The Resurrectionist
At South Carolina Medical College, Dr. Jacob Thacker is on probation for Xanax abuse. His interim career--working university public relations--takes an unnerving detour into the past when the bones of African American slaves are unearthed on campus.
In a parallel narrative set in the nineteenth century, Nemo ("no man"), a university slave purchased for his unusual knife skills, becomes an unacknowledged member of the surgical faculty by day--and by night, a "resurrectionist," responsible for procuring bodies for medical study. An unforgettable character, by turns apparently insouciant, tormented, and brilliant, Nemo will seize his self-respect in ways no reader can anticipate.
With exceptional storytelling pacing and skill, Matthew Guinn weaves together past and present to relate a Southern Gothic tale of shocking crimes and exquisite revenge.
A 2014 Edgar Award Finalist for Best First Novel.
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Strong pacing, interesting lead characters, well-framed moral questions, and clever resolutions to both prongs of the story are the hallmarks of this winning debut.--Neil Hollands
Guinn's fascinating, occasionally macabre, and engrossing novel offers a story of redemption and renewal while revealing the uncomfortable details about the historical practice of procuring human cadavers for doctors in training.
An engrossing tale...weav[ing] crime, social commentary and revenge.--Susan O'Bryan
The Resurrectionist is a spectacular novel that seamlessly connects fact and fiction, past and present. Matthew Guinn is a novelist who possesses that rarest and most underrated of literary gifts--how to tell a story in such a way that the reader surrenders completely to its power.--Ron Rash, author of Serena
