Christopher Evan Welch

Thomas Ward has spent two years as the Spook's apprentice. He's faced unimaginable peril, and survived. But a new danger has emerged: an ancient water witch, Bloodeye, is roaming the County intent on destroying everything in her path. To strengthen his skills, Tom is sent to the far north to train with the demanding Bill Arkwright. Arkwright lives in a haunted mill on the edge of a treacherous marsh, and his training methods prove to be harsh and...

It's going to be a long, hard, cruel winter. And there couldn't be a worse place to spend it than up on Anglezarke. Thomas Ward is the apprentice for the local Spook, who captures witches and drives away ghosts. As the weather gets colder and the nights draw in, the Spook receives an unexpected visitor. Tom doesn't know who the stranger is or what he wants, but the Spook suddenly decides it's time to travel to his winter house, Anglezarke. Tom has...

Now it's the dark's turn to be afraid The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, deal with the dark. Together they rid the county of witches, ghosts, and boggarts. But now there's some unfinished business to attend to in Priestown. Deep in the catacombs of the cathedral lurks a creature the Spook has never been able to defeat; a force so evil that the whole county is in danger of being corrupted by its powers. The Bane! As Thomas and the Spook...

"You can't make alliances with witches and suchlike and hope to avoid being drawn toward the dark." As the Spook's apprentice, Thomas Ward's first duty is to protect the County from ghosts, boggarts, and other dangerous creatures. But now his mother has come back from her homeland to seek his help. One of the most dangerous of the old witches, Ordeen, is about to return to earth, bringing with her suffering and devastation. Tom's mother has mustered...

The eleventh volume in the spine-tingling, best-selling Last Apprentice series. In Slither, Joseph Delaney takes us far from the county, to a land where a spook has never set foot and where terrifying creatures of the dark thrive. Slither is one of these monsters, and Book 11 is his tale. Slither has never heard of Tom Ward, the Spook, or Alice Deane. He thirsts for blood. He takes it from whatever he wants, animal or human. And he has his eyes...

Set against the gorgeous backdrop of Rome, Tom Rachman's wry, vibrant debut follows the topsy-turvy private lives of the reporters, editors, and executives of an international English-language newspaper as they struggle to keep it-and themselves-afloat. Many changes have ensued since an enigmatic millionaire founded the paper 50 years ago, and now the staff's personal dramas seem more important than the headlines. Kathleen, the imperious editor in...

THE PROCEDURE HAS BEGUN . . . Fifteen years earlier. Jasper College is buzzing with the news that famed literature professor Richard Aldiss will be teaching a special night class called Unraveling a Literary Mystery-from a video feed in his prison cell. In 1982, Aldiss was convicted of the murders of two female grad students; the women were killed with axe blows and their bodies decorated with the novels of notoriously reclusive author Paul Fallows....

Best-selling author Joshua Mohr's work has been chosen as a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice. Here he takes listeners to 2003 San Francisco as the country divides into groups for and against the Iraq War. Damascus, a dive bar in the Mission District, becomes the unlikely setting for a showdown between the opposing sides. Tensions come to a boil when the bar's proprietor agrees to host a show by an ambitious artist with a flair for the dramatic....

Gordon Korman is an award-winning young adult author with over 50 titles to his credit. Told in an electrifying, hard-edged style, The Juvie Three follows a trio of young delinquents who are granted a very special opportunity in New York City. Accessory to robbery, grand theft auto, driving without a license-these boys did it all, and now they're doing hard time in various juvenile detention centers. Then, however, a mysterious stranger visits each...

Brent Runyon's account of his attempted suicide has garnered critical accolades for its glimpse into adolescent depression and rare insight into the human condition. Fearing expulsion and parental disapproval after lighting a shirt on fire at his school, Brent goes home, soaks his bathrobe with gasoline, steps into his shower, and strikes a match. Suffering horrific burns, Brent faces a long, painful recovery-both mentally and physically.