About the Book: Twelve year-old Ren is missing his left hand. How it was lost is a mystery that Ren has been trying to solve for his entire life, as well as who his parents are, and why he was abandoned as an infant at Saint Anthony’s Orphanage for boys. He longs for a family to call his own and is terrified of the day he will be sent alone into the world.

But then a young man named Benjamin Nab appears, claiming to be Ren’s long-lost brother, and his convincing tale of how Ren lost his hand and his parents persuades the monks at the orphanage to release the boy and to give Ren some hope. But is Benjamin really who he says he is? Journeying through a New England of whaling towns and meadowed farmlands, Ren is introduced to a vibrant world of hardscrabble adventure filled with outrageous scam artists, grave robbers, and petty thieves. If he stays, Ren becomes one of them. If he goes, he’s lost once again. As Ren begins to find clues to his hidden parentage he comes to suspect that Benjamin not only holds the key to his future, but to his past as well.

My Review:This book is really different from anything I’ve read lately, and I absolutely loved it! It’s a really fun book with vivid characters, imaginative descriptions, and spot on perfect pacing.

I have to admit that the idea of resurrection men wasn’t totally new to me, having just read Tess Gerritsen’s The Bone Garden last year. (and that’s a GREAT book, too). This book, however, takes a different look at it. I’ve read some reviews that say the characters are like Dickens characters, and I can kind of see that…I also kept thinking of Pinnochio!

That’s not to say the book is at all juvenile, the world in this story is brought quickly to life, I came to care about Ren and the people who enriched his life very quickly, and the adventures and experiences he has in the company of Benjamin Nab are masterfully spun like a grand tale. This is the sort of book you pick and don’t want to put down until you’ve turned the last page. Highly recommended.

I received this book as part of Book Browse’s First Impressions program. It will release in stores at the end of August and is published by The Dial Press an imprint of Random House.
I enjoyed the book so much that I went looking for more information! Hannah Tinti has a great website with some questions and answers and a chance to read the first chapter. I hope you’ll check them out!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 12:08 am

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