Spook’s A New Darkness is the latest book from Joseph Delaney, although some argue that this is a s spin off from the original series it is more a continuation as it continues from the previous book (The Spook’s Revenge). Tom Ward is now the Chipenden Spook, with his apprenticeship cut short, he’s trying his best to deal with the local ghasts and ghouls but when 3 girls have died bearing the similar deaths, Tom discovers that something sinister is out there and it’s his job to take care of it.
As a big fan of the series, I could not wait to read what happened after the 13th book. Reading this, I was not disappointed. Tom Ward is still coping with the events of the previous book and he is trying incredibly hard to be strong and brave despite being a spook at a young age. Most people he helps doesn’t see him beyond his age and mostly see him as a young boy who doesn’t know better nevertheless he still gets the job done.
A new concept has been added by introducing Jenny, which claims to be a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. Although both Jenny and Tom share some of the same abilities. Both have abilities which are unique to their gender. This of course expands the Spook lore as never in the past has a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter been mentioned. We also get several chapters where we read through Jenny’s perspective and it is a great way for readers to get to know the character. All of this really does make the book a completely brand new chapter and makes the series exciting.
Grimalkin is also back and for a side character she does quite a lot. The second half of this book, is mostly Grimalkin ordering Tom Ward to do all sorts of things. Which unfortunately makes the protagonist an afterthought.
To conclude, Spook’s A New Darkness is an incredible start to a new series. The book covers a lot from previous books so new readers don’t have to read the previous books to relate to this one. However it won’t have the same emotional impact as it will have to loyal readers. Spook’s A New Darkness is a great read and it is as usual a page turner and with an ending that blew me out of the water it is something the fans would love and new readers can get into and indubitably look forward to.