The Spook's Apprentice

Joseph Delaney

Average Rating 9/10 (1 Review)

Warning: Not to be read after Dark

A wonderful and terrifying series by a new writer about a young boy training to be an exorcist. Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son and has been apprenticed to the local Spook. The job is hard, the Spook is distant and many apprentices have failed before Thomas. Somehow Thomas must learn how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches and bind boggarts. But when he is tricked into freeing Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the County, the horror begins…

It’s going to be a long, hard, cruel winter, son,’ Mam said. ‘All the signs are there... and there couldn’t be a worse place to spend it than up on Anglezarke. Your dad was worried about you, son, and I am too. So I won’t mince my words. There’s no doubt that the dark’s growing in power and there’s a particularly baleful influence up on that moor. It’s where some of the Old Gods were worshipped long ago and in winter some of them start to stir from their sleep... so stay close to your master. He’s the only real friend you’ve got. You must help one other.’

Review by M. Mallop (080308) Rating (9/10)

Review by M. Mallop
I was given this book as a present last Christmas and it has taken me a whole year to pick up. I do not scare easily, but let me tell you there are bits in this bit that make even the likes of Derek Acorah shudder. The plot centres on Thomas, the seventh son of a seventh son, the rather predictable folk tale revealing he has some unknown power. Thomas is taken into the service of a Spook - an exorcist, who deals with witches, boggarts, ghosts and anything that goes bump in the night. As we go on Thomas battles with evil witches who eat 'blood cakes' and possess the body of the weak. We also meet Alice, an interesting anti-hero, who the reader never knows whether to trust or curse.

This novel is a marvel, short, petite yet perfectly formed. The author’s descriptive passages set your teeth chattering and leave you with the light on as you sleep. As ever one could compare this to other popular children's novel, but I shall resist the temptation, this book should stand alone, Thomas, the Spook and his Ma await you if you dare in a Yorkshire of old where your worst fears come true...

PS I just got the three subsequent books and I am so eager to start them that this is now the end of the review!
M. Mallop (8th March 2008)