Most Popular Books by Robert McCammon

New York Times" bestselling author McCammon returns with this new novel featuring Matthew Corbett, the magistrates clerk who investigates New York Citys first serial killer in 1702.

The New York Times–bestselling author presents five paranormal adventures featuring the lycanthropic British spy introduced in The Wolf's Hour. Roaming the globe in a fight against Nazi Germany, shapeshifter Michael Gallatin stars in stories that are "tremendous fun as McCammon mashes 007 and the Wolfman in a League of Extraordinary Gentleman fashion" ( SFcrowsnest). "The Great White Way" In 1927, the wife of the star wrestler in a Russian traveling circus suffers at her husband's hand. She finds solace in the arms of the boy who cares for the animals, a young man whose true nature is yet to be revealed . . . "The Man from London" A British Secret Service operative follows rumors of a shapeshifter to a small Russian village. There, he comes face to face with someone who can be fashioned into a unique weapon. A man whose name is Mikhail Gallatinov. "Sea Chase" Arriving in Danzig, Michael Gallatin gets a job as a seaman. His mission: to infiltrate the crew. The ship harbors a weapons expert fleeing the Nazis, and the Germans will stop at nothing to halt his escape. "The Wolf and the Eagle" After their planes crash over the Libyan desert, Gallatin finds himself in the company of a German Messerschmitt ace. Together, they struggle to survive the heat, the scorpions, and a warlike tribe of scavengers . . . "Death of a Hunter" At forty-eight, Gallatin is no longer the man—or the wolf—he once was. But what he faces at the hands of deadly ninja warriors may be a fate worse than death . . .

A family moves to a small town dominated by a murderous cult Despite its eerie name, Bethany's Sin is a pleasant place. After a life of grim poverty, this new community seems like heaven to Evan Reid and his family. With its quaint shops, manicured lawns, and fresh summer smell, the town charms the Vietnam veteran, his wife, and their daughter like nowhere else they have ever been. But beneath that cheerful façade lurks something deadly. As soon as they enter their new house, Evan is consumed by fear. He can't place its source, but there is something about the town's mayor, Kathryn Drago, which makes him uneasy. By day she is a harmless retired archaeologist. But at night she leads an Amazonian cult whose next ritual calls for a secret ingredient: the blood of Evan Reid.

The year is 1703, and Matthew Corbett, professional "problem-solver," is missing. Following a hunch, his comrade-in-arms Hudson Greathouse retraces Matthew's steps only to find him first presumed dead, then accused of murdering a young woman and apparently en route to London with a devious Prussian count last encountered on Professor Fell's Pendulum Island.Little does Greathouse know, but Matthew is locked up in the infamous Newgate prison and he has drawn the interest of a mysterious mask-wearing vigilante accused of several gruesome murders. Greathouse and the woman Matthew loves, Berry Grigsby, travel across the high seas to England to aid their friend, but it is impossible to know whether they will reach him in time to save his life.Freedom of the Mask is the sixth installment in bestselling author Robert McCammon's acclaimed series of standalone historical thrillers featuring the exploits of a young hero the USA Network has called "the Early American James Bond." The most surprising and ambitious volume to date, this is a novel filled with unpredictable twists and a note-perfect depiction of early 1700s London. Fans will not want to miss Matthew Corbett's most dangerous adventure yet.

A collection of genre-bending horror and dark fantasy stories from the award-winning, New York Times– bestselling author of the Matthew Corbett novels. This edition includes an introduction by international bestselling author Joe R. Lansdale. Featuring two Bram Stoker Award–winning tales, McCammon's Shoppe of Olde Curiosities is a career-spanning collection gathering nineteen short stories showcasing the author's imaginative range of frightening terror, fantastical worldbuilding, and characters confronting the unknown around them and within themselves. Pursuing a life of celebrity fame, Erik Van Helsing's desire to cash in on his famous family's name as vampire hunters unveils a legacy he cannot escape in "Blood is Thicker Than Hollywood"—a spinoff tale from the novel They Thirst. A woman surviving in a post-apocalyptic landscape fights off loneliness when she reads aloud to the "Children of the Bedtime Machine"—a tribute to the wondrous storytelling style of Ray Bradbury. As "Death Comes for the Rich Man" in 1703 Colonial America, Matthew Corbett is hired to delay the Grim Reaper to give a regretful old sinner time to make amends with his estranged daughter. Experimenting as a mixologist, McCammon presents five drink recipes in A Little Amber Book of Wicked Shots, accompanying stories about a serial killer in a haunted hotel, an athlete's destiny in the face of cosmic horror, a vindictive ad man learning the price of revenge, and an ex-slave on a suicidal and soul-sacrificing mission to serve justice. Chilling and evocative, weird and humorous, these stories—and a dozen more—reveal why "no one can paint word pictures as vividly as Robert McCammon" (Sandra Brown).

