Joseph Delaney Books In Order

The Spook’s Apprentice / Revenge of the Witch

Warning: Not to be listened to after dark

Capturing witches, Binding boggarts, Driving away ghosts

For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty nine apprentices have tried some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive.

Only Thomas Ward is left. He’s the last hope; the last apprentice. Can Thomas succeed? Will he learn the difference between a benign witch and a malevolent one? Does the Spook’s warning against girls with pointy shoes include Alice? And what will happen if Thomas accidentally frees Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the county…
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Performed by Christopher Evan Welch

Enhanced CD: Put this CD in your computer to view and print Tom Ward’s Secrets for Survival, including tips for identifying boggarts, and recipes for dealing with witches.

The Spook’s Curse / Curse of the Bane

Now it’s the dark’s turn to be afraid

The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, deal with the dark. Together they rid the county of witches, ghosts, and boggarts. But now there’s some unfinished business to attend to in Priestown. Deep in the catacombs of the cathedral lurks a creature the Spook has never been able to defeat; a force so evil that the whole county is in danger of being corrupted by its powers. The Bane!

As Thomas and the Spook prepare for the battle of their lives, it becomes clear that the Bane isn’t their only enemy. The Quisitor has arrived, searching for those who meddle with the dark so he can imprison them or worse.

Can Thomas defeat the Bane on his own? Is his friend Alice guilty of witchcraft? And will the Spook be able to escape the Quisitor’s clutches?

The Spook’s Secret / Night of the Soul Stealer

It’s going to be a long, hard, cruel winter. And there couldn’t be a worse place to spend it than up on Anglezarke.

Thomas Ward is the apprentice for the local Spook, who captures witches and drives away ghosts. As the weather gets colder and the nights draw in, the Spook receives an unexpected visitor. Tom doesn’t know who the stranger is or what he wants, but the Spook suddenly decides it’s time to travel to his winter house, Anglezarke. Tom has heard it will be a bleak, forbidding place, and that menacing creatures are starting to stir somewhere on the moors nearby.

Can anything prepare Tom for what he finds there? What if the rumors about the evil beast called the Golgoth are true? And how much danger will Tom be in if the secrets the Spook has been trying to hide from the world are revealed?

The Spook’s Battle / Attack of the Fiend

‘I see your future clearly. Your master will be dead, and you will be alone. It would be better if you had never been born.’

Thomas Ward is the apprentice for the local Spook, who banishes boggarts and drives away ghosts. But now a new danger is threatening Tom’s world: the witches are rising and the three most powerful clans are uniting in order to conjure an unimaginable evil.

Tom and the Spook set out to stop the witches before they unleash the demon. But when Tom finds himself on his own, he wonders if he has the courage and cunning to defeat the most powerful enemy he has ever encountered.

The Spook’s Mistake / Wrath of the Bloodeye

‘I’ve already drunk my fill of blood, so live a little longer. Breathe for a while and watch what’s about to unfold.’

Thomas Ward has spent two years as the Spook’s apprentice. He’s faced unimaginable peril, and survived. But a new danger has emerged: an ancient water witch, Bloodeye, is roaming the County intent on destroying everything in her path. To strengthen his skills, Tom is sent to the far north to train with the demanding Bill Arkwright. Arkwright lives in a haunted mill on the edge of a treacherous marsh, and his training methods prove to be harsh and sometimes cruel. Will Tom’s new bag of tricks be enough to overcome a critical mistake that leaves him confronting Bloodeye on his own?

The Spook’s Sacrifice / Clash of the Demons

‘You can’t make alliances with witches and suchlike and hope to avoid being drawn toward the dark.’

As the Spook’s apprentice, Thomas Ward’s first duty is to protect the County from ghosts, boggarts, and other dangerous creatures. But now his mother has come back from her homeland to seek his help. One of the most dangerous of the old witches, Ordeen, is about to return to earth, bringing with her suffering and devastation. Tom’s mother has mustered a powerful army including Tom’s friend Alice, the Pendle witches, and the assassin Grimalkin to confront Ordeen. If Tom joins them, the Spook will refuse to take Tom back as his apprentice. What sacrifices will be made in the battle against the dark?

