THE RESURRECTIONIST: THE LOST WORKS OF DR. SPENCER BLACK BY E.B HUDSPETH

Genre: Historical Fiction Fantasy

“And yet I feared my father more than I feared my God”
― E.B. Hudspeth, The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black

Synopsis: 
Philadelphia, the late 1870s. A city of gas lamps, cobblestone streets, and horse-drawn carriages—and home to the controversial surgeon Dr. Spencer Black. The son of a grave robber, young Dr. Black studies at Philadelphia’s esteemed Academy of Medicine, where he develops an unconventional hypothesis: What if the world’s most celebrated mythological beasts—mermaids, minotaurs, and satyrs—were in fact the evolutionary ancestors of humankind?

The Resurrectionist offers two extraordinary books in one. The first is a fictional biography of Dr. Spencer Black, from a childhood spent exhuming corpses through his medical training, his travels with carnivals, and the mysterious disappearance at the end of his life. The second book is Black’s magnum opus: The Codex Extinct Animalia, a Gray’s Anatomy for mythological beasts—dragons, centaurs, Pegasus, Cerberus—all rendered in meticulously detailed anatomical illustrations. You need only look at these images to realize they are the work of a madman. The Resurrectionist tells his story.[Goodreads]

The story of a madman, the life and works of Dr. Spencer Black. E.B. Hudspeth has brilliantly laid out the fictional life of Dr. Spencer Black and created such an interesting and complex character. I have to say this is the most unique book I have ever read (to date). This was written so wonderfully and in such a way that Dr. Spencer Black seemed so real. The story is so dark, mysterious, strange and intriguing and completely captivated me.

There were points in the story that were so odd and strange, but worked well explaining the insanity seen in Dr. Black. I highly enjoyed the matter in which the book was laid out especially with the addition of “lost works” throughout the biography that brought to life the main character, Dr. Spencer Black. The illustrations were absolutely beautiful as well and a great addition to work alongside the story and life of Dr. Spencer Black. It was a very short read (68pgs) and I wish the story was longer and much more developed.