Book Review: Spook's: Alice by Joseph Delaney

Quick warning to those that aren’t up-to-date with the series, this review may contain a few spoilers…

Alice is not only book twelve in the Wardstone Chronicles but also the penultimate installment, which means only one thing; the series is almost coming to its long-awaited climax. Having followed the series for years, I am sad to be nearing the end. But the work doesn’t just stop in the County, so let’s get to the review.

Alice, perhaps not surprisingly, follows the character of Alice from the series; in the same way Delaney has previously written Slither’s Tale and Grimalkin.

Alice, loyal companion of Tom and the Spook, get’s straight down the business; travelling into the realm of ‘The Dark’ to find the third object needed by the Spook and his apprentice, Tom, in order to destroy their greatest enemy, The Fiend. The Dark is not a place anyone would want to go – a place where the non-human folk end up when they die on Earth. It just so happens that Alice has done her fair share of killing some on the more dangerous and evil creatures over the year – or at least been a helping hand – and by travelling into their realm, they finally have the chance to take their revenge.

This makes for a bad situation for Alice but a brilliant, action-packed story for the reader! Alice not only encounters past threats but also takes readers down memory lane by revisiting her childhood through an encounter with a particular enemy. Unlike the majority of the books in the series, Alice isn’t told through the viewpoint of our hero and protagonist, Thomas Ward, but, as the title suggests, is written in first person by Alice.

As always, Delaney is able to effortlessly create an atmospheric world fit for witches and other such unsavory creatures that I have grown to love so much. I feel that Alice is slightly more gruesome than previous installments, particularly the scenes in which Alice remembers magic she saw her mother, Boney Lizzie (my old favourite!), preforming when she was a child. It involves flies and rats, that’s all I’ll say!

The writing is easy enough for a younger audience to read by the content is gory enough for adults to enjoy just as much as children. It is vital – and enjoyable - to start at the beginning of the series and read the books in order to be able to fully appreciate this series as one of the best of the decade.

Another thing to touch upon before I finish is that this series is currently being turned into a film, called Seventh Son I believe, which is scheduled to be released towards the end of this year.

If anyone is interested in the order the Spooks series should be read in, I have complied a list below:

1)    The Spook’s Apprentice
2)    The Spook’s Curse

3)    The Spook’s Secret
4)    The Spook’ Battle

5)    The Spook’s Mistake

6)    The Spook’s Sacrifice

7)    The Spook’s Nightmare

8)    The Spook’s Destiny

9)    Spook’s: I am Grimalkin

10) The Spook’s Blood

11) Spook’s Slither’s Tale (reviewed here...)

12) Spook’s: Alice