Wrath of the Bloodeye (The Last Apprentice Series #5) »

Joseph Delaney lives in Lancashire, England, in the middle of boggart territory.

"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?

VOYA

In this fifth volume of Delaney's popular series, Tom Ward is sent to train with one of his master's former apprentices, now a spook in the county's watery north. Arkwright, burdened with a family tragedy, drinks heavily but has much to teach if only Tom can survive long enough to learn. Adding water witches and skelts to his creepy creature collection, Delaney picks up where the previous novel ended, once again pitting Tom against things he may not be ready to face. Arkwright is a convincingly troubled man, flawed and violent but ultimately redeemed. There continues to be something unsettling about the roles that female characters play in the series, however. In this volume, the only women readers meet are in the form of witches or monsters-a strong, independent woman labeled "daft" by her neighbors, a selkie chased back to sea after the other wives' jealousy brings Arkwright to sort her out, and the ghost of Arkwright's mother whose suicide after the accidental death of her husband has bound her to this earth. These women are memorable characters-perhaps none more so than young Alice, whose connection to the devil himself is revealed-and yet stacked solidly on the dark side of Delaney's world of good and evil. How the author develops the story surrounding Alice will more than likely reveal what this gender divide means, but fans of the series will be eager to read the next installment no matter how it plays out. Reviewer: Vikki Terrile