Night of the Soul Stealer (The Last Apprentice - Book 3)

Tom Ward, the local spook's apprentice, must journey to the spooks second house in Anglezarke as the winter approaches. A strange cloaked figure appeared for the spook prior to their departure, saying that the spook had something that belonged to him. This encounter changed the spooks behavior and so they journeyed to Anglezarke. It's a bleak and depressing area, and the house isn't exactly welcoming either. The spook decides this is a great time to separate Alice, as he dislikes witches and spooks being together. It just doesn't fit. He sends Alice to a farmer's house, where we later learn that it's also where Morgan lives a few nights a week. As the days go by, Tom accomplishes his usual routine with household chores and spooks training. Although the spook has added a special demand. Tom must give Meg, the Lamia witch, a dose of potion everyday so she does not remember the past. This twist creates doubts and intrigues Tom to search the full story on Meg and her relationship with his master, but the dark is rising and Morgan is desperately searching for the grimoire in the spooks possession. Tom and his master must act swiftly before Morgan summons Golgoth, one of the old gods, and takes over the county!

The third book of the series was by far the most interesting and plot twisting! You find out another side of the spook, other than his old, grumpy, business like attitude. I did enjoy the increase of reference to the "old gods" they're very interesting and they add a thrill to the usual spooks business. Book 3 seemed to me as very emotional in many chapters and we did see the relationships between numerous characters. I hate to think it, but for me, the spook seems to be getting old and I doubt he's going to last very long through the series. I just hope he can complete Tom's training before the dark consumes the world. Anyways, Book 3, for me, was the best so far and I'd recommend it for anyone who's into adventure/fantasy or has read the first 2 books and doubt the third. It's a great purchase if you ask me, and I liked every chapter of it! I will be awaiting book four with anticipation and hope it gives me as much pleasure as this one!

The continuing adventures of young Tom Ward, apprentice to the Spook, a man who protects his county from hostile supernatural entities. Tom and the Spook have traveled to his master's winter home which is remote, frigidly cold, and inhabited by a tame lamia witch the Spook has loved for years. What Tom isn't prepared for is a former apprentice of the Spook's who is determined to replace his master by raising an ancient evil, as well as the not-so-tame lamia witch imprisoned in the basement.

As always, Delaney's story is told in the folksy manner of its period, and young Tom is a delightfully engaging and sympathetic hero. The book moves along at a brisk pace, with plenty of thrills and surprises to keep the reader engaged and entertained. We experience Tom's curiosity and fear in equal measures, always hoping he can keep a cool head and think his way through the horrors he faces.

An excellent read for older children and adults alike, I highly recommend this book and the entire series.

Third in the "Last Apprentice/Spook" YA fantasy-horror series by Joseph Delany.

Thomas Ward has settled into his role as Spook John Gregory's apprentice, rousting out ye thyngges that goe bomp in ye nighte and generally protecting the County from the Dark. In this installment, Tom's first winter as the Spook's apprentice comes hard and fast, with the return of Morgan, a former apprentice of the Spook. He wants to raise an evil being named Golgoth and gain vast power, and wants Tom to help him.

More of the Spook's secrets come out. Tom gets into trouble by not trusting the people he should trust. Things work out right in the end. And Alice the witch helps. So, to that extent, yes, it follows the formula of the second book. But it's a good read, so far as it goes, and the whole thing definitely seems to be leading somewhere -- there's a definite arc to the books in which we see that the Dark is growing more powerful, and Tom is losing allies.

So, yes, I'll read the fourth. And at that point I'll probably be too hooked to stop unless Delaney does something really, really stoopidd.

This is the third book in the Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney. This was an excellent book and a great follow up to the first two books.

In this book Gregory and Tom move to the Spook's winter home after being contacted by a man named Morgan, who is a former apprentice of the Spook's. In Gregory's winter home Tom learns many more secrets about Gregory's past and finally gets to meet the mysterious Meg. Things get more dangerous than Tom ever expected when Morgan starts to dabble in some seriously dangerous magic. Can Tom and Gregory make it through the winter and survive?

This book was great. Easy to read, well-written, fast-paced, and suspenseful. This was a great "horror" book for kids. Tom is a likable character that you can't help rooting for and Alice is also very engaging. Meg made for an interesting addition to the book too. It was great to learn more about Gregory's past and it was also wonderful to spend more time with Tom's Mam.

I eagerly await the next book. What will happen next as the dark continues to rise? What will Tom find in the secret room that Mam has left him? Will Alice be able to stay on the path of the light? I am excited to find out. I love these books there are just such a nice pleasant, and spooky, read.

Tom Ward, apprentice to The Spook, is dreading their departure for The Spook's winter house. He likes the warmer house in Chippenden and knows that the winter house will be cold and closer to evil elements of the dark. But he also knows that he must continue his training to become a Spook so that he can take over and keep the County safe. As usual, Tom and The Spook come into contact with witches, boggarts, and a former apprentice gone evil who is trying to summons the most evil element of the dark side that Tom has seen yet. Tom must rely on what he has learned and his friends to stay safe and alive to fight another day.

This series is fun and well written although each book could be edited down about 100 pages. The stories are creative and imaginative and full of spooky otherworld characters. This episode shows the growth that Tom has made in his training, but also how he still is young with a lot to learn. While enjoyable, each of these books hits a snag along the way and becomes a bit slow and boring. With good editing, these could be fantastic.

This is such a great series...and this installment is no exception. Delaney keeps the pace going and doesn't get bogged down in his characters' thought process. We get just enough to draw our own conclusions. I like it that way.

The best part about these books is the earthy magic they offer. It's feels very real and not the fantasy-driven hocus pocus wand waving magic of the Harry Potter series. That's the best part. These characters feel like real people having real experiences.

I'd head they were making a film of this series. I hope so. IF...they do justice by it; it could be incredible. I just hope that because this is technically a Young Adult series they don't try to sanitize it or soften the horror of it. I'd love to see this series done in the vein of what Tim Burton did with Sleepy Hollow. That would be fantastic.

This is a wonderful series, most especially because of the ongoing development of Tom's relationship with the Spook, and of Tom's connection to Alice. Be warned that in later volumes this development is much less pronounced and the books become more interchangeable episodic adventures. But for now, and the next two volumes, if you are interested in Tom's mother's history, and in Tom's development as an apprentice, this book will be very rewarding.
This volume in particular provides a lot more back story for the Spook. It also moves the tale out of the County, and adds much more detail about the world around Tom. The plot is also a bit more complex, and moves beyond just "find and trap" the monster.

The Last Apprentice: Night of the Soul Stealer is a great follow-up to the first two books in this series. Just like it's counterparts, Soul Stealer kept me on the edge of my seat with terror, while at the same time wanting MORE, MORE, MORE! I was a bit apprehensive when I got the book, wondering how Mr. Delaney could possibly come up with new ideas, but as usual, he did not disappoint! As usual, I was terrified of going into my basement alone after I read this! This series is fantastic for adults and kids (10 and over) alike, especially for anyone who likes to be scared! My eleven-year-old son has read the series and cannot wait for the next book to come out. I just can't wait to see what kind of trouble Tom Ward will get into next! Keep up the GREAT work, Mr. Delaney!

Another incredible book in this engaging series. Delaney's descriptions and story easily pull you in. It is enjoyable to watch these characters grow in wisdom and responsibilities through each book. I find that I finish one book wanting to pick up the next book and continue this enjoyable journey.

The spook's last apprentice Tom Ward meets an old failed apprentice of the spook. Unfortunately the failed apprentice has turned to necromancy and is trying to revive an old evil god GOLGOTH. The failed apprentice blackmails Tom by torturing his father's soul and Tom feels helpless until he stands up to Golgoth himself. The feeling of a child's helplessness and the lives people led in pre-modern days come through very strongly. There is somewhat of a slower pace in this book than the others but the fear that Tom feels comes through very strongly. Tom lives in a much harsher world than Harry Potter and he has no wand or broomstick, only his wits ,speed and help from friends help him survive. We learn more of Tom's master the spook in this book and of Tom's mother but it is with a new understanding that soon they will be gone and Tom will be on his own.

Thomas Ward has been the Spook's apprentice for several months now. When the winter starts to roll in, the spook decides it is time to leave his home in Chipenden, to go to his house in Angelazarke. Thomas is forced to leave Alice, a young witch friend, behind in a town on the way to Angelazarke.
The Spook hides many things about his past, Thomas at one point read a personal diary of the Spook's which revealed he was and is in love with a domestic lamia witch, and Thomas gets the pleasure of meeting her in Angelazarke. Yet more secrets come out when Thomas leans about a trouble maker in a town near Angelazarke, a failed apprentice of the Spook's, named Morgan. Morgan, who practices necromancy, wants to raise an ancient and forgotten god of winter, Golgoth. If Golgoth is raised, then the entire county or maybe even more will fall under an eternal winter.
Morgan attacks Tom's recently deceased father, who is in limbo, and tortures him, so Tom will do Morgan's bidding. When the Spook catches Tom attempting to steal an ancient book with the summoning ritual for Golgoth, Tom's actions are stopped. Eventually Morgan captures Tom again and he steals the ritual book. As Morgan begins the ritual in an underground crypt Thomas ponders how he could escape, realizing that he can't. Unannounced to Morgan and Thomas, however, the Spook destroyed to original book and had it remade, with an extremely minute change but important change; he replaced a word in Latin with another. Now, instead of summoning Golgoth outside of a protective ritual circle, Morgan summons Golgoth inside the circle, which ends in Morgan's demise. Now Thomas is sure he is doomed, as the tunnel has collapsed, but soon he finds Meg, the Lamia witch and her feral sister coming to his rescue. With Morgan dead and Golgoth never to be summoned again, the worries of winter are over.
The Spook and Meg have come to an agreement; Meg and her sister are going back to their homeland via ship. This is the wisest choice because up until now the Spook has been feeding Meg some special herb drinks, making her forget who she truly is and what she can do. For the remainder of the winter the Spook and Thomas will continue battling evil on the Angelazarke side of the county.

