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Synopsis
In the mountains of Switzerland, the wicked Count Karlstein plots to abandon his two nieces in a hunting lodge as prey for the Demon Huntsman and his ghostly hounds, in a spooky middle-grade novel with a humorous twist.
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Review
"I might have occupied my mind usefully with Improving Thoughts, but the only improvement I could imagine then was a pair of wings, to enable me to fly to freedom. And, of course, a Head for Heights. I cleaned the dust from the window and peered out hopefully, but there was nothing but a Horrid Precipice, with jagged crags several thousands of feet below." Such are the woes of young Charlotte, locked in a tower room of her uncle's gloomy Castle Karlstein in 19th-century Switzerland. Escaping this predicament seems the least of her worries: in a solemn blood pact, her evil uncle, Count Karlstein, has promised to sacrifice his two orphaned nieces, Lucy and Charlotte, to Zamiel the Demon Huntsman--on midnight of All Souls' Eve--in return for his current riches.
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
Review
"It's whirlwind plotting, manipulated into a pulsing tale of darkened hearts, treachery and at long last, redemption" (Kirkus)
"In this deliciously gothic thriller there are enough demon huntsmen, evil guardians, and brooding castles to please even the most desensitized reader" (School Library Journal)
"Dashing, sparkling, and wildly over the top" (Publishers Weekly)
"Any youngster who likes ghostly tales of the macabre accompanied with much humour will get a lot of fun from this unusual book" (Junior Bookshelf)
"Ingeniously-designed comic-cum-novel, a gothic pastiche that can be read as simple fun or as a literary lesson" (Guardian)
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- PublisherAlfred a Knopf Inc
- Publication date1998
- ISBN 10 0679892559
- ISBN 13 9780679892557
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages176
- IllustratorBryan Diana
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Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1998
ISBN 10: 0679892559
ISBN 13: 9780679892557
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