Books
Though I'm a big fan of horror, little of it actually disturbs me. Very little. Some of it might thrill me, suspend me with suspense, or even gross me out. But little truly gets under my skin. I guess they call it being jaded.

Still, every once in a while, a story or novel will give me a major case of the creeps. Case in point: Thomas Tessier's Finishing Touches.

Finishing Touches was originally published in hardcover in 1986. That's when I first read it. And for a mid-80's novel, I think it was well ahead of its time. The nihilistic tone of the novel would seem more suited to the 1990's. Perhaps in the Dell/Abyss line. But it puts most of those books to shame.

Tom Sutherland is a ambitious, if unremarkable young man. Out of medical school in his native America, he looks toward practicing as a doctor somewhere safe and nearby. But since he has some money available, he decides to take an extended holiday in London. A way to taste life before entering the drudgery of a working existence. There he develops nocturnal habits and while in a bar one night, Tom meets an eccentric elderly doctor named Roger Nordhagen. Nordhagen appears to have some rather schizophrenic personality traits. He prowls in the lowest pubs, yet is also a member of one of what appears to be one of the world's most exclusive Gentleman's Clubs. Dr. Nordhagen is a Cosmetic Surgeon. He provides 'finishing touches' to God's unfinished human products.

Through the older physician, Tom meets a ravishingly beautiful woman named Lina. Lina is everything Tom isn't: Wild, impetuous, daring and shockingly unpredictable. They develop a relationship based upon sex and drugs, and Tom is instantly obsessed with her. This obsession leads to a journey of self-analysis and experiments in human cruelty. And the mysterious Dr. Nordhagen has some ghastly secrets of his own to reveal.

Finishing Touches is a daring, brutal and frightening novel that is perhaps even more relevant to today's society than the one twenty years ago. Like Dennis Etchison's Darkside, Finishing Touches seems to be prescient in a most sinister manner. As if these two writers had glimpsed the darker future ahead for humanity.

I re-read my old hardcover of Finishing Touches, but it was made available again recently by Leisure Books. I recommend books all the time, but this one stands out from the majority by a long shot. Finishing Touches is nothing short of a masterpiece of Grand Guignol horror and every fan of the genre needs to read it.

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