Tomas Ward, the Spook's apprentice, learns about alliances, betrayal, conquering evil, and creating his own future while seeking an appropriate way to defeat a dangerous creature of darkness. Tom is supposed to conduct a ritual to permanently destroy a powerful, horrible, but disabled creature of the dark known as the Fiend. In order to conduct this ritual, (strongly) suggested by his mother (also the mother of all witches), Tom is supposed to kill the girl he loves, Alice (who also happens to be a witch). Tomas himself is a Spook's apprentice, destined to fight evil, and is also the seventh son of a seventh son, with natural protections from darkness and upright tendencies. The idea is giving him nightmares, so he is relieved when Alice has another idea to defeat the fiend and his master agrees the ritual is out of the question.
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Alice's idea, however, accidentally summons a dark mage named Lukrasta thought to be long dead, and he and Alice are instantly drawn to each other. Alice betrays Tom and allies herself with Lukrasta, who also happens to believe the Fiend would be better off reanimated to fight a greater threat. Alice's companion Grimalken is gravely wounded and allies herself with Tom and his master. Lukrasta gathers great numbers of allies to conduct the reanimation, which requires the Fiend's head and body to be reconnected.
Tom first attempts to stop them by attemping to intercept the head as witches carry it towards the ocean to Ireland. They unexpectedly stop, however, and Tom realizes they have brought the body to the head instead of vice versa. He must summon a boggart from his master's home (fortunately the Fiend is in a tower along ley lines) to defeat them and stop the ritual to bring the Fiend back. Grimalken, still injured, meets him and brings him back home by horse with the head. At Tom and his master's home, Grimalken heals herself and straightens her leg back out again using a silver pin at great (permanent) pain to herself. She must steel herself to live with that pain to return to being the formidable witch assassin she had been before.
Halloween is Lukrasta's next opportunity. Tom, his master, Grimalken, and their allies are greatly outnumbered, but they have a specific goal: Reach the Fiend's body and ensure the Fiend is not brought back. Grimalken proves a powerful ally, serving as leader and a link between many of their ally witches and Tom's camp. Tom's master dies along the way, but Tomas reaches the goal and succeeds, destroying the Fiend permanently. Lukrasta brings Tom to his tower in another time to try to explain to him the greater danger – a dangerous reawakened god of another land – against which he wished to use the Fiend. The Fiend's destruction, in fact, has hastened its return and strengthened it. Tom does not trust or like Lukrasta, however, and it takes Alice's request, however, to stop Tom from killing Lukrasta in a duel.
Lukrasta returns Tom to his land. Tom returns home, tired of killing, buries his master, and begins his life as the county's resident Spook. Grimalken goes her own way, as do Tom's other former allies. It is clear that each of them on their respective paths will have their hands quite full.
Best part of story, including ending:
As the last book in the series, it's harder to contextualize everything as quickly if you haven't read the previous books, though it is possible. It is good to see Tom find his own path, rather than following 100% what people did before him. He also realizes the importance of using the past to shape the future for the better, rather than using the past and then getting stuck in it.
Best scene in story:
When Grimalken heals herself, in addition to magic, she also uses a silver pin to hold her leg in its correct position. Silver hurts witches, however, so it is impressive to Tom to see her determination as he places the silver for her and as she accustoms herself to the pain she will now need to live with permanently.
Opinion about the main character:
Tom has both good and bad in him, and he understands and follows both to some degree. It is frustrating, however, to see him say that good people must make concessions to evil or make deals with evil. At those times, it seems more like there are also good and bad aspects of the "evil" characters, and that everything is in actuality a bit more complicated. It isn't a black-and-white matter of picking out evil and identifying it and bargaining with it; it's more a matter of identifying and allying themselves with those people who are acting on the goodness within them, even if temporarily. In Tom, also, there is good and bad, as he sometimes allows himself to be controlled by his jealousy and anger at Lukrasta for "stealing" Alice after she betrays him.
