Grimalkin the Witch Assassin (Last Apprentice Series #9)

by Joseph Delaney, Patrick Arrasmith (Illustrator)

Overview

The book will haunt you.It's an international bestseller.But don't read it after dark!

The story of Grimalkin—Book Nine of The Last Apprentice series

Grimalkin never missed—except once. The only victim who escaped her blades was Tom Ward, a seventh son of a seventh son. Since then, the witch assassin has fought alongside the Spook's apprentice. Now you can hear her side of the story. What is Grimalkin's past—and what will her future be? Can Tom trust her to stay on the side of good? Or is the pull of the dark too strong to resist?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062082084
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/09/2013
Series:	Last Apprentice Series
Pages:	403
Sales rank:	134,422
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	810L (what's this?)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Joseph DELANEY is the author of the internationally best-selling The Last Apprentice series, which is now a major motion picture, Seventh Son. He is a former English teacher who lives in the heart of boggart territory in Lancashire, England. His village has a boggart called the Hall Knocker, which was laid to rest under the step of a house near the church.

Editorial Reviews

This installment deviates from The Last Apprentice's usual formula, following witch assassin Grimalkin instead of Spook's apprentice Thomas Ward after the events of Rage of the Fallen (2011). The Fiend has been bound but not killed, so his servants seek to restore him. To prevent this, Grimalkin took his decapitated head with her--it must be reunited with the bound body for the Fiend to rise again. Narrated by Grimalkin rather than presented as Tom's writing, the story is in present tense. The immediacy ratchets up tension as increasing numbers of powerful dark servants pursue Grimalkin. Although the legendary witch assassin is among the best killers to ever have lived, she is endangered by a kretch, a she-wolf/demon hybrid created by dark-magic users specifically to kill her. Forced to seek help, stubbornly self-reliant Grimalkin leaves a path of violent devastation among her allies wherever she goes, making painful sacrifices to thwart the Fiend while Tom seeks ways to kill him. The narration and short, free-verse poems at the beginning of each chapter give a complex look into Grimalkin's peculiar thought processes, and her history is unveiled through the personal stories her protégé enjoys hearing time and again. While her voice differs greatly from the familiar Tom's, the closer look makes her all the more intriguing. A good balance between dark action and emotional costs. (Fantasy. 11-15)

Kirkus Reviews