Robert R. McCammon

Well shit. Colour me surprised.

Robert R. McCammon dug deep and actually spit out a decent book for a change. It's been quite a while since I enjoyed anything from this author, but this one actually is really good.

The last time I truly felt that was with Boy's Life, and after the last couple of crap books by him, I swore I was done. But this one was getting enough positive feedback that I thought I'd give it a shot.

Does it rest on a pile of coincidences? Hell yes. But is it engaging enough show more to allow the reader to push past them? Also, hell yes.

Go ahead, if you, like me, have felt burned by McCammon, this is a decent one. Give it a shot. show less

Sometimes at night, when he could sleep, he awakened with a start to feel the wolf coming out. Just sliding out of him, first the rippling bands of hair and then the searing pain of bones reforming. The smell of his own animal in his nostrils. His mouth in agony, his gums starting to be ripped apart, the taste of blood from new fangs. He always slammed the soul cage and locked it before he went too far...but the wolf was always there, and it always yearned to break free.
Life aboard a show more freighter was not suitable for lycanthropes.

Of Robert McCammon's works, there are only a handful that I've read more than once. And when asked my very favorite, the answer comes easy: The Wolf's Hour. Michael Gallatin, lover of women and slayer of Nazis - Her Majesty's lycanthrope is a difficult character to forget. But now The Wolf's Hour has a challenger because McCammon has written a new volume featuring Gallatin.

The Hunter from the Woods showcases six episodes in Gallatin's life. From youth to grizzled elder, we see how the years and the lifestyle have formed the man... and the wolf. I chewed through these so quickly but I couldn't stop myself from devouring the lot. Of the six, the one I enjoyed the least was The Wolf and the Eagle, it just didn't hold me rapt. But that was more than made up for by The Room at the Bottom of the Stairs and Death of a Hunter. Those are masterpieces - well paced, well written and well worth the wait. Like one of Gallatin's companions, I am left not sated but only wanting more. show less

The Queen of Bedlam is book Number 2 in the excellent historical fiction thriller adventure Matthew Corbett series by Robert McCammon. It does not disappoint. Again set in Colonial America, as you would expect after reading Speaks the Nightbird, the historical attention to detail and the research that has gone into this is outstanding. The action has moved to a young and burgeoning New York this time with forays to a few surrounding cities. The protagonist, a young man of uncommon show more intelligence, is employed as a clerk to the magistrate to whom he was recommended by his first employer, magistrate, and father figure, from Book 1. His successful resolving of the dire situation in Book 1 has given him a slight reputation on which to build and advanced his position in life by just a touch. As always, he questions everything around him and is determined to find answers no matter what. And as always, this lands him and those who dare to become close to him in boat loads of trouble and danger.

Crime is starting to take root in the young City and the system of law and order is not at all prepared to meet the challenge Matthew observes. His bright, analytical mind has come up with a number of solutions and helpful suggestions that he advances at a local town meeting. His ideas are not welcomed by the incumbent constable and his underlings and sets them at odds with each other. As it turns out, Matthew is about to embark on a new career path. The magistrate he is employed with is moving away under somewhat mysterious circumstances and he recommends Matthew for a position with some former friends and colleagues of his in a different line of work. A line of work Matthew is only just finding out about but which fits him to a T.

The dark underbelly of the City is introduced to us as a gruesome serial killer is at work there. Three of the prominent citizens of New York have been mutilated and murdered and Matthew is determined to discover who the perpetrator of the crimes (deemed The Masker) is and why those three in particular were targeted. From there several different branches of storyline are fleshed out which when unraveled all seem to revolve around the same central origin, having to do with The Masker. One of these storylines plays out at Bedlam, a new type of psychiatric facility where we are introduced to the Queen of Bedlam, a wealthy aristocratic elderly woman with amnesia who has been placed there under very mysterious circumstances by someone going to great pains to hide her identity while keeping her safe and comfortable. Her doctors hire Matthew's new employer, The Herrald Agency, to discover her identity, as they think they can help her if they have this information. Matthew agrees to take on the job.

Another much darker situation is unfolding at a magnificent estate grounds far north of New York along the river.

Once again, Mr. McCammon has given us characters who jump off the page to join us in real life, they are so well created. What a master of his craft! The writing is superb. The multiple storylines are so well plotted out and weaved together.

There is violence and some scenes of sexual exploitation and perversion that were not my favorite, but acceptable in the dark realm that these stories enter in to. In fact, while I absolutely highly recommend this book and this series, I will admit it/they are not for the faint of heart. It enters into dark realms of human behaviour. But the plots and characters are absolutely riveting and worth navigating the course through the sometimes twisted, torturous human behaviours and emotions laid bare. In this story, Matthew is exposed to grave danger it seems he cannot escape from, along with a girl he has become friends with. We fully realize he must somehow escape as the series continues on. He refuses to let his romantic interests take hold because he knows his own life is and will be in peril and that the lives of those he becomes close to will be imperiled also. It would seem he's destined to be a loner on his quests. The ending is not fuzzy and warm but leaves us feeling satisfied, nonetheless. We accept the conditions Matthew's life must be lived under and can't wait to embark on the next adventure, wherever that will lead, while fearing for his life every step of the way as he is now a marked man by the vilest imaginable villains out to get him. show less

Trevor Lawson. His business card reads:

All Matters Handled
I Travel by Night

A civil war veteran, wounded during the battle of Shiloh, he is made into a vampire against his will. Trevor tries to make the best of things and becomes something of a private investigator, operating out of the Hotel Sanctuaire in 1886 New Orleans.

In the first story of this trilogy, I Travel By Night, we learn that Trevor wants out of the vampire way of life. As such, he refuses to drink the blood of humans show more unless it's absolutely necessary. He constantly battles the urges within his own body-the urges that makes his jaw want to unhinge and his fangs to come out. He searches for the Dark Society and his maker, LaRouge, for he's been told that if he drinks the ichor of the one that made him, he can return to a life of humanity. Trevor is a strong, noble man and he's VERY good with guns.

In Last Train From Perdition, Trevor is summoned to Omaha for a possible job. His trusty assistant and fellow gunslinger, Ann, travels with him. "Hers were the eyes that could bear the steely heat of the sun. They were as black as charcoal and fixed with an intense purpose that could frighten even a vampire." Together Trevor and Ann make a formidable team.

In Omaha, they are tasked with finding the son of a prominent member of society-a young man who went to Montana to search for gold, threw in his lot with a bunch of low-life thieves and killers and now cannot escape. So begins Trevor's latest adventure. Together with Ann, he travels to the Montana Territory, turning this narrative into a true horror western with all the greatness that entails.

Some of the scenes in Montana, most especially once Trevor and Ann are on the return train to Helena, are among the most intense I've EVER read. This is where Robert McCammon's writing really shines. With a cast of characters that all stand out in my mind, (most especially a young boy that will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life), Mr. McCammon draws the reader into that train car, and then unleashes all of hell upon them. Ann and Trevor find their man, but will they be able to return him to his father safely? You'll have to read this book to find out!

Last Train From Perdition earns my highest recommendation! A vampire gunslinger, fighting to retain and fully return to his humanity is an entirely new concept, and a fascinating one; Robert McCammon tackles it head on and WINS all the stars!

Available on Halloween 2016, here: Last Train from Perdition

*Huge thanks to Net Galley and Subterranean Press for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This is it!*



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