Do not even come near this book, the biggest.............in the world Joseph Delaney the author builds up a very sweet love relation between a young boy and a girl, truly this relation is what set this series apart from other books in the same genera, we can find plentiful of witches, demons and battles in other fantasy books, but the relation between Tom and Alice the two main protagonists of this series is what made this whole series very special, and guess what happens in the final book, Alice simply leaves Tom and goes with another man simply because they locked eyes and discovered they were meant for each other, so after 5 years and 13 books Alice simply leaves Tom whom she was madly in love with and shacks up with a dark mage, sharing bed with him, kissing him in front of Tom, and causing great permanent harm to her best friend Grimalkin, and directly contributing to the situation that had Gregory Tom's Master, teacher and friend die....and the reasons that the author provides for this are as flimsy as his ethics as an author, he probably felt the heat after all the backlash from fans, but no matter what he pulls out of his......to try to redeem the story-line and to also try to remove his foot from his mouth it will never work, personally as a reader i can never forgive the Character Alice nor can I forgive the author’s blunder....there are tons of books out there that will give a good measure of bitter reality , if that is what all the fans wanted then they would have went for those other books, but we remained faithful to this series because it gave us a break from the actual hellish reality that we live day in and day out, sadly the author Joseph Delaney did not remain faithful to his fans, story Characters or even himself, choosing to sell out and ruin the ending with a "Game of Thrones" like twist at the end.....but if that is what we wanted or needed we wouldn't have stuck around for a 13 book series, to finally be mocked by the rude and cruel since of humor that Mr. Delaney has displayed…….
Summary: best aspect of the book the love relation between the two main protagonists is permanently ruined and damaged in the final book which also permanently changes the tone of the whole series from a sweet coming of age, first love, friendship and perseverance to that of a smutty cheesy soap opera...will not buy any more books from this awful Author

I have had the opportunity to purchase the entire collection so far for my two daughters. I have come to notice I highly anticipate the release of the newest addition to this series. This is an excellent series to get a resistant child to read. My eight year old is not fond of reading but once I began reading the first book to her I noticed she wanted to continue the story on her own. Delaney has a way of making the reading fairly easy and not too scary for the smaller ones who have outgrown The Spiderwick Series. Not only has my 8 year old read the books I have read them all and can't wait for the next release. So far Delaney earns five stars for all four books. We recently received the newest release (book four) four days ago and have completed it in just a few days. We are eagerly anticipating book five.

An awesome book! I love the concept of different witches and boggarts in the series, necromancy, Tom's discovery of a special gift he has, a new twist with Tom's mom, and especially The Spook's mysterious past. A very interesting and bone-chilling read.

The Last Apprentice series, while dark and sinister, has many white knuckle scenes, leaving you holding your breath with anticipation. Delaney is masterful, his fine crafting of words creates a world far different from other fantasy/horror writers. The beyond-sinister witches and other creatures make you want to take that running jump into bed at night, in case there is something underneath that may just grab you. I never know what to expect next, his many twists and turns in the plot leave you amazed and wondering where he is leading you. My son and I are huge fans of his books we can hardly wait for the next installment.

I loved this book the most of the series. Although its the 3rd book; I read it first of the 5 books. I never knew what to expect next. When one thing happened, there was something else just as thrilling going on. This was definately a page turner for me, and Joseph Delaney is a very good writer. Without a doubt i enjoyed every minute of this book. It made me want to read the first and second books. I would reccomend this book to people who like mystery, adventure, and who have a sense of imagination. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did!

The book continued along nicely with the series. It was good to see more into the past life of the Spook. Can't wait to see what the apprentice finds in his mom's room in the next book of the series.