The King of Shadows

by Robert McCammon

Overview

A search for a sorcerer’s mirror may shatter a man’s mind in this colonial-era thriller by the New York Times-bestselling author of Cardinal Black.
 
In the year 1704, Matthew Corbett is about to go up against an antagonist completely different from any he has faced before. On a trip to Italy to track down Brazio Valeriani and information about the mirror created by his father, the sorcerer Ciro, Matthew and Hudson Greathouse find themselves marooned on a beautiful island known as Golgotha—a place that hides a multitude of secrets and puts both of them at terrible risk. 
 
The islanders welcome them with a massive feast—but as the island pulls them deeper into its influence, the castaways struggle to maintain their grip on reality, even their very identity. Matthew must keep his wits about him and solve the mystery enshrouding the other side of the island, where an active volcano looms and an elusive creature lurks…
 
This new novel in the series by the five-time Bram Stoker Award winner is a compelling concoction of history, mystery, adventure, and terror that takes us deeper into the early eighteenth-century world of Matthew Corbett, his compatriots, and his mortal enemies.
 
“This popular series takes us to a long forgotten time with characters who never fail to entertain.” —The Florida Times-Union
 
“The Corbett novels are rich, atmospheric stories, the kind of historical mystery that makes the reader feel as though he really has stepped back in time.”—Booklist 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504076708
Publisher:	Open Road Media
Publication date:	06/28/2022
Series:	The Matthew Corbett Novels
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	738
Sales rank:	68,574
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

One of the founders of the Horror Writers Association, Bram Stoker Award- and World Fantasy Award-winning Robert R. McCammon (b. 1952) is one of the country’s most accomplished authors of modern horror and historical fiction. Raised by his grandparents in Birmingham, Alabama, McCammon published his first novel, the Revelations-inspired Baal, when he was only twenty-six. His writings continued in a supernatural vein throughout the 1980s, producing such bestselling titles as Swan Song, The Wolf’s Hour, and Stinger.

In 1991, Boy’s Life won the World Fantasy Award for best novel. After his next novel, Gone South, McCammon took a break from writing to spend more time with his family. He did not publish another novel until 2002’s Speaks the Nightbird. Since then, he has followed "problem-solver" Matthew Corbett through seven sequels, in addition to writing several non-series books, including The Listener. McCammon still lives in Birmingham, AL.
Robert McCammon (b. 1952) is one of the country’s most accomplished authors of modern horror and historical fiction, and a founder of the Horror Writers Association. Raised by his grandparents in Birmingham, Alabama, Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Award–winning McCammon published his first novel, the Revelations-inspired Baal, when he was only twenty-six. His writings continued in a supernatural vein throughout the 1980s, as he produced such bestselling titles as Swan Song, The Wolf’s Hour, and Stinger.

In 1991, Boy’s Life won the World Fantasy Award for best novel. After his next novel, Gone South, McCammon took a break from writing to spend more time with his family. He did not publish another novel until 2002’s Speaks the Nightbird. Since then, he has followed “problem-solver” Matthew Corbett through seven sequels, in addition to writing several non-series books, including The Border and The Listener. McCammon still lives in Birmingham.

Editorial Reviews

10/03/2022

Set in 1704, bestseller McCammon’s gonzo eighth novel featuring problem-solver Matthew Corbett picks up where 2019’s Cardinal Black left off. To save Berry Grigsby, the woman Matthew loves, he has allied himself with Prof. Danton Fell, a master criminal who poisoned Berry in a previous book. Matthew, a London street gang member turned adventurer, agrees to travel to Italy to help Fell locate a sorcerer’s mirror, which the professor believes can be used as a portal that will allow him with a demon as a go-between to bid his deceased son farewell. After a collision between the ship transporting them to Italy and a pod of whales, Matthew and company wind up on an island supposedly inhabited by a monstrous beast. McCammon isn’t stingy with the gore, and readers should be prepared for some overheated prose (“Clang, clang, clang was the music of the rapiers, and never was Hudson so distraught at knowing this particular symphony was nearing its end”). This may be a bit over-the-top for those not already series fans, but admirers of action-packed suspense with paranormal elements such as Matthew Reilly’s Jack West Jr. novels will find much to like. Agent: Cameron McClure, Donald Maass Literary. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly