Who Could That Be at This Hour?

Meh. It's a slightly above-average book. The trademark Lemony Snicket wit is here, and it makes the book much more fun. As a whole, though, it feels forgettable and pretty mediocre. There are some colorful characters, as you will typically find in a Snicket book, and I can see them growing weirder and more interesting in the next few books.

I've heard the next book is better, I'll give it a shot.

“A Series of Unfortunate Events” is one of my all time favorite series, so I was extremely excited to get a hold of the new Lemony Snicket and even more excited to see it listed as “Vol. 1.” The style is still a joy to read including all of the references and language play that I associate with his other books. As a first book, it certainly leaves a lot of loose ends to be tied up. Not a lot happens in the story, but we're introduced to the usual eclectic Snicket cast and setting. Mystery upon mystery is presented, but none are solved. Normally, this would frustrate me, but I just enjoy the prose style so much that I don't really mind. I kind of feel like I just watched a Wes Anderson Film... or half of a Wes Anderson film. It's a lot less plot driven than ASUE, and I'm curious if this is going to connect with VFD and Count Olaf later on. I read the book in a day, and am eager for more. Just hope I don't have to wait too long.

I think this series is meant as a prequel to “A series of unfortunate events” as an account and an explanation of what happened to Lemony and Kate when they were kids and why the police is after Lemony.
Well, this is just a wild guess until the entire series is out.