Murder sparks witchcraft hysteria in this "entertaining" seventeenth-century historical mystery from the New York Times –bestselling author (Stephen King). It's 1699 in the coastal settlement of Fount Royal in the Carolinas when Rachel Howarth is sentenced to be hanged as a witch. She's been accused of murder, deviltry, and blasphemous sexual congress, and the beleaguered, God-fearing colonial village wants her dead. But Matthew Corbett, young clerk to the traveling magistrate summoned to Fount Royal to weigh the accusations, soon finds himself persuaded in favor of the beguiling young widow. Struck first by her beauty, Matthew believes Rachel to be too dignified, courageous, and intelligent for such obscene charges. The testimony against her is fanatical and unreliable. Clues to the crimes seem too convenient and contrived. A number of her accusers appear to gain by her execution. And, if Rachel is a witch, why hasn't she used her powers to fly away from the gaol on the wings of a nightbird? God and Satan are indeed at war. Something really is happening in the newly established settlement—of that Corbett is certain. As his investigation draws him into the darkness of a town gone mad, and deeper into its many secrets, Corbett realizes that time is running out for him, for Rachel, and for the hope that good could possibly win out over evil in Fount Royal. From the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Boy's Life and Gone South, Speaks the Nightbird is an "absorbing historical mystery" ( Publishers Weekly).

A veteran’s moment of rage leads to a chase through the bayou in this tale of “jackhammer suspense” by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song (Kirkus Reviews). Two decades after he finished serving his country in the jungles of Southeast Asia, Dan Lambert still pays the price. As he hustles for construction work in the heat of a brutal Louisiana summer, Dan tries to ignore the pounding in his head—a constant reminder of the Agent Orange–caused leukemia which will soon end his life. And now the bank wants to repossess his truck. His attempt to reason with the loan officer does not get him far. Dan loses himself in rage, and for a moment is back in the jungle again. When he comes out of his bloodlust, he has shot the banker through the chest. There is nothing to do but run. On his trail are two peculiar bounty hunters: a onetime Siamese twin and a heavyset Elvis impersonator. To save his own life, Dan is going to have to remember why it was worth living in the first place.

The basis for the Peacock TV series Teacup: An extraterrestrial bounty hunter turns a Southern community into its private hunting ground in "the ultimate horror novel" (The Philadelphia Inquirer). The West Texas desert towns of Inferno and Bordertown have been slowly dying. The Snake River isn't the only thing that divides them. Racism and gang wars have turned the sun-scorched flatlands into a powder keg. If anything can unite them now, it's the UFO that comes crashing through the clouds. It brings with it a young alien named Daufin, a fugitive who has taken human form. She knows the terror that awaits this planet--because it's looking for her. Stinger is an alien bounty hunter with an infinite capacity for death and a devious plan to find Daufin. Entombing the region in an inescapable dome, Stinger unleashes a violent fury unknown to humankind. Now, the few remaining survivors must come together to protect Daufin, themselves, and the world beyond. From Robert McCammon, the New York Times-bestselling and Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Stinger is "one of the best suspense novels of recent years" (Science Fiction Chronicle). It has now been adapted into one of the most hotly anticipated horror series on television: Teacup, premiering on Peacock this October.

