America has finally done something better than England: the US version of Joseph Delaney's The Last Apprentice: Book One (called The Spook's Apprentice in Britain) is GORGEOUS. The American version seems to be the only one that is illustrated with dark dark dramatic chapter headings by Patrick Arrasmith. I would post a scan of one, but it is so much fun to discover on your own--go get it!

This book is a great bedtime read--very scary, EXCELLENT tension building. So excellent, in fact, that I was forced by others to turn the light out at 11:30 and stop reading only to wake up at SIX the next morning to finish a chapter that had my goosebumps all a flutter.

So what if it came out last year, I'm glad to be slow on the uptake: The sequel to Book One: Revenge of the Witch is Book Two: Curse of the Bane and it comes out August 29th! I hardly have to wait now.

Jaime