The tradition of the Gothic novel comes alive once again in this spine chilling fable, the story of a disappearance, a diabolical bargain, and a terrifying series of physical transformations. Three respected Scottish doctors, psychiatrist Steve Hartford, paediatric surgeon Grey Lochran and cosmetic surgeon Robert Forrest, have been friends since their Edinburgh boyhoods, and now live comfortably in suburban London. But for each, midlife has brought certain discontents, especially for Forrest, a reformed hellraiser who broods over his fading looks and the departure of his beautiful younger girlfriend. When Doctor Forrest goes missing one summer evening and fails to resurface, Lochran and Hartford are alarmed by the thought of what might have befallen their friend. The police can find no evidence of foul play, but the two doctors resolve to conduct their own investigation. Soon, however, Lochran and Hartford find themselves bedevilled by bizarre, unnerving events, and the attentions of menacing strangers. Robert Forrest, they come to realise, was not the friend they thought; and, though nowhere to be seen, he has remained closer than they could ever have dared imagine ...