The Accursed
By G.S. Burdick
1982 Playboy Press
Paperback, 256 pages
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I’d had
this book on my shelf for over a decade. One night, I just grabbed it and dug
in. Hey, wait… no gore? No lurid sex? No dinosaurs? Am I going to like this?
Yes, I did.
More
medical thriller than horror, the story follows a pair of divorced (from each
other) plastic surgeons whose high-end clinic is having an unlucky streak. A nurse
going ballistic on a patient, unexpected heart failure, the woman half of the
team, Dr. Rebecca Meehan, getting assaulted, and more misfortunes befall the
clinic. Rebecca thinks they are all related but that couldn’t be! Could it? Her
partner, Dr. Nicholas Christoff thinks not, but after a few more incidents,
even he starts to wonder.
I’m not
sure who G.S. Burdick is; I can find no information or other books by him/ her.
The female characters, like Dr. Meehan and Detective Anita Lopez, are
brilliantly written, so I’m leaning towards a woman writer. So many nuances,
warts and all, are believably written. The re-budding romance between the
estranged doctors is handled delicately and with sensitivity.
So, the
cover. A 3-headed dog. Cerberus. Obviously, that’s why I bought the book. Well,
he does figure into the story a little, as does a large helping of other Greek
Mythology, but it’s not heavy-handed and Burdick makes it work. Not as much
suspension of disbelief is needed as you might think when I mention ancient
Gods and their descendants, a Cyclops and good ol’ Cerberus.
Stepping
outside of my comfort zone gave me an excellent read and a palette cleanser
between nature-strikes-back novels. But yeah, I bought it for that kick-ass
cover. I admit it. No idea who painted it, though.
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