The M.D.: A Horror Story [Import] [Paperback]

Thomas M. Disch (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Collins; New Ed edition (1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0586072845
• ISBN-13: 978-0586072844
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the usual medical thriller; imaginative and magical, July 15, 2003

By 

Schtinky "Schtinky" (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The M. D.: A Horror Story by Thomas M. Disch (Paperback)

Young Billy lives with his father and stepmother and younger half-brother Ned. Billy is a loner, and different from other children. He thinks a lot, and has a greater imagination. He also has a streak of meanness, and when he is given a magical stick, with a dead bird tied to it, he finds that he can make things happen. Occasionally, Billy will make something good happen, but most of the time his desires, in the form of poems, are mischievous to downright cruel. After crippling his brother, causing his Grandma's hair to fall out, and stopping his step-mother from drinking by making her vomit every time she tastes alcohol. Billy's odd obsession with bizarre games in his mind, starting with bowling pin armies and ending with his visions over the stick, fuel his imagination and need to keep using his "powers". He gifts members of his family with good health, but his father dies in an accident. Staying with his stepmother, he becomes a Doctor and has an affair with his step-sister, and decides that as a medical professional he can use his "magic". But, will he use it for the good of mankind, or will his tendency towards cruelty lead him down a more sinister path? Only the "confusion" at the end of the story stops this from being a 5 star book, it just seemed a little like Mr. Disch didn't quite know how to finish it.
This is a great book, jumping large time frames at times, and long on prose occasionally, but still manages to be a quick read for medical thriller lovers.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine High Terror, June 15, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The M. D.: A Horror Story by Thomas M. Disch (Paperback)

The M.D. is beautifully written horror ... after enjoying it thoroughly, I lent it to the 12 year old nephew, who plowed through all 600+ pages. I loved Disch as a sci-fi novelist, but his horror show will keep you up at night and give you the willies

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a good beginning, but didn't quite finish it right, March 13, 2000

By 

[e-mail] "[e-mail]" (Beaumont, tx USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The M. D.: A Horror Story by Thomas M. Disch (Paperback)

The first four parts of this book were superbly done. I mean, Disch did an excellent job telling this story, but then the fifth part came. It was a major letdown. Disch couldn't "close the deal." Maybe if he had started the story off in this future he had created, it would have been a better ending, though i think it would have been better if he had just kept on the same vein he was in. Disch was trying to go for a deeper shock value, a deeper sense of outrage and wrong, but his style in the final section of the book just didn't keep up with the rest of the story.