Sion Scott-Wilson

This novel set amongst those living on the fringes in 1820s London scratches a Dickensian itch, while also having something of a modern Guy Ritchie style crime caper about it.

Some Rise By Sin is populated by a host of memorable characters, starting with our protagonist Mr. Samuel Samuel. Sammy is partners with childhood friend Facey in the profession of stealing recently buried bodies for sale to men of medicine. It's a dishonourable profession but Sammy is a good man trying to survive a society and legal system that gives every advantage and means of life to those who possess a high position in the class system, and withholds the same from those on the low rungs. Given a valuable commission to retrieve the body of a reported hermaphrodite, which brings them into competition with a host of others involved in the affair for their own reasons, their efforts are complicated by their unfortunate recent theft of a body that involves a case of mistaken identity, resulting in a bounty being placed on their heads by local crime bosses.

Trying to make it through this increasingly dangerous time and into a better sort of life, Sammy will have to step forward from his subordinate role to Facey and find the bravery and resoluteness necessary to see them and all their circle safely out the other side, if he can. He'll also need to depend on others around him: on the intelligence and quick wit of smallpox survivor Rosamund, on the generous friendship of retired bare knuckle boxer Tom, on the loyalty of the teenaged street manure seller Kak John, on the money of the heartsick gentleman Brookes, and not least on the dicey medical skill of the showman street stall doctor Nero.

The writing brings this time and place richly to life. You'll feel like you actually are in a rough London tavern of two hundred years ago, overhearing the scheming and the disputes (and witnessing the terrible dental hygiene) in some of the language representative of the time. And then you'll see the loyalty, friendship and love present in the same places.

Very much recommended.… (más)

My reading slump continues, and not even a much anticipated sequel was enough to hold my interest. I absolutely adored the first Sammy and Facey book, Some Rise By Sin, and even though the follow up has the same characters, cant, history and mystery, I was bored. Probably a me problem and not the fault of the book. A heist on behalf of two familiar enemies uncovers a murder and finds Sammy, Facey and Rosamund in amongst the servants of an upper class house, trying to protect a child's life and recover missing jewels, all in a bid to save the life of Pure John. This episode in 1830s London was brought to us by the Blue Death (cholera) and Dandy Horses (prototype bicycles). Just wish I'd been in a better mood to enjoy the story.… (más)

Publishers take note: ads on Instagram really work! I would never have found this novel on Kindle Unlimited otherwise, and I'm very glad that I did. Mr Facey and Samuel Samuel, known as Sammy, are two of the best characters I have encountered in a while, and their adventures through late Georgian London make Dickens read like Austen.

They do say that London is like a man reclining: the West End is his head, the shining face of our metropolis; the City, a great belly—the repository of trade, our sustenance; the East End, his arse.

I must confess that 1829, the year in which the story is set, is somewhat betwixt and between my favourite historical eras, but was apparently the year when the Metropolitan Police was established in London and Burke and Hare, the famous 'resurrection men', were found guilty of murdering sixteen people to supply bodies for medical dissection. Both very relevant milestones for Facey and Sammy! Fellow resurrectionists, the pair are hired to locate a 'rara avis' of a corpse, that of a rumoured hermaphrodite named Bobby. But when a 'hoist' goes wrong and brings the wrath of the wrong people down on Facey's head, along with a Peeler's truncheon to the face, unassuming narrator Sammy is forced to take on his fellow body snatchers and the darker element of upper class 'Fancy' alone. Fielding's Tom Jones meets Weekend at Bernie's in a novel that is both darkly hilarious and brutally poignant, with dialogue full of thieves' cant and crude wit. I loved every second, and will definitely be reading the sequel!… (más)