The Minutes of the Lazarus Club

London, – the Lazarus Club. Some of the finest, most-unconventional minds in Victorian Britain – including Charles Darwin, Charles.
Table of contents

So your review convinced me to add the book to my to buy to read list. For me - this being a UK import so not available for browsing here in the US - the excerpt, especially the first chapter where Dr. Phillips meets Isambard Brunel convinced me to try it and if you like the writing in that, you will like the book since it continues in the same style to the end. This book was recommended to me on Amazon UK, too. The professional critics have hated this one, but we all know how worthwhile their opinions are: I might just have to try it myself.

Song s of the Week: Garfield Mayor, Brandon Heath Song of the Week: New Joe Hill Novella, Fantas Winners of the Jeffrey Overstreet Giveaway!!! Crafty Games to publish a Roleplayi Friday, September 12, Official Tony Pollard Website. Read Reviews via The Independent. While the premise sounded very interesting, I live in the US and was not sure if I wanted to order the book internationally. But then I found an excerpt which hooked me and I immediately ordered the novel.

For me, the book was thoroughly gripping and impossible to put down On the front page there is a short Acknowledgements note that is actually part of the novel as Mr. Pollard reveals in his Penguin interview.

The Minutes of the Lazarus Club by Tony Pollard

Actually most crime books with a club in the title tend to suck so this could be a new rule e. Aug 26, Liviu rated it it was amazing Shelves: Another addictive book that took over when I read 10 pages from and could not put it down - read last night until my eyes closed and finished it this evening. Based on real people and real events, it should appeal to both fantasy lover s because of its gothic Victorian atmosphere and plot, as well to sf fans because it has a lot of sfnal stuff. Famous Victorian characters appear including C.

Babbage, Ada Lovelace, C. The book is told as the memoirs of a young but already known surgeon and professor of medicine Dr. George Phillips who gets pulled into the orbit of Brunel and his protegee Viscount Oackham, son of Ada and grandson of Byron because of their fascination with the workings of the human body, especially of the heart. Many events ensue, the plot has lots twists and turns but the essential humanity of the Dr. As with many debuts there are some flaws, most notably the lack of balance in pacing with events rushing too fast at the end, but still the conclusion is fitting and it's an excellent read.

A big positive surprise.

Hardback Editions

A Work of Fiction for those Interested in Facts This book reads like an A List of all the best thinkers, inventers and notaries of the mid 's. You name them, they get a mention. The plot itself is interwoven amongst the historic detail, which is the most fascinating aspect of this book. Reading it is like an incredibly entertaining history lesson, the fact there are murder A Work of Fiction for those Interested in Facts This book reads like an A List of all the best thinkers, inventers and notaries of the mid 's.

Reading it is like an incredibly entertaining history lesson, the fact there are murders and intrigue along the way is secondary. The characters are intelligently written and the relationship development is believable and nicely paced. The historic detail begins to bog down the action and there is an unbelievably silly plot development you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there. It's all downhill from there If you like 19th century history, this book may be for you. If you're all about sensible plot development, you may not find it so entertaining a read. It was almost OK.

Bad historical fiction has people saying things like "Oh Mr Darwin, how's that crazy book of yours coming along" - and there is a scene in this book where pretty much exactly this happens. The Author might have done quite a bit of research but if it isn't part of the story he should probably leave it in his notes. I don't on the whole mind this kind of thing - get a bunch of historical characters like Brunel and Florence Nightingale and stick them in a fictional murder story - these days it's pr Bad historical fiction has people saying things like "Oh Mr Darwin, how's that crazy book of yours coming along" - and there is a scene in this book where pretty much exactly this happens.

Porcupine Tree - Stranger By The Minute, 1999.10.27, Memphis Belle Club, Rome (AUDIO)

I don't on the whole mind this kind of thing - get a bunch of historical characters like Brunel and Florence Nightingale and stick them in a fictional murder story - these days it's practically become a genre of detective fiction; but this one isn't very well written Feb 16, Tracey Allen at Carpe Librum rated it liked it. Set in London in the s, this is a period piece, with the main character being Dr Phillips, a surgeon in a hospital. Dr Phillips is soon befriended by Brunel, the Engineer behind the building of the 'Great Eastern' steam ship, and a connection to the secret society of the Lazarus Club begins to emerge.

Interestingly enough, Pollard takes several well-known historical figures and weaves them into his story, e.


  • Book review: The Minutes of the Lazarus Club by Tony Pollard - The Scotsman;
  • .
  • ;
  • ;
  • ?
  • See a Problem?.

Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale. More interesting than that though was the concept of the Lazarus Club, where like minded genius' and great thinkers gather to discuss science, innovation and share their expertise. At each meeting, a guest is invited or chosen from a different field of expertise to make a speech to the members present. Minutes are kept from these meetings, hence the name of the book, however the minutes themselves didn't play a large role in the novel. The concept of the Lazarus Club alone could have kept my attention, learning about the content and nature of the different speeches and how they were received by the members at the time and why they had to remain so secretive.

I guess when I think of giant ships, I don't imagine a ship with sails, funnels and paddle wheels! The mystery of the murdered prostitutes introduced a minor crime thread into the novel, although I didn't think this was necessary to the plot development. Without giving too much away, an additional sub-plot involving the design of an artificial organ for the body was very interesting for it's time, and who doesn't like a little grave robbery thrown into the mix? I admire the precision with which Pollard brought London alive for this period, and I was completely taken by the sights and smells of the river and the streets and the daily minutiae of the era.

Blog Archive

This is Pollard's first novel, and I'll certainly be on the look out for his next. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a little historical fiction, science, anatomy, ship building and a good river chase! Ok , this was a bit of an odd one The prologue is superbly atmospheric , telling of a boatman finding an eviscerated body in the Thames: The main story concerns the Lazarus Club , a society of the great thinkers of the Victorian era , some real, some fictional: Worthy of your attention.

It felt like the author was trying to weave as many historical figures and facts into the story as possible, which only got in the way instead of adding to the credibility. I did read to the end but only to see the unravelling of the plot, not because I had grown to care for the main characters fate. Oct 03, Majo's Library. De ese tipo de obras en las que una simple pagina se convierte en una riqueza entramada de hechos y personajes cuidadosamente confeccionados.

Apr 18, Navjit Kaur rated it really liked it. I find it ironic that, as a Human Anatomy major currently studying bio-mechanical engineering, I picked up this book at a free, read and return community library, without even reading the blurb and it turns out to heavily involve both medicine and engineering.

Dr Phillips is a surgeon and anatomy professor in the 's and although his life seems normal, he finds in the middle of a prestigious social club, a murder mystery and several near death experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've I find it ironic that, as a Human Anatomy major currently studying bio-mechanical engineering, I picked up this book at a free, read and return community library, without even reading the blurb and it turns out to heavily involve both medicine and engineering. I've recently started expanding my literary genres and although I'm still new to mystery and historical periods, I believe Pollard did I wonderful job weaving in historical figures and science into a memoir of mystery, if you will.

I would never have guessed the culprit behind the "murders" of several women or pieced together the puzzle of "who done it" in relation to the mechanical heart. Pollard certainly kept me guessing. This review is mostly aimed at people who have read the book with as few spoilers as possible. This was a fascinating read from start to finish, however that is not to say the novel is flawless.

I found the first gathering of the Lazarus Club to be too much, the author introduced so many characters in such a short chapter some of which played little if any role in the pages that followed. When introducing new characters I noticed that Pollard seems to give a minimal description of their physical This review is mostly aimed at people who have read the book with as few spoilers as possible. When introducing new characters I noticed that Pollard seems to give a minimal description of their physical appearance.


  • Star League 6: Robot Reboot.
  • The Minutes of the Lazarus Club by Tony Pollard | Review | Historical Novels Review;
  • Open Season (Joe Pickett series Book 1)!
  • Paperback Editions!
  • Mandis Story!
  • Blogging and RSS: A Librarians Guide, Second Edition?
  • The Last Underclass:Geneticists divide humanity into two classes and try to eliminate the lesser.

The first half of the story seemed to go through exciting a dull phases at first I cut the author some slack because he needs to set the pace for the adventure to follow. However I then changed my mind because it should interesting all the way through not just on occasional bursts. One of Tony Pollards greatest assets as a writer is that he is extremely good at describing the psyche of his main characters. He truly brought his characters to life with colourful descriptions of their thoughts, opinions and reactions to given situations.

The first person mode is very satisfying, I really felt that the fictional doctor had all the dimensions of a real person. At first I found Philips to be very pessimistic and neurotic but he gradually grew on me as an interesting person to see through the eyes of.

In certain parts of the novel the author bombards your mind with detail I found to be overly descriptive, his keenness to provide the reader with realistic detail sometimes made the novel feel very long winded and heavy. This leads me to believe that his academic side ruled over his writing too greatly. Pollard a lecturer of arachnology at Glasgow University, did not limit his role as an academic to the classroom. It was evident in many parts of the book that he was trying to lecture the reader about life in London between and In my opinion this was very damaging to the story, the best writers are the ones who can educate us without making us feel that we are sitting in a class.

Although academic Pollards work is at times poetic, he writes some very beautiful similes to boot. Pollard did a bad job of writing certain important revelations; especially when the identity of the person dumping the bodies in the Thames is revealed. The build-up was very lacking, you knew you were about to find out who this person was and with little suspense it was just suddenly revealed for those of you have read the novel: I felt robbed from what could have been an interesting climax to that subplot. The writer also suddenly skipped between subjects without warning a few times which very much added to my confusion.

