Devil Woman

A Pulp Folk Horror Novel

De: Samuel Brower

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Some Towns Keep Their Secrets Buried. This One Kills to Protect Them.

Summer, 1991. When Claire Conrad, a water analyst for the Charleston Sanitary Board, is sent to the backwoods town of Palestine, West Virginia, she expects nothing more than contaminated drinking water. But what she finds is something far darker, older, and more dangerous than any chemical pollutant.

A mysterious illness is spreading through the town, but the people of Palestine don’t want help. Especially not from an outsider. Mary Ellen Bishop, the town’s iron-fisted matriarch and wife of a snake-handling preacher, claims the sickness is God’s will, a punishment for hidden sins. And Claire’s science-based interference? Blasphemy.

At first, it’s hostile glares, locked doors, and strange whispers. Then come the threats, the sabotage, the accidents that aren’t accidents at all. As Claire pushes deeper into the mystery, she realizes the sickness isn’t the only thing poisoning this town. Something else is at work here—something that doesn’t want her to leave alive.

Trapped in a town that sees her as the enemy, hunted by zealots willing to kill to keep their secrets, Claire has only her wits, her knowledge of chemistry, and a desperate will to survive. Because in Palestine, God may forgive… but the Devil Woman does not.

A gripping folk horror thriller blending religious paranoia, small-town secrecy, and heart-pounding survival, Devil Woman is perfect for fans of Paul Tremblay, Ania Ahlborn, and unsettling stories where science and superstition collide—with deadly consequences.

She came looking for poisoned water. What she found was far more terrifying.

Decent psychological horror

(3.5 Stars)

This book annoyed me.. But it was because if the actions of the MC. So, when an author can have me invested enough in a story (especially a short story) to dislike a character but still care what happens, that is the sign of a good author (IMHO).

This is a horror-ish story. The characters are good, the plot is mostly plausible, and the environment is a familiar trope so you are instantly engaged. I will definitely continue reading works by this author.

I don't want this review to be about the media and not the book, so you can stop now if all you want is a book review. If you want to know about my experience/feeling about the audio portion please continue.

I read the Audible "Virtual Voice" version of this book. It is the third book I've read this way, and while I am still not loving it, I still think it beats not being able to enjoy audiobooks. Not only was this my 3rd Virtual Voice book, it is the 3rd different voice I've experienced, and by far the most lifelike. It does have a lot of problems with heteronyms and I'm not sure if there are spelling errors in the original text but sometimes it mispronounces a commonplace word that it has pronounced correctly previously.

Awesome folk horror!

Loved the story. Ever since Wicker Man and Midsommar, I have enjoyed folk horror. It is “read” by Alexa so the narrator is very flat. Still a great choice for a road trip.