Lemony Snicket: The Hostile Hospital

By MARGIE THOMSON

Number eight in Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, and at times we feel we are closing in on the central mysteries that plague the existence of the Baudelaire orphans.

Tormented by the silliness and narrow-mindedness of adults wherever they go, the Baudelaires - Violet, Klaus and Sunny - join, through a series of mishaps, Volunteers Fighting Disease and go to work at Heimlich Hospital in the Library of Records. There they uncover some intriguing information. Of course, it's not long before the wicked Count Olaf has tracked them down again.

Only five more books to go in this series, so let's hope Snicket gets number nine out quickly, as the orphans - if that is indeed what they are - are left in a perilous plight at the end of this one.

HarperCollins

$24.95