Dorian Gray does not age. He still bleeds.

Two hours every morning. That is what it takes to cover the left side of his face, cheekbone to jaw, where a man he had never met opened it with a key. The rest of him is untouched. He looks exactly as he did nine years ago, when he signed a contract he had read and understood, and locked the consequence in a sealed room.

That room does not hold a picture. It holds a record, the only thing left in London that can finish him. And Basil, who built it and is the last living person who knows what is inside, has begun to insist.

The door will open eventually. They always do.

A modern retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray: the question Oscar Wilde asked, answered in the world we live in now.

Advance copy of the finished, professionally edited and designed book, publishing 12 January 2027 from Chancery Press. The Death of Dorian Gray is the first of the Modern Classic Thrillers, standalone retellings of classic novels, each one a thriller. Reviews on Goodreads, Amazon and BookBub around publication day are welcome. Cassia Rook writes about how books work every Tuesday at cassiarook.com.