In THE DORIANS, we follow a group of senior citizens who had all opted for MAID. On the eve of their planned deaths, they’re approached by a mysterious woman offering a chance to change their destiny. Shortly after agreeing to this option, they all wind up on a remote island in Ontario with a proposition – what if they could turn back the clock and relive their youth?

I attended Ottawa Writer’s Fest in April and had a chance to be present for a panel with Nick and he discussed how he came to write THE DORIANS. He said he is getting older – Nick is now in his fifties – and as you get older and your loved ones pass away, it makes you think of your own mortality and what that means to you. As all writers do, they tend to work out their own thoughts and insecurities in their fiction.

Nick Cutter will be the first person to tell you he is influenced by Stephen King and with THE DORIANS, I think this is his clearest link to the legendary horror author. While King can spin a scary yarn like the best of them, his ability to write relatable and realistic characters is what sets him apart from several horror writers. I would argue that Cutter is on the same level with how he presents his titular cast here. I found myself rooting for this group of guys and gals and even when some of them turn toward the reprehensible. Cutter did such a great job in building out their histories and traumas, you come away with a deeper understanding of the why. A great villain, even in their worst moments, can often convince the audience that they’re right, and Cutter’s villains here do a fantastic job.

That isn’t to say that this is all character based. While not as extreme as some of his prior novels (The Troop and The Handyman Method), there is some serious body horror and gore front and centre here. Given that the method for reverse aging is being executed for the first time within this group of men and women, Cutter takes all the messiness and unexpected results that go hand-in-hand with medical trials and turns it up to eleven.