Count Karlstein

"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

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Demon Huntsman - Rated
This review is about the audiobook this is a good story for a first try at a kids book if you've read or listened to the Sally Lockhart stories this is a good buy also it's different but well worth the money and it's 5.5 hours split of five discs with well known audiobook actors.

More prose and less pictures please - Rated
Philip Pullman is one of the most skilled writer's working today and I thought that this story was very entertaining but didn't show what he was really capable of. I found the cartoons interrupted the flow of the story, although I suspect a child might enjoy them very much. The story was very sophisticated. I love the way it appeals to adults and children - as all good books should.

A child's comment - Rated
I bought this book for my grandson's 8th birthday, and I feel it's his opinion that counts.

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.