Robert McCammon, June 2021

Hello, all!

I finished The King of Shadows toward the end of April. Since then I’ve been resting up because as I think you’ll understand when you read the book, it was quite a lot to put together. For one thing, it took me a while to refine what began simply as a ‘what-if?’ idea that at first seemed so outlandish and ‘out there’ it couldn’t possibly work. Well, I’m happy to say it did, but not without a lot of thrashing and gnashing. Matthew and Company came through for me once again. I’m pleased to say it’s a hefty book too, running about 560 pages.

I wanted The King of Shadows to be completely different from anything that had come before, and I wanted it to have that ‘weird’ and ‘otherworldly’ edge. Also I became very interested in the backstories of both Cardinal Black and Maccabeus DeKay…how did they become what they are? So you’ll find in The King of Shadows the stories of how the young Adam Black became the infamous Cardinal, and how “Mac” DeKay devolved from being a wealthy young man faithful to his father and involved in the sport of horse racing to being the scarred—and soul-scarred—and masked creature of the ‘present’.

Another thing I wanted to play with was the idea that instead of a human antagonist, a physical place could be antagonistic. Thus you’ll find in The King of Shadows a beautiful Mediterranean island called Golgotha that hides a multitude of secrets, and puts both Matthew and Hudson at risk like never before…but maybe not in the way you would expect!

Next up will be a book of seven short stories involving Matthew, Hudson, Minx Cutter, and Katherine Herrald titled Seven Shades of Evil. Some of these stories have previously appeared in other places, but I believe there will be at least three new ones and two of those will be “novelette” length. Seven Shades of Evil will be sort of a compendium of various “problems” Matthew and Company are called upon to solve during Matthew’s career with the Herrald Agency—these being done in the time between the spans of the regular books—and we’ll begin with one of the earliest events and end with one in his later life.

And so we are moving toward Leviathan, the last book in the Matthew Corbett series. It will be set in Italy and will involve—must involve—the worst of the worst that Matthew has yet to face. As someone from the realm of the past tells Matthew in The King of Shadows: “I have a feeling that Professor Fell will seem as a kindly old uncle bouncing baby Corbett on his knee when you meet who’s waiting for you in the future. Because take it from me, my boy…the worst is yet to be.”

You can take that as truth, because the person who tells this to Matthew is none other than Tyranthus Slaughter, returned from the dead.

So…on we go!

Publication of The King of Shadows is probably not going to be until early in 2022, but I hope you’ll feel the wait was worth it when you read the book. Until then, I’ll be working on Seven Shades of Evil and putting Leviathan together.

I hope everyone has a happy summer, and thank you again for your readership and support. I’m certain that in some other realm Matthew and his companions wholeheartedly thank you as well!

Best Wishes,
Robert McCammon

Australian audiobook publisher Bolinda has released The River of Souls on CD and MP3 CD, and they will re-release Freedom of the Mask—with matching artwork—on June 1, 2021. These are the Audible productions narrated by Edoardo Ballerini.

All of the Matthew Corbett books published so far will now available on CD and/or MP3 CD, at various price points. You can find handy ordering links on the Audiobooks page.

Both titles can be ordered from Book Depository now. They offer free worldwide shipping.

 



 

Robert McCammon has finished writing The King of Shadows! He literally just finished it on Tuesday, so it’s way too soon to know anything about any kind of publication information. But the book is finished, and it’s a big one! The number of manuscript pages is almost identical to what Freedom of the Mask had!

The King of Shadows is book #8 in the Matthew Corbett series. Expect more news in the coming months….

German publisher Luzifer Verlag has announced that German audiobooks of the Matthew Corbett series will be available through Audible beginning in Summer 2021.

We are very pleased to announce that starting in summer 2021 Robert #McCammon‘s Matthew Corbett novels will be available as #audiobooks exclusively at #Audible. There will also be other novels / series at Audible this year, but we’ll tell you which one later 😉

May 14, 2021, update: Book one of Matthew Corbett und die Hexe von Fount Royal is now available on Audible.de

German publisher Luzifer Verlag has released a Halloween treat for German readers! They’re offering a free ebook download of the Matthew Corbett short story “Death Comes for the Rich Man.” The story was originally included in the Subterranean Press limited edition of The Providence Rider, and it can also be found in the German translation of that book, Matthew Corbett in den Fängen des Kraken.

For English-language readers, the story will be included in the planned short story collection Seven Shades of Evil, but that likely won’t see print until 2022.

Here’s what Luzifer Verlag posted on Facebook:

Liebe Leserinnen und Leser,

die letzten Oktobertage stehen wie immer ganz im Zeichen von Spuk und Grusel, und wir freuen uns sehr, Ihnen in diesem Jahr in Zusammenarbeit mit Robert McCammon eine wunderbar klassische #Spukgeschichte präsentieren zu können, in der nicht alles so ist, wie es den Anschein hat …

Die Kurzgeschichte DER TOD ERSCHEINT DEM REICHEN MANN um “Problemlöser” Matthew Corbett können Sie sich als eBook jetzt #GRATIS für einen gemütlichen und gruseligen Leseabend herunterladen. Wir wünschen schaurige Unterhaltung!

