Book Review
Title: The Spook’s Nightmare (The Wardstone Chronicles #7)
Author: Joseph Delaney
Genre: YA/Paranormal/Fantasy
Rating: *****
Review: After the very sad ending of the Spook’s Sacrifice I was expecting the Spook’s Nightmare to begin on a happy note but I certainly wasn’t prepared for this very depressing opening. On their way back from collecting Claw, Blood and Bone from a local farmer, Alice, Tom and Mr. Gregory see that the way in advancing upon them and by the time they return home it has burnt to the ground. Mr. Gregory is heartbroken at the loss of the library which held the accumulated knowledge of several generation of spooks and it is all gone apart from one book that survived. This isn’t the end as the boggart has also gone and Bony Lizzie, who we learnt in a previous book is Alice’s mother has escaped. This may give the nightmare Mr. Gregory had earlier new meaning as she saw Bony Lizzie and the Fiend’s side and she is ruling over the County. However, they don’t have time to think about this, they intend to go to Bill Arkwright’s mill and make use of his library but the soldiers are everywhere leaving them no choice but to flee to the island of Mona until it is safe to return. The group don’t get a warm welcome in Mona, one of the yeomen tells them that Mr. Gregory is likely to be killed because he is seen as too old to work, Tom will be put to work and he doesn’t even mention the fate that would await Alice before Mr. Gregory knocks him out. It seems that Mona might just be even more dangerous that the County right now.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, it is exactly what Tom feared as Mr. Gregory sends him into the town to try and buy passage on a ship heading to Ireland but in the tavern he meets the captain who took him and his mother to Greece and is told that all the ships are being boarded by soldiers and sent back to the County under supervision so there is no chance of them getting to Ireland. Alice who snuck away to follow Tom and stay under the protection of the blood jar, is targeted as a witch when an abhuman, a child of the Fiend named Horn sniffs her out and she is captured to be tested. Tom is also taken when he identifies some darkness in Tom, in the cell they meet Adriana who tells them about the barrels witches are tested in and how to survive. Adriana is a bird witch meaning she can communicate with them but she is there because the Lord of the town wants to marry and she refuses as she loves someone else and he commended her as a witch. As the testing takes place Adriana survives, but it seems like Alice has died by the time it is Tom’s turn. He survives but when he gets to the bottom Alice knocks out the Captain and the remaining guard and they pair run as she explains she used her powers to stop her heart and breath in order to appear dead. The soldiers do chase after them and they run but quickly they realises that these pursuers are the captain Baines, Mr. Gregory and another boy who Adriana loves, Simon. Together with Claw, Blood and Bone they decide to head to the keep where the survivors are being fed to a buggane. As Mr. Gregory sits down to explain what a buggane is and how to deal with it, Simon is anxious to rescue Adriana.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Mr. Gregory, Alice and Tom do a quick search of the area to see how far the buggane’s domain stretches and the best way in and out. During the daylight they have little to fear from the buggane but come nightfall it will be an entirely different story as the buggane is immune to salt and iron so the only way to kill it is with a silver alloy blade straight to the heart. From Simon they learn that Lord Barrule is most likely the shaman controlling the buggane, they have a pact where the buggane shares the animus it collects from it’s victims with the shaman in return for a never ending supply of victims. That night they plan to deal with the buggane but before they can even reach the keep they come face to face with the buggane and an apparition of the shaman who controls it. The trio are attacked and while Tom is almost frozen with fear Mr. Gregory is knocked unconscious, Alice steps forward to try and distract the buggane while Tom attacks it. The buggane’s speed is almost too much for Tom and he slows time to land the killing blow but before he can both the buggane and Alice disappear. Tom is terrified for his friend as she is now beyond the protection of the blood jar so the Fiend could come for her at any time but there is no sign of her. As they recover from the ordeal they plan to back the following night but before they can they are ambushed by a hoard of dogs including Blood, Bone and Claw followed by many soldiers. The shaman is able to control many animals and turn Claw and her pups against Tom which leads to him being captured but he and Mr. Gregory separated to give them a better chance of not being caught. Tom is thrown into a cell and is visited by the buggane and Horn that night, Horn tells him the buggane wants him because he is a seventh son of a seventh son but Tom also discovers that fire and light may be a weakness to it. Before he can learn more he is dragged before Lord Barrule who makes him witness several dog fights although he own dogs aren’t used. He then appears to Tom in his cell in his spirit form and tells Tom that he is willing to him and his dogs go if he fights a witch. This witch is Bony Lizzie, Alice’s mother, he also knows what a fearsome opponent Lizzie would be as he has been captured by her once before and knows she will do anything to get Alice back.