The Penultimate Peril

by Lemony Snicket

The next to last book in the outstanding Series of Unfortunate Events collection--the most exciting and event-filled one yet--carefully careens through the hapless Baudelaire children's transformation from merely piteous orphans into spies, complete with jaunty little hats. Hotel Denouement, camouflaged to the point of insanity with the Dewey Decimal system, is the center of activity for the V.F.D., a mysterious, besieged secret organization for which the children now volunteer. Through a thicket of both evil and good operatives, including many familiar faces, they must maneuver to keep the world safe from the nefarious machinations of Count Olaf and his henchpeople. This is the 12th book in this fast-paced, long-winded middle-grade series. With B&W illustrations that take after Edward Gorey's work.

Editions of The Penultimate Peril

ISBN 9780060579487	Binding/Format Audio Cassette	Publisher Harpercollins Childrens	Date 2005	Price $1.01	Fine
ISBN 9780060897574	Binding/Format Digital	Publisher Harper Audio	Date	Price None Available
ISBN 9780007229147	Binding/Format Digital	Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Limited	Date	Price None Available
ISBN 9780064410151	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Harpercollins Childrens Books	Date 2005	Price $1.99	Very Good+

Publisher Notes

In the twelfth title of this highly popular series, Count Olaf is still evil, the Baudelaire Orphans do not win a contest, and the yet undetermined title will begin with the word "The".

Synopses

In this next-to-last chronicle of the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, the siblings pose as concierges at the Hotel Denouement to learn the identities and intentions of certain enemies, encountering characters from their past adventures and pondering the nature of nobility and villainy.

First Line

Certain people have said that the world is like a calm pond, and that anytime a person does even the smallest thing, it is as if a stone has dropped into the pond, spreading circles of ripples further and further out, until the entire world has been changed by one tiny action. If this is true, then the book you are reading now is the perfect thing to drop into a pond. The rippled will spread across the surface of the pond and the world will change for the better, with one less dreadful story for people to read and one more secret hidden at the bottom of a pond, where most people will never think of looking.

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