Sifting through the rows of books, I came across a novel with a picture of a vampire infant on its cover. It was entitled Twelfth Child and was written by a relatively unknown author, Raymond Van Over. Intrigued, I checked it out and discovered an electrifying horror novel.

The story line is relatively simple, yet interesting. A young, bright doctor by the name of Mallory performs a Caesarean section on a young woman, and she dies. Mallory is unnerved by the death of his patient, but moreover, baffled by her abnormally low blood count. With the help of his friend Dr. Jeff Goldman, and love interest, a nurse named Lily, his investigation begins. They break into hospital files and discover that the same situation happened eleven times. In all but two cases, the doctor in charge of the fatal birthing died a year later. After being joined by the unconventional Father Paul, they unlock a secret satanic cult which is producing their own devil babies.

This novel is not a Stephen King phenomenon that will sweep The New York Times bestsellers list. However, it is an engrossing suspense thriller. The novel adds satanic-like history to make the plot thick, and substantial.

Twelfth Child is available at your local library, and I encourage you to read this interesting novel. n