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Tom agrees to fight Lizzie and is brought to the long room where he witnesses the dog fights. True to his word Lord Barrule gives him back his staff and brings out Lizzie and Alice. Both of them have had their lips sown shut so that they can’t use dark magic but Tom know Lizzie is very strong and might be able to use some magic without having to speak. The two engage in a battle but Lizzie talks to Tom in his mind and tells him that Barrule won’t keep his word and intends to kill them all, Tom refuses to listen but once he has bound Lizzie he can’t bring himself to kill her in cold blood so Barrule orders him to fight Alice instead. Tom can’t hurt his friend but Alice seems to have a plan as shut cuts the twine binding her mother’s lips and Lizzie sends the yeomen running and the escaping into the tunnels. The hollow she leads them to is the centre of her bone yard bound by dark magic that kills anyone who enters that doesn’t take the correct path but they are safe in the eye of the yard. With Lizzie nearby, Tom is less worried for Alice as the Fiend can’t touch her even if they are separated but Lizzie has her own agenda as she waits for the buggane to find them and feeds it her blood making it her familiar. When Barrule appears now the Fiend won’t do his bidding he is prepared to listen to Lizzie’s demands. She exchanges Tom for passage off Mona to Ireland and even suggests that he should be made to fight his own dogs and Barrule agrees. Once again Tom and Alice are separated and he doesn’t want to fight his dogs and tries hard to fend them off but when it comes down to it, self-preservation kicks in and he refuses to die there especially since he knows the Fiend would come for his soul but he doesn’t have to worry as Bill Arkwright’s ghosts appears confirming that he did die in the Ord and frees his dogs from the shaman’s control and they kill him. However, this was all part of Lizzie’s plan and she returns with Alice and Tom knows that Bill Arkwright’s spirit is somehow under her control but he still helped Tom. Lizzie wants to be Queen of the island and uses Tom and Alice as slaves but the yeomen have sent Mr. Gregory in to deal with the witch but it is proven that Mr. Gregory’s power is in decline as Lizzie quickly renders him unconscious intending to kill him slowly. Tom is sent to talk to the yeomen and get a volunteer to be Lizzie’s servant to give orders to the other men and after she makes good on her threat to kill one man for every 5 minutes she has to wait, Captain Stanton agrees. He tells Tom they should work together and wait for an opportunity to deal with Lizzie and he agrees.
As we cross the halfway mark in the novel, things have taken a dramatic turn when Lizzie orders Stanton to organise a feast in her honour and to invite all the important people on Mona. Stanton complies but Tom has a feeling this is no ordinary feast, it will be a feast for Lizzie to demonstrate her power and crush an opposition to her reign before it has even arisen. Tom is once again right as people from all over Mona including members of the parliament come to the feast and one man opposes Lizzie quite openly and she kills him with a few words, she then raises his spirit and demonstrates that she can control people after death and make them suffer. This man turns out to be Adriana’s father and her mother is driven to the edge of insanity and will also die. Tom and Alice are sent back to the tower and they know the most likely option they have for escape is the buggane’s tunnels but it is also the most dangerous options and while Lizzie is occupied it seems to be their only chance. The pair race down to the dungeons collecting Adriana and the spook as well, however, Alice suggests that going through Lizzie bone lair might be a safer options as she could sniff out the path through it and the others agree as they are less likely to encounter the buggane. On the way they collect Claw, Blood and Bone and head into the tunnel that will take them to Lizzie’s bone yard but this tunnel they quickly learn has already been intercepted by the buggane and Tom has a bad feeling about what is going to happen next.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Tom gets the dogs to dig a new tunnel which brings them out into a large cavern, Mr. Gregory explains this cavern is a storage place of animus called Grim Cache as it was originally used by a shaman named Lucius Grim. There is so much animus stored down there that the spook knows it has to be dealt with other something else from the dark might use it to deadly effect. In the cavern they meet Horn, the abhuman, who wants revenge against the witch that killed his master, Lord Barrule and leads the group out of the tunnels to safety but not before he gives them some vital information. Horn tells them that Barrule never used much more than a fraction of the cache but Lizzie is unconsciously drawing on it as she has Barrule’s thumb bones. He is using his own magic to oppose her but she grows stronger every day and something needs to be done soon, as when she gets control of the buggane she will learn about the cache and be impossible to stop. Adriana leads them to her home where they spend a few days formulating a plan and they decide with Stanton