In book twelve of A Series of
Unfortunate Events, the three Baudelaire siblings Violet, Klaus and Sunny
continue their sorry adventure of escaping the scheme Count Olaf and finding
out what had happened to the mysterious organization VFD. 

When writing a series of thirteen
books, a central difficulty is keeping the momentum of the story going.  The
Penultimate Peril does in several ways.  First, it highlights the message
that there is just one book to go.  Second, it brings most of the characters
from previous books all together in one new place, The Hotel Denouement. 
Third, and most successful, it explores one of the richest themes from the
series: what compromises and mistakes can good people make and still consider
themselves virtuous?  

Nearly every mannerism and plot
device used is familiar from the earlier books in the series, although they are
developed.  Little Sunny becomes more eloquent, and starts using longer
sentences.  Count Olaf of course makes his dastardly appearance, but not until
late in the book, and it is good to have some substantial time without him. 
Justice Strauss from the first book in the series makes a reappearance, with
promises that wrong-doers will be judged by the proper authorities, providing
some temporary hope.  The band of criminals starts to become less cohesive, and
they argue amongst themselves.  We learn a little about the American humorist
poets of the nineteenth century.  We read some backward text and there are
three chapters that do not follow each other chronologically but rather relate
the same stretch of time for each of the three siblings.    Together, these
developments make the book enjoyable and entertaining. 

Lemony Snicket is especially good
at climactic endings, and he does not disappoint here.  Without giving anything
away, I can report that he provides one of the best of the series.  The
Penultimate Peril is both morally intriguing and cleverly funny.  The
illustrations by Brett Helquist have never been better. 

In the unabridged audiobook, Tim
Curry has a challenging job in some places trying to cope with the text games,
where words are printed upside down or back to front.  Mostly he just skips
those parts.  His performance of all the different parts is excellent as ever. 
The Gothic Archies provide some wonderful music on the audiobook. 

Links:

• Review of
  The Grim Grotto
• Review
  of The Slippery Slope
• Review of
  The Carnivorous Carnival
• Review of
  The Hostile Hospital
• Review of
  The Vile Village.
• Review of
  The Ersatz Elevator.
• Review of The
  Austere Academy.
• Review of The
  Miserable Mill.
• Review of The
  Wide Window.
• Review of The
  Reptile Room.
• Review of The
  Bad Beginning.
• Lemony
  Snicket web site.