The Queen of Bedlam

A Matthew Corbett Novel, Book 2

By: Robert R. McCammon

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 23 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

His epic masterwork Speaks the Nightbird, a tour de force of witch hunt terror in a colonial town, was hailed by Sandra Brown as "deeply satisfying...told with matchless insight into the human soul."

Now, Robert McCammon brings the hero of that spellbinding novel, Matthew Corbett, to 18th-century New York, where a killer wields a bloody and terrifying power over a bustling city carving out its identity - and over Matthew's own uncertain destiny.

The unsolved murder of a respected doctor has sent ripples of fear throughout a city teeming with life and noise and commerce. Who snuffed out the good man's life with the slash of a blade on a midnight street? The local printmaster has labeled the fiend "the Masker," adding fuel to a volatile mystery...and when the Masker claims a new victim, hardworking young law clerk Matthew Corbett is lured into a maze of forensic clues and heart-pounding investigation that will both test his natural penchant for detection and inflame his hunger for justice.

In the strangest twist of all, the key to unmasking the Masker may await in an asylum where the Queen of Bedlam reigns - and only a man of Matthew's reason and empathy can unlock her secrets. From the seaport to Wall Street, from society mansions to gutters glimmering with blood spilled by a deviant, Matthew's quest will tauntingly reveal the answers he seeks - and the chilling truths he cannot escape.

©2007 Robert McCammon (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

As good as "Nightbird"

Where does The Queen of Bedlam rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Ranks quite high. Excellent story with lots of depth and character and location development. Gives a good verbal picture of the time and place and has links to past (and future) stories.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Matthew - well developed character with a predictable reaction to all that happens. The character transcends each story which makes listening comfortable.

If you could take any character from The Queen of Bedlam out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The nymphomaniacal young lady, name escapes me at moment, with whom Matthew spent an exhausting evening!

Any additional comments?

Love to see more of these stories, they are quite unique

Very entertaining

Excellent narration. Story pulls me in. Overall great listen. I love the detail of the time period.

excellent story!

I found this story to be very engaging. The narrator did an excellent job telling the story. His characterizations were great and I could understand him with my hearing impairment.

Matthew Corbett is a winner!

This is my third book by Robert McCammon and the second in the Matthew Corbett series. I liked Matthew in the first of the series and was very pleasantly surprised to find I like him even more in this book. The "good" characters are likeable and the "bad guys" are very bad, indeed, and the plot was engrossing. The history is interesting, there are gruesome crimes, sword fights, plenty of action, wonderful development of relationships with the other characters and thankfully, none of the "gross" language that is so common today. The ending insures I will be listening to the third in this series.

The narration is first class and only adds to the enjoyment.

I highly recommend this series.

Great Book, Great Author!

Where does The Queen of Bedlam rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The Queen of Bedlam is a very well read audiobook. The narrator is very eloquent and keeps is very consistent with the many voices he uses for the character of the book.

Better & Better

The Queen of Bedlam picks up three years after Fount Royal. Matthew is now after The Masker a new serial killer only this time Matthew is a new jr agent of the Harold Agency. The Harold Agency is a group of problem solvers "investigators" and if Matthew can solve this he will get his strips. Every twist and turn keeps going back to his child hood at the orphanage.Must Read

Love this Series

Robert McCammon is a wonderful writer. This series, which follows the character Matthew Corbett, is interesting, exciting and highly entertaining. The story keeps you awake because you absolutely have to know what happens next. The narrator is perfect for this character.

Beautiful work

Would you consider the audio edition of The Queen of Bedlam to be better than the print version?

A narrator can make or break a story, slipping with ease into different characters raher than trying to hard to create silly distinct "voices" and making a parody is a key factor in enjoying this book in particular...

What other book might you compare The Queen of Bedlam to and why?

Caleb Carr's book The Alienist is from a similar time in history and I love the way it depict the formative years of New York's police and judicial system as well as the view of the mentally ill and criminal mind before we knew more about the area of forensic science.

What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?

Understated and elegant performance by narrator

Any additional comments?

I love this writer and I love the narrator wonderful series highly recommended

Non-stop story building - A GREAT read!!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes! I have never been a fan of mysteries and I'm still not except when it comes to this series! Honestly, I'm beginning to think that I'd read anything by Robert McCammon . . . I started with "Swan Song" and enjoyed the writing so much I thought I'd give "Speaks the Nightbird" a shot and I'm glad I did, now I'm hooked on the series!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love them all, but Matthew is wonderful because he's so meticulous about everything. I especially enjoyed the line in the book when his companion bursts out in frustration at him stating how he:
... HATES the way Matthew looks unconcerned and as though he's thinking of all manner of other things while HE, his friend, is very upset and explaining something very important only to finish explaining and find that Matthew has picked up every word and subtlety completely!.....
(please excuse my grossly inaccurate paraphrasing based purely on memory of my one time listening of the book) - The way Mr McCammon actually casts the dialog is a beautiful example of the authors craft for providing descriptive character detail without shoving it in your face. There are many ways to describe things and Mr Mc Cammon uses them all. :-)

All the characters are well sketched out and developed for the reader, most are left with enough room (visually) for imagination to fill in the rest with the exception of owner/writer of the "Earwig", initially called the Lady Bug". Robert McCammon depicted this character so well he nearly jumped out of my IPOD and stood in front of me! At any rate, every time this particular character spoke in the book his image was stored so strongly in my mind I had to hold back a giggle so people wouldn't stare at me like I was crazy! A truly entertaining character that I look forward to reading more of!!!

Have you listened to any of Edoardo Ballerini’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Only one, the book previous to this in the series - "Speaks the Nightbird". As with every book, new Characters require new voices and since this book takes place in a completely different location with Matthew being the only continuing character, I'd say that Edoardo Ballerini did an outstanding job! I found it easy to determine who was speaking by the unique style developed for each voice

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

The book was difficult to get sucked into at the beginning and that's the reason I gave it 4 stars . . . I wish I could give it 4.5 stars. I don't remember what the key event was that finally pulled me in or how far into the book I was, but once that happened, yes, I wanted to listen to the remainder all in one sitting, but due to the length, I found it impossible. Still, at the beginning there were quite a few stops and I found myself looking at other material. My suggestion is to plug on and remember my confession at the beginning of this review, I am NOT a mystery fan . . . this series is the ONLY one I'm following. I don't think the lag lasted beyond two hours . . .

Any additional comments?

These are well crafted stores written by a talented writer! I haven't written many reviews but I felt obligated to do so in this case . . . the only reason I got on line was to purchase book three in the series! :-)

I know he's got some other books out there, what is the chance that Audible or a subsidiary will convert some of Mr. Mc Cammon's older books? He appears to have a following here on Audible . . . ???

Queen of Bedlam

I do enjoy McCammon’s descriptions of people, landscape and events. This book is about a character in a previous book that I read so I was curious to see what happened to Matthew when I saw the description of book. It was a great listen I enjoy the readers cadence and will look forward to his narration of other books.