Double Book Review-The Spook's Apprentice and The Spook's Curse by Joseph Delaney

Title: The Spook’s Apprentice/Revenge of the Witch

 Author: Jospeh Delaney

Published:  1 July 2004

Source: publisher, in anticipation of film. HUGE HUGE THANKS FOR THIS.

Review: Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son. This means he can be trained as a spook, to protect the County from evil. Starting off as an apprentice, he learns the ways of a Spook, trapping creatures, learning Latin,  and spotting danger signs. Such as women or girls with pointy shoes. Enter Alice, a girl whose loyalties you can never be sure where they lie. Also, there is a witch, Madame Malkin, who has been bound in a pit, but threatens to come out.

I read this one ages ago! But never got into the series, not because I disliked it, but because I kind of forgot abonut this. Then I get an email telling me that there’s going to be a film based on it starring Ben Barnes (who was totally adorable as Dorian) and that it would be nice if people could review the series. So I thought, yeah why not. Then I got a package with all 11 books in the series and all I could think was thank you thank you thank you and so yeah I took it on and started reading from the beginning again.

It’s hard to believe Thomas is only twelve at times-he’s clever at times, and really brave, though he does make errors here and there. Alice is a complete mystery throughout. I loved the Spook, who is wise due to his experience. Also, Mam, who seems to have secrets to come out some day.

Pacing was good. there’s soon a dose of suspense which also helps us learn more about Thomas.  Writing built suspense and atomsphere well. Madame Malkin is a good adversary, with connections to Alice and being suitably threatening.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a creepy start to a series.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Title: The Spook’s Curse/Curse of the Bane

 Author: Joseph Delaney

Published:  30 June 2005

Source: publisher, in anticipation of film. HUGE HUGE THANKS FOR THIS.

Review: It starts with Thomas doing his first binding of a boggart on his own in Priestown. Soon after leaving, they return to pay respects to the Spook’s now-dead brother. And also to defeat the creature that the Spook hadn’t done before, a creature pressing its victims to death, The Bane. Onece there, they find the Quisitor in town, hunting witches, wizards, spooks, and sentencing them to death. As Alice and Spook  get caught, it’s up to Thomas to try and get them all out alive.

Thomas has matured a bit from The Spook’s Apprentice. Alice remains a mystery, but we do get to know some more about her and . We learn quite a lot about the Ward family, and the enigma of Mam gives way to another reason to be interested in her. Quisitor was your stereotypical Christian witchfinder who added a more human threat to the story.

This one really has a lot of history in it. I like the continuing lack of romance between Alice and Thomas, because I remember even when I was ten there were books where a girl and a boy just had to get together, at leaast in an innocent way. it was paced well, with something new being discovered quite often.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea. Good backstory to the Spook and the Wards, and another fun plot.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review- The Dead Kid Detective Agency by Evan Munday

Title: The Dead Kid Detective Agency

 Author: Even Munday

Series:  The Dead Kid Detective Agency #1

Published:  September 1 2011

Length: 320 pages

Warnings: Comical fantasy mild threat 9+

Source: Netgalley

Summary: Thirteen-year-old October Schwartz is new in town; short on friends and the child of a clinically depressed science teacher, she spends her free time in the Sticksville Cemetery and so when beloved French teacher dies in a suspicious car accident, it provides the agency with its first bona fide case, putting them in the midst of a murder plot thick with car chases, cafeteria fights, and sociopathic math teachers, and sending them on an adventure that might just uncover the truth about a bomb that exploded 40 years ago.

Review: October Scwartz has moved to Sticksville and knows absolutely nobody. The year is set to be a boring one for an outcast like her...and then her favourite French teacher, Mr O Shea, mysteriously dies. Is killed. Mulling over the mystery while in the local graveyard, somehow she summons up a group of child-ghosts. After a bit of conversation,  these dead children agree to, while they still walk on earth i.e. for the next month, have a go at helping October find the killer.

This is a typical mystery for the younger audience, with a few paranormal elements on the side. The plot isn’t the most complex of things, but is still fun to watch develop and go along with.

It’s often hard to believe that October is only thirteen. Sometimes she seems much more mature, and sometimes she seems so much younger. It’s actually quite hard to place her age, if you aren’t explicitly told. Or maybe it’s just me.

The pacing was alright. At the start, I couldn’t see where any of it was going. About a third of a way through though, we had a mystery built and the detectives had been introduced. From then on, it’s fun and a good ride. It didn’t keep me especially hooked though. I could put it down without feeling bad about it.

I’d like to say I enjoyed the writing, but I didn't. While there were the occasional comments aimed directly at you, something I quite like, especially when they’re witty, like they were in The Dead Kid Detective Agency, there were many chapters where my understanding was non-existant. Why? The switching perspective. Now, I’m all for multiple points of view. When you are clear on who is speaking. Switching perspectives halfway through a chapter, or once, a sentence? No, no no.

Despite this, I liked this, and the originality it brings to the younger readers’ market.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a fun paranormal mystery for the younger readers.

Links: | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website |