Gallows at Twilight is the second book in the Witchfinder trilogy, which started with Dawn of the Demontide and will conclude with The Last Nightfall.

The first thing to say is that this trilogy is not for young readers, or the frail at heart.. this may be a young adult book, but it’s a horror story which comes at you at full speed, with humour and teenage relationships all thrown in the mix.

Dawn of the Demontide was a good read, but it’s now obvious that it was somewhat held back by having to set up the stories and characters. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the opening book, but this one ramps it up quite a few notches!

Having not had a chance to re-read the first book, I was concerned whether I’d get lost in this mid-section, but William gets it just right, reminding us what happened, without going over it all again.

Jake is a character who’s already gone through an awful lot for a teen, but in Gallows at Twilight, there’s much more to come. William takes the historical figure of Matthew Hopkins, a witchfinder from the time of the English Civil War, and uses his rather horrifying methods of ‘detection’ to add their own horror.

To get back to this age, William uses a very clever form of time travel – one I can’t help thinking about whenever I get a headache!

Added to the mix is a witches meeting held in Wembley Stadium, a loyal troll and civil war zombie soldiers, to name but a few! There’s a clever mix of old and new, and even some humour.

For young adults who are looking for a fast paced, clever horror, you can’t go wrong with this series. I’d also say the same to older adults too! William, please hurry with the conclusion!