There was one character and those who have read the book will know who I mean where you knew he was going to be killed at some point, it was just obvious and of course the obvious is disappointing when reading a crime novel. Another frustrating thing about the book I found was the way the author would try and end chapters with a punchline or a smart remark by the doctor.

Pollards attempt at trying to get the reader to be excited about the next chapter was too obvious for me. Finally in light of this review you may be surprised that I gave the novel five stars! True I have listed many negative criticisms about the book however I loved reading it and am very thankful that I came across it.

The novel although not without error was an exhilarating journey. I commend Tony Pollards imagination for coming up with such a fantastic story, I would read any future novel of his in a heartbeat. This novel has come very close to being a masterpiece, it frustrates me how little this book appears to have been read, it deserves much more attention than it has received. Sometimes Amazon does these annoying little "Recommended" scrolling lists while you're ordering a book based on your purchases.

This is one that came up for me and it looked sort of interesting, so I got it. Obviously, from its title, it has something to do with resurrecting a human being, right? Or something like Frankenstein's monster? Well, yes it does but it's MUCH more than that. Every time the book gets close to winding up a loose end - who's killing mainly prostitutes and ripping the heart Sometimes Amazon does these annoying little "Recommended" scrolling lists while you're ordering a book based on your purchases. Every time the book gets close to winding up a loose end - who's killing mainly prostitutes and ripping the hearts and lungs from them?

So you don't have just one mystery to follow, but several. With over pages to go, I felt like I was at the beginning of the book. So much still to be solved. The Lazarus Club is a gentleman's Victorian club which brings together, in this case, several renown characters who listen each meeting to a presentation on some scientific topic. Once they have Darwin. One of the members is Brunel, the engineering genius of the Victorian age.

He invites a young doctor who specializes in hearts to give a lecture on the structure and functioning of the human heart, then persuades him to join the club and take notes. Brunel had been taking them. Now we start several plots. There is a rash of prostitute killings where the heart and lungs have been removed from the bodies. The police detective thinks the young doctor might be involved for several reasons.

Then there is Brunel's fascination with the heart and its functioning. Why is he so interested? Also, the young doctor is asked to make a side trip to Bristol on his planned return to London after his father's death to pick up a mysterious package from someone there. It so happens that the man who holds the package is killed and his forge burned to the ground, although his son manages to get the package to the doctor.

The package contains machined parts. What are they for? Not even the man who made them knows.


  • The Minutes of the Lazarus Club - Tony Pollard - Google Книги.
  • The Gospel of Mark.
  • Fantasy Book Critic: “The Minutes of the Lazarus Club” by Tony Pollard (Reviewed by Liviu C. Suciu).
  • The Minutes of the Lazarus Club!
  • Blog Listing.

He is often asked to make pieces for Brunel under exacting specifications, but they are only parts of something else. So what are these parts for? After his return to London, our hero discovers that Brunel has gone overseas so that he will have to keep the package a while. His house is broken into, everything overturned and the package stolen.

Book review: The Minutes of the Lazarus Club by Tony Pollard

Who wants the package and why? Then two men break in while he is home and threaten him unless he turns over the package. They take some convincing that he truly doesn't have it. So why do THEY want the package and who are they working for? Added to the mix are Florence Nightingale, who studies the hospital where our hero works and campaigns to open a nursing school and revamp the old hospital as well. A grandson of Lord Byron is a central character also. Many of the others are well-known people, but they are engineers or businessmen with whom I'm not acquainted.

Read this if you like mystery. I guarantee you won't regret it. There's just too much that's interesting in it.

Share this title

Jun 17, Simon rated it it was ok. Oh dear, this was another book that I wanted to like, but didn't enjoy that much. A young doctor who is just making a name for himself gets approached to join the secret Lazarus Club by none other than Brunel who is at the time completing work on the Great Eastern. Members include the like of Babbage, Bazelgette and George Stephenson. There are walk on performances from many luminaries of the age including Charles Darwin and Florence Nightingale, although I do fear that the celebrity walk-ons are rather at the expense of developing his own characters.

To say any more more would spoil the story, but the problem I found with the book was that it changed direction to many times never sure whether it was going for a detective procedural, a thriller, horror or steampunk conclusion and somehow missing out on all of them. Pollard who is a university lecturer also has the tendency to lecture to his readers about various aspects of Mid Victorian Britain so that in some places the book reads like a school history text book when he refers to Mudlarks or George Cayley's flying machines for example.

He also credits the villain with rather too much future knowledge of the American Civil War. Still it is only first novel and the epilogue points to a sequel set in the American Civil War so I might be tempted to follow on the adventures of Pollards hero