Poe's classic tale lives on in this gothic novel of ancestral madness in the mountains of modern-day North Carolina, from a New York Times –bestselling author. Ever since Edgar Allan Poe looted a family's ignoble secret history for his classic story "The Fall of the House of Usher," living in the shadow of that sick dynasty has been an inescapable scourge for generations of Usher descendants. But not for horror novelist Rix Usher. Years ago, he fled the isolated family estate of Usherland in the menacing North Carolina hills to pursue his writing career. He promised never to return. But his father's impending death has brought Rix back home to assume the role of Usher patriarch—and face his worst fears. His arrival forces him to confront a devious and impassive family and his vulnerable sister's slow descent into insanity. Stirring memories of the grim folktales born out of the surrounding Briartop Mountains and the terrifying legends of missing children, Rix knows that in the dark, twisted corridors of Usherland, that dreadful something he saw as a young boy is still there. It's waiting for him, as decayed and undying as the Usher heritage, and more depraved than anything Poe could have imagined. This eerie novel by the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker award–winning author of Swan Song and Boy's Life is "a frightening pleasure" and a worthy tribute to the master who inspired it ( St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

An Alabama boy's innocence is shaken by murder and madness in the 1960s South in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song. It's 1964 in idyllic Zephyr, Alabama. People either work for the paper mill up the Tecumseh River, or for the local dairy. It's a simple life, but it stirs the impressionable imagination of twelve-year-old aspiring writer Cory Mackenson. He's certain he's sensed spirits whispering in the churchyard. He's heard of the weird bootleggers who lurk in the dark outside of town. He's seen a flood leave Main Street crawling with snakes. Cory thrills to all of it as only a young boy can. Then one morning, while accompanying his father on his milk route, he sees a car careen off the road and slowly sink into fathomless Saxon's Lake. His father dives into the icy water to rescue the driver, and finds a beaten corpse, naked and handcuffed to the steering wheel—a copper wire tightened around the stranger's neck. In time, the townsfolk seem to forget all about the unsolved murder. But Cory and his father can't. Their search for the truth is a journey into a world where innocence and evil collide. What lies before them is the stuff of fear and awe, magic and madness, fantasy and reality. As Cory wades into the deep end of Zephyr and all its mysteries, he'll discover that while the pleasures of childish things fade away, growing up can be a strange and beautiful ride. "Strongly echoing the childhood-elegies of King and Bradbury, and every bit their equal," Boy's Life, a winner of both the Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Awards, represents a brilliant blend of mystery and rich atmosphere, the finest work of one of today's most accomplished writers ( Kirkus Reviews).

New York Times Bestseller: A young girl's visions offer the last hope in a postapocalyptic wasteland in this "grand and disturbing adventure" (Dean Koontz). A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick Swan is a nine-year-old Kansas girl following her struggling mother from one trailer park to the next when she receives visions of doom—something far wider than the narrow scope of her own beleaguered life. In a blinding flash, nuclear bombs annihilate civilization, leaving only a few buried survivors to crawl onto a scorched landscape that was once America. In Manhattan, a homeless woman stumbles from the sewers, guided by the prophecies of a mysterious amulet, and pursued by something wicked; on Idaho's Blue Dome Mountain, an orphaned boy falls under the influence of depraved survivalists and discovers the value of a killer instinct; and amid the devastating dust storms on the Great Plains of Nebraska, Swan forms a heart-and-soul bond with an unlikely new companion. Soon they will cross paths. But only Swan knows that they must endure more than just a trek across an irradiated country of mutated animals, starvation, madmen, and wasteland warriors. Swan's visions tell of a coming malevolent force. It's a shape-shifting embodiment of the apocalypse, and of all that is evil and despairing. And it's hell-bent on destroying the last hope of goodness and purity in the world. Swan is that hope. Now, she must fight not only for her own survival, but for that of all mankind. A winner of the Bram Stoker Award and a finalist for the World Fantasy Award, Swan Song has become a modern classic, called "a chilling vision that keeps you turning pages to the shocking end" by John Saul and "a long, satisfying look at hell and salvation" by Publishers Weekly.

A World Fantasy Award Finalist: Masterful and macabre short fiction from the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song. Father John has lived his whole life without knowing a woman’s touch. Hard at first, his self-denial grew easier over time, as he learned to master his urges with a regimen of prayer, cold showers, and jigsaw puzzles. That changed the day that Debra Rocks entered his confessional. A rough-talking adult film actress, she has come to ask him to pray for a murdered costar. Her cinnamon perfume infects Father John, and after she departs he becomes obsessed. Around the corner from his church is a neon-lit alley of sin. He goes there hoping to save her life before he damns himself. That is “Blue World,” the novella that anchors this collection of chilling stories by Robert R. McCammon. Although monsters, demons, and murderers fill these pages, in McCammon’s world the most terrifying landscape of all is the barren wasteland of a lost man’s soul.

A vampire turns Los Angeles into a city of the dead in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling and Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Swan Song. The Kronsteen castle, a gothic monstrosity, looms over Los Angeles. Built during Hollywood’s golden age for a long-dead screen idol with a taste for the macabre, it stands as a decaying reminder of the past. Since the owner’s murder, no living thing has ever again taken up residence. But it isn’t abandoned. Prince Conrad Vulkan, Hungarian master of the vampires, as old as the centuries, calls it home. His plan is to replace all humankind with his kind. And he’s starting with the psychotic dregs of society in the City of Angels. The number of victims is growing night after night, and so is Vulkan’s legion of the dead. As a glittering city bleeds into a necropolis, a band of vampire hunters takes action: an avenging young boy who saw his parents devoured; a television star whose lover has an affinity for the supernatural; a dying priest chosen by God to defend the world; a female reporter investigating a rash of cemetery desecrations; and LAPD homicide detective Andy Palatazin, an immigrant who survived a vampire attack in his native Hungary when he was child and has been hunting evil across the globe for decades. Palatazin knows that to stop the Prince of Darkness, one must invade his nest. He knows it’s also a suicide mission. But it’s the only way to save the city—and the world—from vampire domination. “Suspenseful, exciting, and visceral,” They Thirst is one of the earliest novels by the versatile author of such masterpieces as Boy’s Life, The Wolf’s Hour, and the Matthew Corbett series (Kirkus Reviews).

From a New York Times–bestselling author—a chilling crime thriller set in colonial America about a mass murderer's bargain with his captors. In 1702, Matthew Corbett is an apprentice problem solver for the Herrald Agency, currently tasked with accompanying serial killer Tyranthus Slaughter on a journey from a Philadelphia asylum to the New York City waterfront. But during the trip, Mr. Slaughter tempts Matthew and his colleague Hudson Greathouse with an unexpected offer—leading to catastrophic outcomes. This darkly compelling novel delves into both the mind of a murderer and the process of a city and a nation moving into the future. Praise for the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker award-winning author Robert McCammon's Matthew Corbett Novels "Excellent . . . full of tension and suspense." —Stephen King "This popular series takes us to a long forgotten time with characters who never fail to entertain." — Florida Times-Union "Rousing . . . [A] page-turner." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The New York Times–bestselling author "pulls out all the stops for this exhilarating alien-invasion epic . . . One of his finest" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review). It happened one day in April. Huge explosions in skies across the world heralded the coming of the Gorgon ships, sparking a worldwide panic. Indestructible, they blasted Earth's greatest cities into rubble. Then, through portals opening in the air, came the skeletal Cyphers. And Earth became a battlefield in a war between two alien races bent on mutual destruction. In Colorado, just over a hundred survivors have found sanctuary in the ruins of an apartment complex—and it's not just the Gorgons and Cyphers who threaten them. They are regularly besieged by the Gray Men, humans mutated by something in the atmosphere into monstrosities straight out of nightmares. With their ammunition and supplies dwindling, the remaining humans face a bleak future. Then one day, a teenage boy appears, seemingly human, seemingly the victim of catastrophic injuries. He can't remember where he came from, but he senses a power within himself—one that causes an earthquake to repel a horde of Gray Men. A voice speaks to the boy in his sleep, telling him to find "the white mansion." Now, the one thing the survivors need most of all is blossoming within them: hope. But only if they choose to trust in a boy who has no memory and only three words from a dream to guide him . . . "A prime example of a master storyteller/writer returning to the type of novel that made him a master and an excellent addition to the alien invasion flavor of the Apocalyptic Novel canon." — SF Signal