The Spook’s Nightmare / Rise of the Huntress

Things can never be the same again. The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, have returned to the county after a long journey and a hard battle. But their troubles are far from over. Their home has been over run by enemy soldiers. The Spook’s house is in ruins, the boggart protecting it has fled, and the malicious witches imprisoned in the gardens have escaped. Tom, Alice, and the Spook must flee, too, across the ocean to the island of Mona. And it’s on Mona that this small band fighting against the dark will face an old enemy grown terrifyingly powerful. Will they be able to vanquish an evil that crawls beneath the ground itself? At what cost? Will Tom and the Spook ever be able to return home?

The Spook’s Destiny / Rage of the Fallen

You belong to the blade now. You’ll belong to it until the day you die…
‘ The Spook, Tom and Alice travel to Ireland, fleeing from the war in the County. There, Tom must tackle a group of evil mages who are desperate to rid their land of the Spook and his apprentice, and to increase their own dark powers. His dangerous mission against the mages leads Tom to the Destiny Blade a sword with a dark side, and a thirst for blood…
Will this new weapon give him a fighting chance against the Fiend? If he’s to survive, he’ll need training, and only one person can help Grimalkin, the witch assassin. The dark against the dark…
The eighth volume in the terrifying Wardstone Chronicles. Read on if you dare…

I Am Grimalkin / Grimalkin, the Witch Assassin

‘I am Grimalkin, and I have already chosen those I will kill…
‘ Grimalkin has made it her lifetime ambition to destroy the Fiend, avenging the brutal murder of her son. Having grudgingly joined forces with the Spook and his apprentice, Tom, and assisted them in the binding of the Fiend, she is now on the run. And her mission is deadly. She has to help them bind the Fiend’s spirit for ever no matter who or what comes after it…
This latest chilling instalment in the ‘Wardstone Chronicles’ follows Grimalkin, the terrifying witch assassin, feared wherever she is known.

The Spook’s Tale: And Other Horrors

The Last Apprentice series follows the terrifying adventures of the Spook’s apprentice, Thomas Ward. But Tom’s is only one story. There are others…
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The Spook himself was once an apprentice. How did he begin his training?

And what of Alice, the young witch who is Tom’s closest ally? How did she overcome her dark past?

What did the witch assassin Grimalkin do to become the most deadly and feared witch in the county?

And, collected in a gallery of horrors, discover the rest of the county’s menacing villains and relive the vicious battles waged against them.

Enter a land where creatures of the dark creep out of the shadows. Do you dare?

The Spook’s Stories: Witches

Beware a girl in pointy shoes! A girl wearing pointy shoes might be a witch. And the first thing a spook’s apprentice learns is never, ever to trust a witch. In this bone chilling collection of tales, you will learn exactly why that is, as you encounter: a fair and beautiful woman with green scales running down her spine…
a dead witch who lurks under rotting leaves and hunts for blood…
Alice, Tom Ward’s best friend, who once lived with one of the darkest witches of all…
and a witch whose cry of revenge can kill. The dark is all around. Who will survive?

The Spook’s Bestiary: The Guide to Creatures of the Dark

This is a companion title to the phenomenally successful ‘Spook’s Apprentice Series’. Discover how to bind a boggart and deal with a dead witch in this fascinating and lavishly illustrated Spook’s own ‘notebook’. This is a must for die hard fans of the series and an irresistible introduction to the Dark and the dangerous for new recruits. ‘My name is John Gregory. What follows is my Bestiary my personal account of the denizens of the dark I’ve encountered, together with the lessons I have learned and the mistakes I have made. I have held nothing back, and my hope is that the spook who follows me will continue to keep this record of the practical ways in which we deal with the dark’.