The main character in this book is Arthur, a boy who was abandoned as a toddler and found by an old man called Grandfather, who lived underground. Arthur grows up with Grandfather and one day when he goes above ground to get some food, he sees an illegal cheese hunt going on. The cheese have legs, and run away from people. It is only edible when changed slightly for eating by people. The hunt is led by The Snatcher, and evil man whose father's business was ruined when their cheese started to go bad due to other factories polluting the water.
They then meet a group of people who on the face of it, are simply launderers, but are really pirates in disguise, and not even human. These people help Arthur and a man named Willbury Nibble, who helped Arthur when he became stranded above-ground when The Snatcher blocks up the entrance to the tunnel to get home. Arthur goes into The Snatcher's house, where he discovers his friends, the Boxtrolls in the dungeon who had been stolen by The Snatcher's men. He then goes about rescuing his friends. The rest of the book deals with a machine, that instead of shrinking people, shrinks one person, and passes their size to another person. It is impossible to explain why this happens without giving away too much of the story.
I took two days to read this book, and really couldn't wait for opportunities to read. The story is quite complicated but as you read, it begins to make more sense and the pieces fall into place. I would recommend it to anyone who likes adventure stories because the characters are entertaining and the evil people are described in very menacing ways.
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