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Mister Slaughter  By  cover art

Mister Slaughter

By: Robert R. McCammon
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
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Publisher's summary

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.

©2010 Robert McCammon (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Mister Slaughter

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic series!

It's cliche to say that you "can't put a story down, but in the case of this series, it's absolutely true. I had never tried any McCammon before I bought "The Nightbird" but I will most likely read everything available by him from now on. I love historical mystery from all settings, but this series is special. We get to see the fallible hero grow and change, make mistakes and do amazing things. Somehow McCammon has filled the tale with non-stop action but not made it seem unbelievable. I highly recommend this series to anyone, historical fans or not!

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25 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Too violent for my taste

What disappointed you about Mister Slaughter?

I'm always excited when I find a series to listen to. In this case, I really enjoyed the first two books in the series. However, Mr. Slaughter quickly became too violent for my taste. Had I been reading the book I could have speed-read through the violent sections, but one can't do that with an audio book. I might have been able to tolerate the violence more easily had I thought the actions taken were in character with the Matthew presented in the previous two books. Some work had been done to show how he'd changed and why, but I bet his mentor in the first book would have barely recognized Matthew.

What could Robert McCammon have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The problem is largely mine -- I don't like books that are filled with violence. Nor do I like books that are what I consider to be excessively filled with suspense. However, I do feel that McCammon failed to do enough character development to justify a Matthew who would do such the dishonest thing that led to the first incidence of violence.

What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?

Ballerini was great in all three books.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Mister Slaughter?

Hmmmm....the entire book? No fair..... The problem really is mine, and I think other people who enjoy historical fiction and don't mind violence would probably enjoy the book and the series.

Any additional comments?

I didn't finish Mr. Slaughter, and won't listen to the rest of the books in the series. I Googled the series to learn how everything turned out.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Darn! Why Must The Series Be So Expensive!

I used all my credits for the month and now I'm chomping at the bit to read the 4th book in this series. I was not familiar with this author before starting the series, and I consider his books almost the best find of this year. If he is a new author, I can't help but wonder what he has been doing! The characterization in each of the books is outstanding. The reader forms a relationship with each character, no matter what the length of time said character is in the story. There is violence, bad violence, and parts that can turn a weak stomach, but the violence is appropriate for the time period. Mr. McCammon gives us an in-depth look at New York city as it is growing in the 1700's, still under England's rule.
One quality I most like about this and all the other books in the series is all the little mysteries in the big mystery, all interwoven in a way that kept me rivoted.

I found myself comparing the author to two very different authors: Ariana Franklin and Nelson DeMille! He appears to have Ms. Franklin's ability to weave a tale set in a long gone time period and make the reader see that time period. He definitely has Mr. DeMilles ability to keep the reader on the edge of his/her seat, sometimes feeling empathy for the "bad" guys, but eargerly awaiting the triumph of Matthew Corbett (the main protagonist)!

The narration was top notch. I was not familiar with this narrator before, but I will be looking out for other books narrated by him. His ability to give voice to the many characters is outstanding and ensures the reader "sees" the characters.

I cannot say enough about this author, well, except I do wish Audible would lower the price of his books!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not really detective fiction...

This book was a little odd after the totally "five star" first two books in the series. The majority of the book didn't have a mystery for Matthew Corbett to figure out - it was suspense all the way.

Did it work as suspense? Absolutely. But I skipped ahead in places, which I couldn't do with the others because I might miss a clue, secure that I wouldn't lose the thread of the plot at all. I found myself wondering if maybe there was a tight deadline or something so the same care could not be put into the mystery for Matthew to solve. I also thought the resolution to the "Zed" storyline was baffling.

I'm in the fourth book now, so my reaction to this book didn't put me off the series. But I'm hoping for a return to the form of Speaks the Nightingale and Queen of Bedlam. Fingers crossed.

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12 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Not My Favorite in the Series

Don't want to spoil anything, but I found the "through the woods" part long and tedious. Still recommend the book, as it fits with the previous books and lays groundwork for the fourth, I just didn't enjoy it as much as the first two in the series.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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ZOMG Mind-blowingly good

Where does Mister Slaughter rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The top. Seriously. This was that good.

What other book might you compare Mister Slaughter to and why?

The only thing that even remotely compares is "The Alienist," by Caleb Carr, which similarly places a "modern" kind of criminal investigation in a vividly detailed past.

What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?

Edoardo Ballerini is a gosh-danged genius of audiobook narration.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

YES. The WHOLE THING. This book was so exciting, so fast-paced, thrilling, scary, frustrating, baffling, disgusting, horrifying, tragic, hilarious, clever, and flat-out fun, I hated to stop listening. This is my favorite of this series and I was pretty much ready to start it over as soon as I finished it.

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Just not my cup of tea, old sot.

Edoardo Ballerini is rapidly becoming my favorite narrator, although I really wish Bobby Cannavale would narrate more audiobooks. This book is part of a series featuring Matthew Corbett. I am not likely to listen to the others. It is set in New York City in the year 1702. This forces Ballerini to speak in a number of awkward semi-British accents, which are stilted and antiquated, which I guess should be no surprise. However, it is not entertaining. The plot is very slow, as are the horse-drawn carriages of the time. There are bars in NYC named the Cockatail and the Trot and Gallop, which sounds revolting, and actually is. Matthew works with a writing agency (pre-public relations, I imagine) and a boss whose name is Greathouse. Stuff ensues, including Matthew discovering buried treasure, for heaven's sake. He has a girlfriend named Berry. Blah and blah. Are you nodding off yet? Even the Great Ballerini can't rescue this one.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Exciting Historical Fiction

I like Robert McCammon to begin with, but I am especially fond of his Matthew Corbet books. He transports us back to a time in U.S. history that we don't learn about in school books. The daily lives of the citizens in the early 1700's was much different than our own. And, in addition, these books suck you into the story and their adventure. I would recommend any of them.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Less Talk, More Action & Some Tasty Morsels

I didn't enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed the stories in "Speaks the Nightbird" and "The Queen of Bedlam." In this installment, our protagonist and his mentor bite off more than they can chew with a seemingly mundane job gone badly awry and events turn macabre and unpalatable in a hurry. There is more action and less dialogue in this installment than the previous two. I enjoy Matthew's interrogations, so I missed the dialogue.

The narration by Edoardo Ballerini continues to be spot on.

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Took A Drastic Turn for the Worse

What would have made Mister Slaughter better?

I was really surprised by the choices McCammon made with his characters in this third book in the Matthew Corbett series. The entire premise is not consistent with the characters he has crafted in this first two books, especially Matthew! (Spoilers ahead) I had a seriously difficult time believing that Matthew, a firm believer in justice and the law, would go on a crazy quest to recover stolen money from a prisoner. From that point on the book took a pretty drastic turn for the worse. Low point of the book was the murder of a Pioneer family (with apparently helpless Pioneering women....) and the rape of a young girl. Ugh. I will not be reading the rest of these books. Terribly disappointed!

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