Hinweis: Alle Freunde des gedruckten Wortes finden diese Kurzgeschichte auch in der aktuellen Print-Ausgabe von Matthew Corbett in den Fängen des Kraken

Download link: https://bit.ly/31BU7zA

On December 1, 2020, Australian audio publisher Bolinda Publishing will release Robert McCammon’s Mister Slaughter, complete and unabridged, as a 2-disc MP3 CD set and a 16-disc Audio CD set. The recording is the Audible production narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. Bolinda previously released the audio productions of Speaks the Nightbird (MP3 CD), The Queen of Bedlam (MP3 CD), and Freedom of the Mask (Audio CD and MP3 CD).

The sets can be ordered from Amazon AU (MP3 CD / Audio CD). They can also be ordered from Book Depository in the UK, with free worldwide shipping (MP3 CD / Audio CD).

On October 1, 2020, Australian audio publisher Bolinda Publishing will release Robert McCammon’s The Queen of Bedlam, complete and unabridged, as a 2-disc MP3 CD set. The recording is the Audible production narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. Bolinda previously released the audio productions of Speaks the Nightbird as an MP3 CD and Freedom of the Mask on Audio CD and MP3 CD.

The set can be ordered from Amazon AU. It can also be ordered from Book Depository in the UK, with free worldwide shipping.

Note: This anthology reprints “Death Comes for the Rich Man,” a Matthew Corbett novella that appeared in the limited edition of The Providence Rider. The story will also be included in the planned Matthew Corbett collection that will be published in a couple of years or so (between novels eight and nine).

From Subterranean Press:

Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 3 is now available for preorder! This outing includes new and rare stories by SubPress favorites including Caitlin R. KiernanRobert McCammon, and Kat Howard, and a number of new-to-us voices.

Collectors will want to take special note of the 250 copy signed limited edition, which includes a 14,000 word signed bonus hardcover by Tim Powers!

About the Book:

Tales of darkness and inexplicable happenings have always been with us—and always will. In its contemporary form, this sort of story is not only alive and well, but flourishing, and it continues to speak to us in a variety of voices. Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 3 is the latest installment in an acclaimed anthology series, and it brings together ten voices—some familiar, some less so—that are at once distinctive, compelling, and irresistible.

The volume opens with award-winning novelist Kat Howard’s “An Ordinary Progression of Hearts,” an elegant meditation on the fragility of the human heart; and closes with acclaimed newcomer P. Djeji Clark’s “Skin Magic,” a stunning account of sorcery and dark magic set in an unnamed third world country. Elsewhere in the anthology, Caitlin R. Kiernan (“Cherry Street Tango, Sweat Box Waltz”) offers a piece of near-future noir in which a “blackstrap” (a hired assassin) contemplates the failure of her latest murderous assignment. “At the Threshold of Your Bedchamber on the Fifth Night” by Sarah Gailey is the tale of a courtship that leads to a most unusual consummation. In “Final Course,” a rare short story by rising star C.J. Tudor, the reunion of old school friends takes a savage and unexpected turn. In addition to these and other stellar tales by the likes of Bentley Little, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Gallagher and Ian R. MacLeod, Tales of Dark Fantasy 3 contains Robert R. McCammon’s “Death Comes for the Rich Man,” a rare novella set in Colonial America and featuring McCammon’s popular “problem solver,” Matthew Corbett.

The limited edition of this superb anthology comes with a very special signed bonus hardcover: Always Going On by Tim Powers. A 14,000 word autobiographical essay of immense charm, it offers a highly personal glimpse into the mind, memories, and personal esthetics of one of modern fantasy’s most durable—and original—artists. Always Going On is both a gift to Powers’ many readers, and an invaluable supplement to an extraordinary body of work.

Limited: 250 signed numbered copies, in slipcase, with an exclusive Tim Powers hardcover, Always Going On$150

Trade: Fully cloth-bound hardcover edition: $40

Table of Contents:

— An Orderly Progression of Hearts—Kat Howard
— Cherry Street Tango, Sweatbox Waltz—Caitlín R. Kiernan
— Estate Sale—Bentley Little
— Twisted Hazel—Stephen Gallagher
— Death Comes for the Rich Man—Robert McCammon
— At the Threshold of Your Bedchamber on the Fifth Night—Sarah Gailey
— Final Course—C. J. Tudor
— Lamagica—Ian R. MacLeod
— Razor Pig—Richard Kadrey
— Skin Magic—P. Djèjí Clark