Attack of the Fiend

I've been reading this aloud to Luke (age 9) for the past several weeks. We took a break here and there, but last night we had to read the final 50 pages all at once. We've been really enjoying this series (which currently numbers about 8 books). Sometimes I wonder if it's a bit too creepy for Luke but he's been digging it. After finishing this one he said, “Let's start the next book tomorrow night!” So far I think this book might be my favorite out of the series so far. In this story our three heroes, Tom (the last apprentice), the Spook (his master, John Gregory), and Alice (a young girl descended from a witch clan) face off against three covens of witches in the town of Pendle. They are trying to put aside their differences long enough to bring the Fiend over from the dark into our world. And the Fiend is no less than Old Nick himself. One of the things I like about this series is that even though there are priests in the story, the religious aspects are toned down and impartial. It's not assumed that you the reader, or a certain character is a believer. In fact, there are characters of every stripe. It's well done. And the wood-cut illustrations that begin every chapter are very cool too.