PORTRAIT OF THE MEDICAL STUDENT AS A YOUNG BODY SNATCHER. Historical fiction, true crime, and dark academia intertwine in a decadently macabre, dark and twisty gothic tale of murder, greed, and the grisly origins of modern medicine in 19th century Scotland, when real-life serial killers Burke and Hare terrorized the streets of Edinburgh…and a young medical student is lured into the illicit underworld of body snatching…Edinburgh, Scotland, 1828. Naïve but determined James Willoughby has abandoned his posh, sheltered life at Oxford to pursue a lifelong dream of studying surgery in Edinburgh. A shining beacon of medical discovery in the age of New Enlightenment, the city’s university offers everything James desires—except the chance to work on a human cadaver. For that, he needs to join one of the private schools in Surgeon’s Square, at a cost he cannot afford. In desperation, he strikes a deal with Aneurin “Nye” MacKinnon, a dashing young dissectionist with an artist’s eye for anatomy and a reckless passion for knowledge. Nye promises to help him gain the surgical experience he craves—but it doesn’t take long for James to realize he’s made a devil’s bargain…Intoxicated by Nye and his noble mission, James rapidly descends into the underground ranks of the Resurrectionists—the grave robbers infamous for stealing fresh corpses from churchyards to be used as anatomical specimens. Before he knows it, James is caught up in a life-or-death scheme as rival gangs of snatchers compete in a morbid race for power and prestige. Exquisitely macabre and delightfully entertaining, The Resurrectionist combines fact and fiction in a rollicking tale of the risks and rewards of scientific pursuit, the passions of its boldest pioneers, and the anatomy of human desire.