Today it is my turn on the BlogTour for Doctor Perry by Kirsten McKenzie. It's an interesting combination of horror meets speculative fiction with an important reminder of the people we tend to forget in our society.
For many years Kirsten McKenzie worked in her family's antique store, where she went from being allowed to sell the 50c postcards as a child, to selling $5,000 Worcester vases and seventeenth century silverware, providing a unique insight into the world of antiques which touches every aspect of her writing.
Her historical fiction novels 'Fifteen Postcards' and it's sequel 'The Last Letter' have been described as 'Time Travellers Wife meets Far Pavilions', and 'Antiques Roadshow gone viral'. The third book in the series 'Telegram Home' will be released in November 2018 by Accent Press.
Her bestselling gothic horror novel 'Painted' was released in 2017, with her medical thriller 'Doctor Perry' following closely in April 2018.
She lives in New Zealand with her husband, her daughters, an SPCA rescue cat and a kitten found in the neighbour's shed, and can usually be found procrastinating on Twitter under the handle @kiwimrsmac.
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Under the Hippocratic Oath, a doctor swears to remember that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.
Doctor Perry assures his elderly patients at the Rose Haven Retirement Home that he can offer warmth, sympathy, and understanding. Doctor Perry is a liar. Hiding from a traumatic past, Elijah Cone wants nothing to do with the other residents at the Rose Haven, content to sit at his window waiting to die. He’s about to learn that under Doctor Perry death is the easy option...
Review
Although this is a fictional horror scenario it also echoes the reality of the way western society treats their elderly. When someone gets to the stage of needing full time care, is put into the hands of a care home, and is subsequently forgotten or reduced to an afterthought - is this is what we call looking after them? Of course the truth is an eye-opener. Individuals who have had filled lives and careers fade into obscurity behind the locked doors of institutional care.
There are no doubt a high amount of elderly who are incapable of safeguarding themselves because of medical conditions, but there are also plenty who are fully compos mentis and aware of the limitations of their new surroundings. This story speaks to the powerlessness, loneliness, neglect and abuse these men and women often have to endure, especially in homes where the main priority is the money the home makes.
So let's talk about Doctor Perry, the friendly doctor everyone trusts and loves. The man with the magic medicine and the ability to charm the snake right out of its basket. Nobody even gives a second thought to the fact people seem to be disappearing while they are in his care, perhaps because they don't even notice when they are gone.
What is in his magic medicine and what is he doing with the patients he picks? The only thing they have in common is the fact they have no family or friends to miss them when they are gone. The truth is unimaginable and like something straight out of the Twilight Zone.
The author manages to combine the harsh realities of care homes and the elderly with her fictional storyline, so kudos to her for making an important point in the midst of her creepy storyline. I'd say it's creepy in a good way, but it's more of a creepy in a 'my doctor is probably prescribing his own version of snake oil' way. Not at all conducive to a trusting relationship between patient and doctor.
As you read the story you can almost hear the background music warning you not to turn around or open the door. It will probably make you side-eye your ever so concerned doctor the next time you have a medical concern.
It's an interesting combination of horror meets speculative fiction with an important reminder of the people we tend to forget in our society.
Buy Doctor Perry at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Buy Doctor Perry at Amazon com
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