Resurrection Man
Sean Steward
248 pages
published in 1995

Dante has a problem. He has just found a corpse in his bedroom. His own corpse. Now his brother is urging him to do an autopsy on it and confront his destiny as an angel.

I'd seen this book in a local secondhand bookstore for a while, but the cover blurbs scared me off every time. It just didn't seem like my cup of tea. Now I've read it, I'm still not sure if I actually like the book or not. I'm glad I've read it, but not so sure whether I will reread it soon.

Set in contemporary times, but where magic has crept back into the world for over half a century or so. Slowly but surely magic is gaining terrain and getting stronger, influencing reality. People put as much faith in charms as doctors --with good reasons. Feng Shui is a respected architectual practise, minotaurs stalk the streets and atheism is dying out. Most people have adapted to the changing circumstances, as people will adapt to anything and indeed not all that much has changed.

Against this backdrop of slowly increasing chaos the story is set. The discovery of Dante's body is just the first step in the unraveling of old, dangerous family secrets, brought about by the magic lose in the world. Dante has to accept his destiny, though it's not as simple as all that. Not everything is what it seems and indeed early scenes are seen in another different light after later explenations.

The mood of the book is sombre, the tone sober and matter of fact and the general atmosphere is claustrofobic, especially in the family scenes.