"Matthew Guinn has done something truly extraordinary here; he’s written a novel that is not only riveting and beautifully written, but one that dares to step into the long shadow of class and race in this country, a shadow into which Guinn shines a natural-born storyteller’s illuminating light. The Resurrectionist is a stunning debut."
"The enigmatic body thief Nemo elevates the pulse rate on this haunted history lesson."
Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Tray Butler
"An engrossing tale…weav[ing] crime, social commentary and revenge."
Clarion-Ledger - 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."
"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."
"A fine gothic novel…. Be warned: Corpses abound."
"I finished Matthew Guinn’s fine new novel, The Resurrectionist , with a rare sense of excitement. It’s relentlessly compelling, thoughtful, intelligent, and just plain wise. It’s a shame Robert Penn Warren is no longer with us, because this is a book he would love."
"A wonderful debut; entertaining and enjoyable to read. Guinn does a really good job of intertwining present-day medical school politics with those of the schools during the Civil War era. I look forward to reading more of Matthew Guinn’s work!"
The renovation of a South Carolina medical school unearths skeletons from the past…literally. The search for the origin of the bones leads Dr. Jacob Thacker, already suspended for Xanax abuse, into a historical thicket that could endanger both his career and the future of the school. Thacker attempts to mediate between the school's gung-ho dean and the local African American community without derailing his reinstatement to practice. Guinn alternates deftly between this contemporary story and that of Nemo Johnston, the slave pressed into service as a resurrectionist at a time when the school could practice anatomy only on the cadavers of slaves. Nemo stays on after the Civil War, eventually rising precariously to the position of anatomy instructor. VERDICT Guinn makes good use of the rough—but fascinating—history of U.S. medical schools. 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 that shows that in matters of race and American history, navigating to "truth" and "right" is almost always a complex journey. [See Prepub Alert, 1/6/13.]—Neil Hollands, Williamsburg Regional Lib., VA
A stash of bones, found underneath a South Carolina medical school, links together two stories, one from the Civil War and one from the present, in first-time novelist Guinn's Southern gothic. The Civil War story explains how the bones got there: Since the school is short on corpses, recently purchased slave Nemo Johnston is dispatched to "resurrect" bodies of recently deceased slaves for medical research. Nemo is a complex character, resigned to slavery though he's clearly talented enough to be a surgeon. Yet he's not entirely noble, as Nemo takes easily to the grisly job, even bringing back a body or two that he's killed himself. He earns a financial success denied to most slaves, while being feared and despised by those in his community. Also new at the school, and also on the wrong side of history, is Sara Thacker, a midwife whose gender keeps her from training as a surgeon. In the present day, the bones of the slaves are discovered at the college, and the school panics over possible bad press and loss of donors when the history gets out. Jacob Thacker, a promising doctor who's been demoted to public relations because of a former Xanax addiction, is enlisted to protect the college's good name--but instead, he researches the archives and learns more of the details, including his own family connection. Nemo's story is ultimately more compelling than Jacob's, but Guinn provides a lot of twists and an effectively ominous mood, thanks partly to some not-for-the-squeamish medical scenes.
