Spook's Apprentice, The

Description: A terrifying series 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 . . .
About the Author
Joseph Delaney is a retired English teacher living in Lancashire. He has three children and seven grandchildren and is a wonderful public speaker available for conference, library and bookshop events. His home is in the middle of Boggart territory and his village has a boggart called the Hall Knocker, which was laid to rest under the step of a house near the church. Most of the places in the Spook's books are based on real places in Lancashire. And the inspiration behind the stories often comes from local ghost stories and legends.
Review
Teenage readers looking instead for total fantasy should hasten to Joseph Delaney's The Spook's Apprentice . . . this terrific novel is as black as David Wyatt's ingenious ink drawings that head each chapter . . . Young Thomas can only just cope with these demons; the horrors he faces are made more credible by the cleverly laid-back way in which his story is told.,An absorbing tale with scary scenarios and a great central relationship between Thomas and his master.,This thrilling and terrifying book should not be read after dark!,Super scary! Rated 4 bookworms out of five!,Zounds! Delaney delights us with the power of his spooken words. Thought-provoking fantasy . . . A ruse by any other name would smell as sweet.,'These are expertly written books.','Brilliant. I loved the degrees of evil in this book','An excellent, eerie fantasy novel.',Review for US edition: ''Readers seeking lots of up-close encounters with the unqueit dead and other creepy entities need look no further.,Wicked and fast-paced, the second instalment in this series is gripping for adults and children alike...beautifully written.,A good story to read at any time of the year...it's good to see that Joseph Delaney has written a sequel...you'll love them.,Brilliant!