Resurrection Men

By T.K. Welsh

Welsh, author of The Unresolved, spins an intricate and chilling story of greed, malevolence, and redemption based on the body-snatcher trials that were held in London in 1831.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525476997
• ISBN13: 9780525476993
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
• Length: 214 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.9" x 5.8"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

A very interesting read, and a very educational one

While working on a poor street child that was run over along a road, Dr. Lambro has a story to tell. It's the story of Victor, a young Italian lad, who saw his parents murdered before his own eyes, and then was sold into virtual slavery as a ship's cabin boy. Ending up in England, Victor experiences street life in Victorian England, with all of its poverty, degeneracy, and downright murderous danger. This book is written for young adult readers, and is intended to teach them the depths of the horrors that some people experienced in Victorian England. Now, as you might expect from the above description, this is not a happy book, and is bound to be upsetting for younger or more sensitive readers. But, if you are willing to take this book for what it is, you will find it to be an interesting look into the dark, dark side of The Good Old Days. Personally, I found it to be a very interesting read, and a very educational one. I highly recommend this book.

Reluctant Boy Reader

What makes this book so remarkable to me, as a mom of a son who NEVER reads, is that he LOVED this book. In fact, he couldn't put it down, and was genuinely sad when he'd finished it. It's so difficult for parents to find books for boys these days. Most young adult books are written for girls by girls. Here's a book written for boys about a subject that's gory and ghoulish...but extremely well written and historical to boot. In an age when boys are playing graphic video games, the vividness of the language and the story kept his interest. While the story has some gruesome scenes, based on what I know of the period, it is a very realistic portrayal of what life was actually like. He also completely related to the young boy protagonist. He felt the kid's pain and suffering, and learned that when struggling against the worst possible odds, courage and strength of character will see you through. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK.

Grisly and great!

I bought a few copies of this book for my nephews who find it hard to find books that interest them. They could hardly put it down, they loved the grisly bits but surprisingly also loved the plot. I enjoy T.K. Welsh's books as an adult and my daughter loved The Unresolved but my nephews have had such a wonderful time with this book that they keep re-reading their favorite parts! My sister is ecstatic by their love of reading and is buying the Unrsolved for them also. It's very hard to find books that boys will enjoy and to find a historical fiction book that captures the senses and is well written is a godsend. I think this is a book that can be read by sons and fathers as well as mothers and daughters. Once again, bravo to T.K. Welsh and as my nephews would say, "Dude, this rocks!"

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

1830, Modena, Italy. 12-year-old Victor returned to his home and had to watch with horror the cruel murder of his parents by three Tyrolean soldiers. The reason? They were Carboniaris, a group of revolutionaries that fought to keep Italy united. After the massacre, the soldiers sold Victor as a cabin boy to the Chief Mate of the Ceres, a ship that was about to set sail. The ship departed from Italy, and sailed along the Mediterranean coast through the Strait of Gibraltar. It sailed past the coasts of Portugal, northern Spain, and France. One day, in the middle of a big storm, Victor climbed up the mainmast, all the way to the topgallant, trying to escape from a crew member whom he had accused of stealing food. But as the seaman drew closer, Victor lost his footing, fell on the deck, and crushed his leg completely. The Chief Mate didn't think twice: "A cabin boy who cannot walk is of no value to this ship.... Throw him overboard." Which he did. Clinging to a gaff, Victor drifted in the middle of the sea for several days, until he arrived at the coast of England. He was rescued by an old man and his dog. The old man treated his leg, fed him, and taught him how to speak English and fight with his crutch. After a few months, the old man couldn't afford to keep Victor any more and, once again, Victor was sold. This time to Tipple and Biggs, two unscrupulous men who took Victor to London, by hiding him in a coffin with a decaying body. In London, Victor lived in a house full of children and animals. He was forced to beg in the streets during the day. Life in London at that time was difficult: jobs were scarce, health conditions were deplorable, the streets were full of excrement and mud; people were dying of cholera. Victor soon discovered that there was a black market for dead bodies and body parts. Doctors wanted to study the human body and were willing to pay high amounts of money for them. People like Tripple and Biggs met the demand, and were willing to do anything for a few guineas, including digging up corpses, kidnapping, selling, or even killing someone. Victor found out that Tripple and Biggs were after some of his friends, and he decided that he had to reveal the mastermind of this wicked market and put an end to it. RESURRECTION MEN is an intense, dark work of historical fiction that made me read every page intently to the end, while trying to cope with the knot of sadness and anguish that I had in my stomach. T. K. Welsh's rich vocabulary and detailed descriptions, where almost no noun goes without an adjective, transported me to the streets of London, and made me smell the putrid odors of the city, live the horrors of the children's lives, witness the horrid dissections of the dead bodies, and hear the unsettling noise of the broken bones. When I finished the novel, I was looking forward to reading the section at the end of the book that explained which historical facts of the book were real, but unfortunately, there was none. I