine, whom Scully had befriended after a fashion, performing an African tribal dance around Alexa''s body. Believing her to have died after being taken off life support, Scully and the doctors are shocked when she spontaneously revives, and slowly begins to recuperate.

White Sister

The book tells the story about Kit Walker, son of the 20th Phantom, who will one day grow up to take over the mantle from his father and become the 21st Phantom. The book starts with Kit''s birth in the Skull Cave. Several chapters are dedicated to him growing up in the Bangalla jungle, where the readers get to see events and lessons that shape him to the man he will once become. When Kit reaches the age of 12, he travels to Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA, to receive a proper education (it is a tradition in the Phantom family that the children are sent away to their mother''s homeland for education). Kit lives with his mother''s sister and her husband in Clarksville. Kit is a brilliant student, and receives excellent grades in every subject. Kit proves to be a talented sportsman, and is predicted to become the world champion of a number of different genres (he even knocks out the boxing champion of the world in a match when the champion visits Clarksville. Kit also meets his future wife-to-be, Diana Palmer, on a Christmas party on his school. Despite being able to choose practically any career he wants, Kit faithfully returns to Bengalla to take over the role of the Phantom when he receives word from his childhood friend Guran that his father, the 20th Phantom, is dying from wounds he received in a battle with pirates trying to rob a jungle hospital.

The Story of the Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks

The book starts out in a year sometime between 2000 and 2050. It begins with Garret Pittson, a respected gang member who hasn''t found his path in life, caught in the middle of a gang war and then caught by the police. He is sentenced to prison for twenty years but takes up his lawyer''s offer of being shipped out to a colony on Mars where the conditions are rough and the pay unfair. Once arriving the events stir up and he ends up playing a prominent role in a revolution led by a group of farmers out on the ''rim'' of a large crater in Mars southern hemisphere. Garrett is noticed as an excellent student by Commander Farr, who tells him to go to the city, and wait for someone to find him. Someone comes up to him and gets him suited to a P-Suit, he learns to farm and the two travel to a friend''s farm where they meet Erica. Garrett has private time with her and they kiss, before she says they should wait, after multiple more trips, the two spend more time together and fall in love. References *Pournelle, Jerry. "Birth of Fire". 1976 Baen, Wake Forest. (ISBN-10: 067165649X)

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Hunters of the Dusk

By Darren Shan

Torpedo Juice

By Tim Dorsey

High Society

No Author Listed

The Browning Version

By Terence Rattigan

Absolute Beginners

By Colin MacInnes

Devil on My Back

No Author Listed

Might As Well Be Dead

By Rex Stout

Shadow of a Bull

By Maia Wojciechowska

99 Coffins

By David Wellington

White Sister

No Author Listed

The Story of the Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks

By Lee Falk

Birth of Fire

By Jerry Pournelle