First, however, the heartless Count and his "lip-licking, moist-handed, creeping, smarming" secretary, Herr Arturo Snivelwurst, will have to catch Lucy, too--and it is no small task with the headstrong, 14-year-old Hildi Kelmar; her 18-year-old, handsome-in-a-scowling-sort- of-way brother, Peter; and the intrepid English teacher Miss Augusta Davenport on the girls' side. As Miss Davenport herself points out, "an English gentlewoman can rise above any circumstances, given intelligence and a loaded pistol." The events in this delightful gothic farce unfold quickly in a variety of narrative voices, artfully building in suspense to a powerful, terrifying, deeply satisfying stand-off between the Count and the Demon Huntsman of Impenetrable Darkness himself. Subplots and loose ends are gracefully, happily, justly tied up in the light of day, finally allowing readers to exhale.

British novelist Philip Pullman, masterful storyteller and creator of the best-selling adventures The Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife, mesmerizes us again with his playful, suspenseful thriller Count Karlstein. Readers young and old will revel in every angle, twist, and turn of this breathlessly paced, very funny page-turner. --Karin Snelson

Dominic's comment. terse and to the point:"It's BRILLIANT"

I'm only an adult and not supposed to read children's books, but I admire Philip Pullman very much, and I thought the book was hilarious and original in its mix of cartoons and prose.