The thrilling conclusion to the Matthew Corbett colonial-era mystery series by the New York Times–bestselling author of The King of Shadows. Matthew Corbett barely escaped from the beguiling and sinister island of Golgotha, where he and his companions, Hudson Greathouse and Professor Fell, had searched in vain for a fabled sorcerer's mirror said to possess demon-summoning powers. The island instead pulled them ever deeper into its influence—with the goal of erasing their very minds. But now, in the waning summer of 1704, still reeling from their harrowing journey, they must pay a price for their rescue from Golgotha by the Spanish. The trio are to resume their abandoned quest for Ciro's mirror while under the watchful eyes of soldiers and a witch-hunter. And they must do it before the Family of the Scorpion finds the mirror and uses it for their own nefarious purposes. . . . Praise for the Matthew Corbett Novels "Rich, atmospheric stories." — Booklist on The King of Shadows "Excellent . . . full of tension and suspense." —Stephen King on Speaks the Nightbird "Compulsively readable." — Publishers Weekly on Speaks the Nightbird "This popular series takes us to a long-forgotten time with characters who never fail to entertain." — The Florida Times-Union on The King of Shadows

A scuba diver unearths a sunken Nazi U-boat—manned by an undead crew—in this horror novel from a New York Times –bestselling author. World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award–winning author Robert Moore had a cushy life in Baltimore. The son of a bank president, he could have had the old man's job if he'd just waited in line. But Moore isn't the patient type, and rather than spend his life trapped behind a desk, he decamped for the Caribbean, to pass his days diving beneath the perfect blue sea. One day, diving deeper than usual, he spies a sunken ship. His investigations disrupt an unexploded depth charge, which hurls Robert to the surface with the sunken ship not far behind. The U-boat, still seaworthy after all these decades, drifts towards the island and gets caught on the reef. A strange knocking echoes from inside the hull, as though something within is still alive. When Robert opens the long-closed hatch, he'll learn that some sunken treasure is better left undisturbed.

Master spy, Nazi hunter—and werewolf on the prowl—in occupied Paris: A classic of dark fantasy from the New York Times –bestselling author. Allied Intelligence has been warned: A Nazi strategy designed to thwart the D-Day invasion is underway. A Russian émigré turned operative for the British Secret Service, Michael Gallatin has been brought out of retirement as a personal courier. His mission: Parachute into Nazi-occupied France, search out the informant under close watch by the Gestapo, and recover the vital information necessary to subvert the mysterious Nazi plan called Iron Fist. Fearlessly devoted to the challenge, Gallatin is the one agent uniquely qualified to meet it—he's a werewolf. Now, as shifting as the shadows on the dangerous streets of Paris, a master spy is on the scent of unimaginable evil. But with the Normandy landings only hours away, it's going to be a race against time. For Gallatin, caught in the dark heart of the Third Reich's twisted death machine, there is only one way to succeed. He must unleash his own internal demons and redefine the meaning of the horror of war. From the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Swan Song and Boy's Life, this is a "powerful novel [that] fuses WWII espionage thriller and dark fantasy. Richly detailed, intricately plotted, fast-paced historical suspense is enhanced by McCammon's unique take on the werewolf myth" ( Publishers Weekly).

The New York Times–bestselling author continues his colonial-era thriller series with eight tales of mystery, adventure, and supernatural suspense. World Fantasy and Bram Stoker award-winning author From his first appearance in Speaks the Nightbird, Matthew Corbett has faced enemies of all kinds, from serial killers to sorcerers. Now Bram Stoker and World Fantasy award-winning author Robert McCammon presents eight gripping stories featuring the professional problem solver and his associates that take place between the popular novels. Seven Shades of Evil collects four original stories and four additional tales that previously appeared in limited form and are no longer available elsewhere. Ranging from twisting murder plots to ominous portents of the paranormal, these stories are an intriguing blend of everything that has drawn readers to the Matthew Corbett series. This volume includes: • "The Four Lamplighters" • "Night Ride" • "The House at the Edge of the World" • "The Scorpion's Eye" • "Skeleton Crew" • "The Pale Pipe Smoker" • "Wandering Mary" • "Incident on the Lady Barbara"