Here is video of Robert McCammon’s presentation at the book launch for Seven Shades of Evil, which took place at Alabama Booksmith on Saturday, October 28, 2023.

During the presentation, Robert McCammon read a new Matthew Corbett short story called “Robber’s Roost.” The short story will not be published anywhere, and at the end of the presentation, the story was given away in a random drawing.

I hadn’t planned to record the presentation, so I simply held my phone, and it shows. Sorry about that. After the short story reading, I stopped recording video and switched to audio. At around the half-hour mark, the image switches to a static image, but you can listen to the other half hour of questions and answers.

–Hunter

The launch party for Seven Shades of Evil takes place at Alabama Booksmith on Saturday, October 27, 2023, at 2:30 PM in Birmingham, AL! Mr. McCammon stopped by the Booksmith on Monday to sign books and to discuss the drawing they’re doing for the walking stick used in the author photo on the back of the book.

For all of the details, visit the Alabama Booksmith event page!

Robert McCammon

Hello, all! Yes, it’s that time of year. Fast approaching is Halloween, and also fast approaching is the publication of the 9th Matthew Corbett volume, Seven Shades Of Evil.

But there are eight shades in the book, and I’ll explain in a bit.

Seven Shades is a departure for the series, in that it’s a collection of shorter stories drawn from earlier events in the careers of Matthew, Hudson, Katherine and Minx. A question you might have is, ‘Why did you want to do this when the end volume is really right upon us?’

Well, a good question and the answer is: The last book in the series—Leviathan—will complete Matthew’s story. It’s now or never for these shorter but I think no less involving tales to be told. As much as I’ve enjoyed writing the series, getting to know the characters and living vicariously in what I consider a fascinating period of history, after Leviathan it will be time for me to move on and do some other projects ahead.

I do promise that Leviathan will be everything you hope it will be. Promise made. My plan (and hope) is that Leviathan will be published in October of 2024, but I can’t promise that due to unforeseen circumstances of life and the publishing business. But I will say that around that time, again, is my plan and hope.

As for Seven Shades Of Evil, I had originally planned to do this after The River Of Souls but I felt it unfair to leave readers hanging for such a long stretch after that book. Therefore…now or never for these shorter pieces, but consider them as appetizers for Leviathan because one story holds a clue as to the identity of the final—and certainly worst—villains that Matthew has faced in his dangerous episodes.

Coming from
Lividian Publications,
October 24, 2023

The stories in Seven Shades Of Evil are:

‘The Four Lamplighters’: Matthew and Hudson sign on as bodyguards to a band of travelling musicians and wind up with mud on their faces.

‘Night Ride’: Matthew finds himself in the middle of an age-old war.

‘The House At The Edge Of The World’: Hudson learns that a cyclops is not only a creature of mythology.

‘The Scorpion’s Eye’: Minx is on the hunt for a stolen jewel with a fantastic and deadly power.

‘The Pale Pipesmoker’: Katherine and Minx come to the aid of a man who’s been challenged to a duel by a cunning killer.

‘Skeleton Crew’: Katherine helps an ex-slave being tormented by a band of marauding skeletons on horseback.

‘Wandering Mary’: A ghost trying to lure a wealthy man to his death takes Matthew to a haunted castle.

And, the eighth, because I couldn’t leave out another character who’s been through so much…

‘Incident On The Lady Barbara’: A disappearance at sea puts Berry in the position of being a problem-solver.

I’m very excited about this book and so glad to be able to show some of the other characters in action. I was particularly glad to be able to see what Katherine can do when she’s on her own. (She’s actually pretty good with a pistol!)

So, there you have it. That time of year. And speaking of the time of year, on the 28th of October I’ll be at the Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham where I’ll be reading from Seven Shades, signing books (whatever you’d like me to sign), and talking about Leviathan. I hope you can make it!

Do not despair of Matthew’s future! I can promise also that the ending of Leviathan will be a proper ‘beginning’ for Matthew…and more than that I cannot say…but I might say more on the 28th of October!

Thanks again for your readership and continued support, and I hope this time of year is one of your happiest.

Best Wishes.

Polish publisher Vesper has announced that their translation of The Queen of Bedlam will be released on October 11, 2023. From their Facebook announcement (translation by Facebook) for Królowa Bedlam:

PREMIERE DATE

10.11.2023 “Królowa Bedlam” Robert McCammon

The second of the highly-anticipated October premieres is the follow-up of Robert McCammon’s “Zewu nocnego ptaka”.
[…]
Robert McCammon once again gives a description of incredible imagination and literary art. Plastic descriptions, characteristic characters, dynamic action and a great dose of humor create a gripping historical crime that will remain in the memory of every reader for a long time.

The book will be published in a hard frame, Janusz Ochab is responsible for the translation, the cover was designed by Maciej Kamuda. The novel has less than 700 pages. The retail price of the book is 89.90 PLN, in our online bookstore you can buy it for 54 PLN + shipping cost. Pre orders will start next week.

The trade paperback edition of The King of Shadows, book 8 in the Matthew Corbett series, has now officially been published. You can order from AmazonBarnes & NobleBooks-A-MillionBookshop.org, or your local indie.

COMING SOON! Seven Shades of Evil is the ninth volume in the series, and this fascinating installment features a wide range of adventures undertaken by both Matthew and his friends over the years. The World’s First Edition will be the trade hardcover published on October 24, and the sold out signed & slipcased Limited Edition will be out this winter.

When Subterranean Press published the limited edition of The Providence Rider in 2012, they included a bonus Matthew Corbett short story called “Death Comes for the Rich Man.” Several years later, the story was reprinted in the anthology Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 3.

Until now, the only way to read the story was by having a copy of one of those books. The story is not included in the upcoming collection Seven Shades of Evil, so Robert McCammon decided to release the story digitally here as a free gift for his readers. You can read the story as a web page here, or you can download the story in various ebook formats.

The cover art for the ebook is by Vincent Chong. The illustration accompanied the story in the limited edition of The Providence Rider. Thank you to Vincent for letting us re-use the image for the ebook files!

“Death Comes for the Rich Man” — A Matthew Corbett Story

Download EPUB, AZW3, MOBI, PDF

The next Matthew Corbett book, Seven Shades of Evil, will be published in October 2023 by Lividian Publications! And if you missed the news, a launch event for the book will take place October 28, 2023, at the Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham, AL. Robert McCammon will speak about the book, as well as sign copies of the book and other books you can bring with you. For full details, click here.

“The Wicked Gambler” is a character who appears in one of the stories in the upcoming collection of stories from Matthew Corbett’s world, Seven Shades of Evil. In his author photo for the book, Robert McCammon had makeup artist and photographer Amanda Chapman create “The Wicked Gambler.”

Robert McCammon has written a new short story entitled “The Wicked Gambler and His Walking Cane” to tell the origin of the walking cane that can be seen in the author photo.

“The Wicked Gambler and His Walking Cane”

The walking cane is the prize in an Alabama Booksmith giveaway that will take place at the Seven Shades of Evil launch party on Saturday, October 28, 2023! For details about the party and how to enter the giveaway contest, please read the June 26 post Alabama Booksmith: October Launch Event and a Giveaway!