The hair sticking out from under the front of his hood matched his beard, which was grey, but his eyebrows were black and very bushy. Each of the fifteen chapters follows on from its predecessor, forming a coherent and immensely enjoyable tale.
The story itself is linear – we follow Thomas from the time he leaves home, through his apprenticeship and his encounters with witches, boggarts and ghouls. The story opened superbly, as the reader I was instantly drawn into the tale and the setting. Ward as we follow him through his often hair-raising training. The story covers approximately a year in the life of Thomas J. Being the seventh son of a seventh son he is eligible to be apprenticed to the local Spook (a man who deals with ghosts, boggarts and witches). Ward, the apprentice of the book’s title, at a time when he has reached the age where he must leave his family and make his own way in the world. The Spook’s Apprentice is part ghost story part coming of age story. But when he is tricked into freeing Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the Country, the horror begins… Somehow Thomas must learn how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches and bind boggarts. The job is hard, the spook is distant and many apprentices have failed before him. Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son and has been apprenticed to the local Spook.
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