who has escaped Lizzie with those that are loyal to Mona, to attack on the day the parliament meets and deal with Lizzie then. However, this doesn’t go to plan as Lizzie’s power quickly sends the yeomen running leaving only Mr. Gregory, Alice, Tom and Stanton to deal with the witch. Lizzie knocks out Stanton and Tom leaving Alice and Mr. Gregory to fight but her new power quickly subdues his master as well and Tom awakes just in time to see Alice do something to distract the witch while they run for it. Stanton is captured but Adriana gives the trio the location of an abandoned cottage where they will be safe. Upon arriving Alice decides to use the shaman’s notebook to collect any information she can that might useful in defeating her mother. However, Tom and Mr. Gregory are plagued with nightmare seemingly sent by Lizzie, but Tom’s relates to a witch called Morrigan who was killed by him and Bill Arkwright and the undead witch swore revenge if he ever stepped foot on Irish soil where she is strongest. They spend over a week at the cottage while Lizzie grows stronger every day and there doesn’t seem to be much hope in the trio winning and escaping unharmed.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, the spook doesn’t seem to be coming up with a plan for taking on Lizzie and this could be that he has said he is weary and being defeated twice but an enemy he defeated before has dealt him a major blow. Adriana drugs him that night as she is going to face Lizzie with Simon and Alice convinced Tom they should go in order to stop them getting killed and deal with the witch themselves. Upon arriving at the keep Adriana uses her gift with birds to attack the guards and get Alice and Tom inside as they can’t be sniffed out by Lizzie. Once instead they head to Barrule’s library to find the grimoire mentioned in his notebook, however, as Tom keeps watch he is attacked and awakes in the dungeon with the seemingly lifeless body of Daniel Stanton and Horn. Lizzie visits them and tells Tom she is planning to control the cache and that she wants his thumb bones and sends the buggane after him. However, while it whispered to him he hears Alice’s voice and uses the darkness within himself to drive of the buggane but he knows it will be back. During this reprieve he learns that iron doesn’t affect Horn and they form an alliance to escape, Horn uses his strength the free them from their bonds and they try to find Alice only to be led into a trap by Lizzie who quickly kills Horn and orders Tom to come to her so she can cut off his thumbs. Just as Lizzie is about to cut off his thumb Alice appears in spirit form and orders Lizzie to leave Tom alone or she won’t give her the grimoire. Lizzie goes to Alice and obediently hands over Tom for the book but Alice sets it on fire as she has used the cache protect her and Tom. As Lizzie flees, Tom knows they have to find and bind her before she gets away, however, Mr. Gregory has now arrived and he isn’t happy.
He takes Tom to deal with the buggane who has now taken the form of a hydra but they aren’t gaining much ground until Alice arrives and distracts it allowing Mr. Gregory to kill it. Despite not listening to him once again Mr. Gregory doesn’t say anything because he knows they both would have died if Alice hadn’t arrived, but now they have to deal with Lizzie once and for all. As soon as they track her down and corner her on the cliffs she begins using her power to destroy, she tries to compel them to throw themselves off the cliffs, Tom, Alice and Mr. Gregory manage to resist but Simon isn’t as strong. After he goes over the cliff Adriana uses her power to attack Lizzie, forfeiting her own life as well but Lizzie dies alongside her. Before her death Lizzie tells Mr. Gregory about Tom owing his soul to the Fiend and the blood jar which Tom confirms to be true but the spook takes it better than I expected but I suspect this is because the pressures of his profession are becoming too heavy for him. As Tom relays the story of how they ended up in this position, all are aware the only choice they have to be free is to bind or destroy the Fiend before either of them dies. Alice suggests that Grimalkin might know of a way as she told Alice about possibly binding him with silver spears in a pit like a boggart. Alice tells them that Grimalkin is a skilled blacksmith and could make such spears if they contacted her and while Mr. Gregory isn’t pleased he orders Alice to summon Grimalkin to Mona and while she answers Alice’s calls she hasn’t arrived by the end of this novel, Alice and Tom fear something has happened to the witch assassin but I will just have to read the next book and find out.
Overall, this book certainly was dramatic and plays heavily on the relationships between the characters. We are beginning to see the divide in how Mr. Gregory works as a spook and how Tom will work as a full fledged spook, we can also see Tom and Alice’s relationship deepening as she cries for the life and mother she should have had after Lizzie’s death. The relationship between the main trio is more tense than ever but I am excited for the return of Grimalkin as she is honestly one of my favourite characters in this series and I can’t wait for book 9: I am Grimalkin which I hope gives us some more background on the witch assassin. Another 5 star read for me.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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