Its a dangerous job, but someone has to do it.For years, the local Spook kept the county safe from evil. But now his time has ended, and there is only one boy who can take over Thomas Ward, barely more than a child himself. Now he too must take on an apprentice, a girl called Jenny who is untested but willing to be trained in the dangerous life of a Spook.When girls start dying in mysterious circumstances, they soon find themselves on the path of a terrifying and deadly beast. Monstrous assassins are loose in the County, and far to the north, a new darkness is rising that threatens to engulf the whole world. Do Tom and Jenny stand a chance against the might of the Kobalos?The first terrifying tale in the Starblade Chronicles, from the bestselling author of The Spooks Apprentice

 

 

This book features in the following series: Spook's, Starblade Chronicles, Starblade Chronicles Trilogy, Thomas Ward Adventure .

This book has been graded for interest at 9-14 years.

There are 320 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2015 by Penguin Random House Children's UK .

Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 24 countries. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was turned into a major motion picture in 2015.