The Thin Executioner

The Thin Executioner is the first book written by Darren Shan not to be part of a series.

Plot
Jebel is the third son of a respected executioner. His Father has told the village that his two older sons will battle in a competition called Mukhayret to see who will have the honor of succeeding the executioner - due to the skrawniness of Jebel, he is left out of his Father's speech, forever shaming him into disgrace in his villiage. Disgraced in public, he decides his only option to regain honor is to go on a perilous quest to petition the fire god (Sabbah Eid) for invincibility in hopes to return to his village a hero and win Mukhayret, and gain the title of the executioner (A great and honorable position in the village of Abu Rashrasha, nest to High Lord.)

Behind the Scenes
Darren Shan was inspired by The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and many similarities can be found in the book to that.