The Last Apprentice: Rise of the Huntress (Book 7)

About This Audiobook

The world of Joseph Delaney’s *The Last Apprentice* series feels more alive than ever in *Rise of the Huntress*, where the countryside has become a battleground of blood and betrayal. Thomas Ward returns home to devastation—his mentor’s house a smoldering ruin, the loyal boggart slain, and hostile forces encroaching on every border. But this isn’t just a tale of ruin; it’s a story of bloodline vengeance. Thomas’s sister, Alice, now a full-fledged witch-hunter in her own right, wields powers that even the Spook fears. Her ascent is brutal, unflinching, and laced with the kind of moral ambiguity that makes horror feel visceral. Delaney’s prose is lean and punchy, avoiding the pitfalls of over-explaining the supernatural and instead letting the dread simmer in the silences between words. Fans of slow-burn horror with emotional weight will find this installment irresistible.

The audiobook’s magic lies in Christopher Evan Welch’s narration, which shifts effortlessly between Thomas’s weary stoicism, Alice’s razor-edged intensity, and the Spook’s gravel-voiced gravitas. Welch doesn’t just read the lines; he *performs* them, modulating his tone to mirror the eerie isolation of the fens and the claustrophobic tension of witch-pits. His Alice is particularly chilling—a young woman who has embraced darkness without losing her humanity, her dialogue dripping with a controlled fury that Welch sells with eerie precision. The production enhances every creak of the house, every distant howl, making the listener feel like they’re trapped in the middle of the action. This isn’t just an audiobook; it’s an immersive nightmare you’ll want to hear with both eyes closed.