A delightful story that defies being pigeonholed in one genre. Yes, it's a mystery. It's also a romance. It's a travel story. A tale of adventure. A school story, and a coming of age tale. I loved the graphic novel style illustrations. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Carlton and I cheered aloud at the unexpected surprise at the end of the book. ( )

One I was skimming for potential inclusion on my mysteries booklist. I got halfway through and decided not to bother with the second half. The writing is juvenile, the comic is terrible, and the main character reminds me of the kid who followed you around school because he thought you were friends but really you just wanted to punch him.

This may find an audience, but it hasn't at my library, and now I know why.

Fun to read ... messed up boy tries to save his kidnapped dad from a crazy Scot. ( )

Reviewed by Carrie Spellman for TeensReadToo.com

How does one describe Carlton Dunne IV? Here's how I think he would describe himself:

*Comic book geek
*Trust fund kid
*Loner
*Incapable of being attentive or focused
*Afraid of people
*VERY afraid of female people
*Non-adventurous
*Offspring of a nutcase

Unfortunately, his dad might not be crazy. Carlton's grown up hearing about some ridiculous, centuries-old feud with some guy in Scotland. He's always just assumed it was his father's insanity, but now his dad is missing, and Carlton's getting really weird phone calls. So, the guy who's scared of people is about to be forced to deal with a whole bunch of them that he's never met before. One of those people might be a dangerous lunatic who is holding his father hostage, one of them is definitely the prettiest girl Carlton's ever seen, and he's also about to have the adventure of a lifetime.

Let me start by confessing that I'm not a comic book fan. When I opened the book and I saw a comic strip, I groaned out loud. See, one of Carlton's quirks, of which there are quite a few, is that he draws comic strips when he's unhappy or uncomfortable. He kind of redraws his circumstances. But I made myself sit down and start reading. Carlton also makes random comments in footnote form. I like random comments, and that's what I always thought footnotes should be used for anyway, so the book started to grow on me. A lot of the footnotes actually contain useful and interesting information, as well. He also continuously gives birth and death dates, which I didn't quite get, but still found amusing. I really started to like Carlton, and his book. By the end I had laughed out loud, in public no less, quite a few times. I'm not saying I'm ready to go to ComicCon or anything, but I do have a newfound appreciation for comics. ( )

Carlton Dunne IV, an outcast boarding school student with a secret identity as a graphic novelist, teams up with a beautiful Scottish girl who yearns to be an American police officer, to resolve an ancient feud and rescue Carlton's kidnapped father. ( )