Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!

I love these Spook books, and wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone and everyone.  This latest instalment sees young Tom back with his original tutor, but with evil things afoot in his mother’s homeland we see the story mainly set outwith the County, and indeed the country,  which adds another dimension to the series.

Without dwelling too much on what actually happens, it’s nice to see how the relationships between the various recurring characters are developing, and to also learn a bit more about the background of Tom’s family.

There are various moral dilemnas which young Tom and the others must overcome.  The Spook is adament that dark things are always evil and the light way is always good, but as this series of stories is progressing it would appear that things aren’t going to be so clearcut for his apprentice - it would seem that his world is going to be filled with varying shades of grey between these two extremes.  Is something dark, but done to somehow help the light to be condoned?

As with “real life” these are questions we may all have to ask from time to time and it will be interesting to see how this is dealt with in future books.  I assume Joseph Delaney has some form of longterm roadmap for the continuing story to progress… but perhaps not!

The worst thing about having read this book and all the others that came before it, is that I now have to wait months before a new Spook’s Apprentice adventure will be available for me to read!