J. G. Sandom ~ Author

CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BODY SNATCHER

KLIATT, Free Online Library, April 2007

"After his parents are killed right in front of him, 12-year-old Victor, from Modena, Italy, is sold as a cabin boy. His leg is shattered in a terrible fall on a ship and he is flung overboard, washing up on the shores of England. But all the danger and hurt Victor has experienced so far is nothing compared to the calculated cruelty he encounters as a crippled beggar in the mean, filthy streets of London in 1830, where bodysnatchers ("resurrection men") supply physicians eager to study human anatomy with not only fresh corpses but also live children for their experiments. Victor must risk his life to uncover the identity of a particularly evil doctor and save the girl he loves.

"Based on the body-snatcher trials of the 1830s, this dark, atmospheric thriller by the author of the YA novel (Kiss Me, I'm Dead) is an absorbing if often gruesome read. There are gory details of our hero cramming into an already occupied coffin and what takes place in a slaughterhouse and at a dissection, which will either thrill or appall readers. Like M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, this look at sinister events in history makes the era come alive and lingers in the memory."

Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT

What do you think of this review?  Click on Comments, below.

To buy your copy, click here!

MAY 2007

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

Before The Da Vinci Code, before Holy Blood, Holy Grail, before The Secret ... there was GOSPEL TRUTHS!

Re-released after more than a decade, it's time to read the book that started it all.

J.G. Sandom and GOSPEL TRUTHS are featured under One to Watch at BookReporter.com.  Check out the in-depth author interview.

Booklist called GOSPEL TRUTHS, "a splendid, tautly woven thriller ... (and) an intelligent mystery of tremendous spiritual and literary depth."  Library Journal said,"A masterful first novel, based on a true incident, which spins a complicated web of corruption, greed and deception."  Mostly Murder characterized it as, "A fascinating mystery ... captivating and engrossing."  And the (New York Daily) News said, "GOSPEL TRUTHS is a monumental novel of suspense ... almost epic in proportion ... complex, yet skillfully crafted."

When City of London Police Inspector Nigel Lyman is assigned to investigate the death of a notorious Italian Banker found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London, the inquiry leads him to the Amiens and Chartres cathedrals in France in pursuit of a shadowy arch criminal -- leader of a corrupt Masonic lodge, the I Four -- intent on acquiring an ancient Gnostic Gospel whose discovery would undermine the very foundations of Christianity.

To buy your copy, click here.

RESURRECTION MEN
Come hear J.G. Sandom read from RESURRECTION MEN this month at the Princeton Teen Book Bash and at Borders, in Princeton, New Jersey.  (See Events, below)

Sandom's second young adult novel (written under pen name T.K. Welsh), RESURRECTION MEN has been named a Junior Library Guild selection.

Inspired by the 1831 “Italian Boy” trial of body snatchers in London, England, RESURRECTION MEN is a spine-tingling murder mystery that pits a beggar boy named Victor against a nefarious group of Resurrection Men. In this tumultuous dark underworld, where a “fresh subject” can fetch as much as nine guineas -- the yearly salary of a working man -- Victor must risk his life to uncover the identity of the murderer who is at the heart of London’s furtive trade in human corpses.

To buy your copy, click here!

THE UNRESOLVED
Ranked one of the Top Ten Children's Books of 2006 by the Washington Post, THE UNRESOLVED was recently named a 2007 Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Book for Teens by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, which recognized only six works in Jewish teen literature this year.  The novel was previously nominated for the 2006 Cybils literary awards, and for the 2007 Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) by the American Library Association.  It's currently featured as one of the Best Teen Books of the year 2006 at BarnesAndNoble.com.

The Washington Post said, "(Sandom) writes with a precision and delicacy unusual for YA fiction."  School Library Journal said, "THE UNRESOLVED tells a remarkable story in a remarkable way."  Horn Book Magazine called THE UNRESOLVED, "A decidedly unconventional ghost story ... (and) a tightly wound novel."  Kirkus Reviews termed it, "A remarkable account."  Romantic Times said, "THE UNRESOLVED is a book you shouldn't pass up."  The Edge of the Forest said, "It may be the most beautifully written novel I've read this year."  All About the Book said, "The Unresolved is a great one. Mallory is the most well-developed ghostly character I've seen in a long, long time..."  And Midwest Book Review called THE UNRESOLVED, "a wonderfully different kind of ghost story."

Inspired by the tragic events of 9/11, THE UNRESOLVED reaches back into the past to explore what was, until recently, the greatest disaster in New York City history.  Based on the sinking of the General Slocum steamship -- which caught fire in the East River, New York, in 1904, resulting in the death of over 1,000 mostly German immigrants on a church outing -- THE UNRESOLVED is at once a ghost story, a courtroom drama, an examination of immigrant life, and a tale of love, redemption and revenge.  The novel dramatizes how a single life –- and death –- can have a powerful influence on history.

To buy your copy, click here!

[Note:  J.G. Sandom writes his young adult novels under the name T.K. Welsh.  Click here for more information.]

REVIEWS (Excerpted in April)

RESURRECTION MEN -- Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly, April 2007
"A haunting tour of London's underclass during the 1830s...Welsh's visceral descriptions of industrial London are unflinching...Teens will likely be both captivated by Victor's harrowing story as well as his ability to prevail in the face of harsh injustices."

KLIATT, Free Online Library, April 2007
"Based on the body-snatcher trials of the 1830s, this dark, atmospheric thriller by the author of the YA novel The Unresolved is an absorbing read...Like M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, this look at sinister events in history makes the era come alive and lingers in the memory."

VOYA, April 2007
"Welsh paints a harsh, bleak portrait of life in London during this period, with a special emphasis on the exploitation of the hordes of homeless children who roamed the streets. His plot and writing style are reminiscent of Oliver Twist by Dickens but far more graphic. Teen readers will thoroughly enjoy the hair-raising suspense in this historical thriller."

THE UNRESOLVED -- Editorial Reviews

ALAN Review, April 2007 (Winter Edition)
"No doubt many adolescents will enjoy this blend of romance and the supernatural set against the backdrop of an American tragedy that is often overlooked."

For more on the works of T.K. Welsh, click here.

For the full text of the Reviews, click here.

EVENTS

RESURRECTION MEN
Date:        May 5th, 2007
Venue:     Princeton Teen Book Bash
Time:       Noon - 5:00 PM
Address:  Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ
Phone:             (609) 924-9529       

List of participating authors so far:  Sarah Beth Durst, Daniel Ehrenhaft, E.R. Franks, Mariah Fredricks, Robin Friedman, K.L. Going, Rob Krech, Marie Lamba, E. Lockhart, David Lubar, Carolyn MacCullough, Leslie Margolis, Wendy Mass, Megan McCafferty, Patricia McCormick, Blake Nelson, Kieran Scott, Ned Vizzini, Maryrose Wood, and yours truly, T.K. Welsh (J.G. Sandom).

RESURRECTION MEN
Date:        May 9th, 2007
Venue:     Borders Books
Time:       7:00 PM
Address:  601 Nassau Park, Bldg. G, (off Route 1), Princeton, NJ
Phone:             (609) 514-0040