The Grim Grotto
A Series of Unfortunate Events, No. 11
By Lemony Snicket

      In this latest adventure of the much maligned Baudelaire orphans, we yet again find our heroes in distressing circumstances beyond their control. If you have read all ten of the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books prior to "The Grim Grotto", then you know that Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are often in dire danger. At the beginning of this particular adventure the three have been swept down the grimy waters of the Stricken Stream and have been separated from their comrade Quigley Quagmire. Fortunately a watery grave is not the orphans' fate. They are promptly picked up by the Queequeg, a submarine belonging to the mysterious organization VFD. Once onboard they make the acquaintance of Captain Widdershins and his volatile daughter Fiona. Together, this ramshackle crew must locate an object of vast importance (a sugar bowl) and meet up with VFD at a place referred to only as "the last safe place". That is, if they can escape the evil Count Olaf one more time.

      Calling on everything from the works of Melville to "20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea", the book is a brilliant addition to the Lemony Snicket oeuvre. The orphans continue to keep their wits about them, all the while finding themselves in increasingly awful situations. For the first time one of them is horribly ill and the other two must work against time (and Count Olaf) to find a cure. For the first time they are betrayed by someone they've trusted intrinsically. And for the first time the three turn the tables thoroughly on the evil people they battle. The book is thrilling, chock full of suspense, and entirely enjoyable. If you've been entranced by the Baudelaires' adventures prior to this book, you will not find any difficulty loving this latest offering at all.