Review; The Midwives by Duncan Ralston

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the horror novel The Midwives by Duncan Ralston through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review.

Description from Goodreads
A killer on the loose. A writer on the run. A town plagued by an ancient evil.

On tour with his latest book, true crime writer Martin Savage discovers one of his most-dangerous subjects has escaped. The so-called "Witch Hunter," a delusional murderer of women and their unborn children, holds a deadly grudge. He'll stop at nothing to get his revenge, and destroy everything Martin cares about.

With nowhere to run, Martin and forensic psychologist Sheila Tanner flee to the town he left when he was a boy, after his mother was locked away in a psychiatric facility. A town hidden deep in his past, where no one would think to look for them.

But things are not what they seem in Barrows Bay. The idyllic island holds terrible secrets. An ancient evil lived here long before the first Irish settlers crashed upon its shores in a coffin ship. An evil wearing the innocent faces of elderly midwives who've delivered every child in the Bay for two hundred and fifty years.

Martin and Sheila think they’re safe in his childhood home. But Martin’s mother has plans for them. Plans that require sacrifice.

And sacrifice requires blood.

My Thoughts on the Book
The Midwives was an engaging book for sure, part crime thriller, part supernatural horror. I really liked Sheila and Aunt Norma, although I wish Aunt Norma did get a bit more page time. It was fascinating reading about the history of the island community and how the Midwives came to be, even if it's fair to say the Midwives aren't the nicest of people. For Stephen King fans, there's also a few references to his works here and there.

Anyway, The Midwives is a complex novel with a fair share of gore, action and suspense and certainly worth the read.

Although I might add that one might end up having a "nope, I'm NOT having kids"-thought afterwards. Who needs condoms when there's horror novels like this?

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