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...

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.

The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, rid the county of witches, ghosts, boggarts, and other creatures of the dark. And there's some unfinished business to attend to in Priestown. Deep in the catacombs lurks a creature the Spook has never been able to defeat; a force so evil that the whole county is in danger. The Bane

But the Bane is not their only enemy. The Quisitor arrives, intent on hunting down anyone who meddles with the dark. Thomas Ward and the Spook must prepare for the battle of their lives.

As the weather grows colder and the nights draw in, the Spook and his apprentice Tom Ward must be even more vigilant in their battles against the boggarts, witches, and ghosts roaming the county. When they receive an unexpected visitor, the Spook decides it is time to move to his winter house in Anglezarke. It is a bleak, forbidding place, full of witches and secrets. Tom hears rumors of menacing creatures stirring on the moors nearby, including the evil beast called Golgoth. Who was the mysterious visitor? And is Tom prepared for what he will find in Anglezarke?

"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...

War looms on the horizon

As the Spook's apprentice, Tom Ward must protect the County from the creatures of the dark. But now his mother has returned from her homeland to seek his help. A dangerous ancient witch, Ordeen, is about to rise, bringing with her suffering and devastation. Tom's mother has mustered a powerful army--including Tom's friend Alice and the assassin Grimalkin--to confront Ordeen. If Tom joins them, the Spook will abandon Tom as his apprentice. What sacrifices will be made in the battle against the dark?

Enter a land where creatures of the dark creep out of the shadows

The Last Apprentice series follows the terrifying adventures of the Spook's apprentice, Thomas Ward, as he learns to battle the monsters of the dark and keep the county safe. But Tom's is only one story.

The Spook himself was once an apprentice. How did he begin his training? How did Alice, a young witch and Tom's closest ally, overcome her dark past? How did the assassin Grimalkin become the most deadly and feared witch in the county? And you'll discover the rest of the county's menacing villains, collected in...

Beware a girl in pointy shoes

The first thing a spook's apprentice learns is never, ever to trust a witch. Those brave enough to read these pages will find out why. You'll meet a fair and beautiful woman--with green scales running down her spine. You'll encounter a dead witch who lurks under rotting leaves, hunting for blood, and a witch whose cry of revenge can kill. And you'll follow Alice, Tom Ward's best friend, back into her past, when she lived with one of the most dangerous witches of all. Are you ready to face the dark?

The first book in a chilling new trilogy from the author of the internationally bestselling Last Apprentice series Tom Ward is an apprentice no longer--he is a full-fledged spook battling boggarts, witches, and other creatures of the dark. A New Darkness is the first in a three-book arc that introduces brand-new readers to Joseph Delaney's haunting world.

Tom Ward is the Spook, the one person who can defend the county from bloodthirsty creatures of the dark. But he's only seventeen, and his apprenticeship was cut short when his master died in battle. No one trusts Tom's...