Book Review: Mister Slaughter by Robert McCammon

Posted by Peter Schwotzer in Books, Reviews, Terror Tales with Peter D. Schwotzer on February 22nd, 2010

“The world of Colonial America comes vibrantly to life in this masterful new historical thriller by Robert McCammon. The latest entry in the popular Matthew Corbett series, which began with Speaks the Nightbird and continued in The Queen of Bedlam, Mister Slaughter opens in the emerging metropolis of New York City in 1702, and proceeds to take both Matthew and the reader on an unforgettable journey of horror, violence, and personal discovery.

The journey begins when Matthew, now an apprentice “problem solver” for the London-based Herrald Agency, accepts an unusual and hazardous commission. Together with his colleague, Hudson Greathouse, he agrees to escort the notorious mass murderer Tyranthus Slaughter from an asylum outside Philadelphia to the docks of New York. Along the way, Slaughter makes his captors a surprising–and extremely tempting–offer. Their response to this offer will alter the course of the novel, setting in motion a series of astonishing, ultimately catastrophic events.

Mister Slaughter is at once a classic portrait of an archetypal serial killer and an exquisitely detailed account of a fledgling nation still in the process of inventing itself. Suspenseful, illuminating, never less than compulsively readable, it is, by any measure, an extraordinary achievement, the largest accomplishment to date from one of our most gifted–and necessary–writers.” (Above text courtesy of Subterranean Press)

Robert McCammon is simply one of the best authors of our time. You might say I am a little biased as Mr. McCammon has been one of my favorite writers since his early horror days. But then again there are not too many that read Mr. McCammon’s work that would disagree with me.

Mister Slaughter is a masterful book in so many ways. It continues the tale of Matthew Corbett “Problem Solver” that we have come to know so well from Speaks The Nightbird and The Queen Of Bedlam. This just might be the best book of the series so far.

The story is riveting, fast paced and filled with characters that are absolutely fabulous. Be warned, once you start you will not be able to put this down.

While this can’t be called a horror novel it certainly contains horrific themes and characters. Tyranthus Slaughter, aka Mister Slaughter, is one of the most vile villains to be put to the printed page in a while. He is decadently evil, twisted and I thoroughly enjoyed him. Mr. McCammon also introduces us to a few of Mister Slaughter’s associates that are just as, if not more, twisted than he is.

This is Mr. McCammons darkest and most violent book in some time and he seems to revel in this time period. He brings our still infant country to life with a flair for the dramatic and sublime with characters and settings with a three dimensional quality that allows you to live in this time period, if only for a brief moment.

He also deepens the mystery of Professor Fell, the reclusive and still yet unknown behind an ever growing crime syndicate on both sides of the ocean who has Matthew Corbett right in his cross-hairs. Mr. McCammon weaves in numerous subplots and characters from the first two books.

Fiction does not get any better than this my friends and I urge you to start with Speaks The Nightbird and don’t stop until you reach the last page of Mister Slaughter. You are in for one hell of a ride by one of the best there is.