Tom Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son, this is very significant for it has bestowed upon him special abilities. He can for instance hear the moans of soldiers long dead, hung from the trees in the far northern corner of his father’s farm. This, however,is to be the least of his worries once he is apprenticed to the County Spook. As Tom explains his father’s first born son inherits the farm and all the remaining boys have to find work. Tom is to be  apprenticed to the spook, a lonely job his brother Jack tells him, but someone has to protect the people of the County from witches, boggarts and ghosts. Tom soon learns that his brother Jack was right, being a Spook, even his apprentice is lonely, it is also hard work and there is so much to learn.

Lisstening to The Spook's Apprentice  on CD enhances the spookiness and horror that it engenders. I can definitely imagine children listening to it under the bedcovers at night, but I am not sure I could! Books in audio format, particularly those that have not been abridged, could not be a better way to bring a story to life. This one is particularly good and is one that I highly recommend.

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2007-09-30