Friday, February 13, 2009

Resurrectionist -- James McGee

A while back I mentioned James McGee's Ratcatcher and said that I'd ordered the second book in the series, Resurrectionist, which continues the adventures of Matthew Hawkwood, the Bow Street Runner.

This time out, Hawkwood is dealing with the sack 'em up boys, the grave robbers, but they're not even the worst of it. There's also Colonel Hyde, a escapee from Bedlam, who has some possibly familiar ideas about dead bodies and what can be done with them. This book is as much a horror novel as a crime novel, and it deals with the lowest depths of London life in the early 19th century. The sights and smells McGee describes might put off some readers, and he almost lost me at the description of kidney stone surgery. I had to take a deep breath during that one.

Resurrectionist is full of dark, gothic horrors. It has plenty of action, and Hawkwood's a good man to carry you through to the end. Check it out.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I ordered both books - I am a robot - and I also looked McGee up online. The third book in his series has already been released in the UK.

What determines the lag time between continents? Does it depend on author popularity in the home country versus abroad? Sales in the home country? Contract issues between author and publisher? US Harper Collins busy with their own stuff and making UK Harper Collins wait?

Anonymous said...

I take all that back, have the books even been released in the U.S? Did you order the UK copy?

Unknown said...

I think HarperCollins disappeared this week. I have UK paperbacks.