The Last Apprentice #3: Night of the Soul Stealer by Joseph Delaney

This book is the third in the series, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. The main conflict centers around Morgan. Morgan is a former apprentice to the Spook for three years, but he was too evil to continue his studies. Morgan is able to control the spirits of dead people to do his bidding. Now, Morgan plans to raise a powerful god to become the most feared person on Earth. Tom's father dies, and Morgan torments his father's spirit to force Tom to steal a book of spells from the Spook. The book is the key to raising the god. In addition, the Spook's winter home is overrun by lumia witches, once imprisoned in the cellar, who thirst for human blood. Tom may be forced to betray the Spook's trust in order to save his father's spirit and others he people he cares for.

This book is like previous books in the series where Tom has some training, but the Spook is not present when the antagonists show up for the conflict. He's usually at a disadvantage, and there doesn't seem to be any way for him to win. A twist in this book is that one of the lumia witches is someone the Spook actually cares about. He's torn with showing her mercy, even after it's clear that she's a lethal creature, or locking her away like other dangerous witches.