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.

Master story teller

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

told by a master teller of stories

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

Speaks the Nightbird began the Matthew Corbett story that goes on even after the mystery is solved. Robert McCammon weaves an assortment of loose threads into a rich tapestry of lives lived in colonial times in America. He is a true master story teller.

Which character – as performed by Edoardo Ballerini – was your favorite?

None better than Edoardo Ballerini. He is a master teller of stories. How can one person deliver so many distinct voices. He brings each character to life in vivid color in the mind's eye. His performance makes the story flow through time and place. Listening to this series makes long car trips fly by.

Who was the most memorable character of The Queen of Bedlam and why?

Many interesting period characters but none more memorable than Matthew himself, the solver of puzzles

Any additional comments?

Starting book 3 and already sorry there are only 4 books in this series, hope he is working on book 5.

Loved it!!!!

This is everything I LOVE in an audiobook! Excellent writing (I ENJOY historical crime novels that also contain actual history) - excellent narrative and audiobooks that are longer than 10 hours! Please continue these Matthew Corbett mysteries, Mr. McCammon!!! And Mr Ballerini, thank you for reading these exceptional novels with your wonderful voice! ps I rarely gush online about anything, but I just HAD to share!

Awesome

I’m in love with this whole series. Fabulously written! Always clever and exciting. On to the next...

Wonderful read

I haven’t read anything by this author for many years not realizing he’s written so much. I truly enjoyed this book and the direction the author has taken. Thank you, Mr McCammon!

I liked it

it was a fanciful and simple period piece with levels of murder and mayhem. The beginning had me thinking it was going in a sad uncomfortable direction that could only end one way, then it took a turn and I was intrigued to the end. The characters were not that deep and I'm sure historical liberties were taken but they all connected in the end to my hometown so that was a cool history lession!

You had me until…

I liked the first book better and the writing in some parts is really good. The narrator is superb BUT I can’t understand why the rape scene is in this book. It has really nothing to do with the story or moving the plot along. It is very reminiscent of the one in the first book but more brutal. I feel as if the author is writing of some fantasy he has but I hardly think a young man wants to be raped anymore then a woman does. It’s gross and ruins the story for me like some kind of sick rite of passage. It’s also really kind of sad to think how this woman was just used by all these men and boys and the author wants you to think she liked it. At the end she was used abused and run through like she was garbage. Spoiled the book for me.

Terrific

had read the book but am going through them again on audio and it’s really terrific! Edourdo Ballerini couldn’t be a better Matthew Corbit! His voice is perfect for the part! Just love it when they get the narration just perfect like this! Will go on r the next book which I’ve also read a while ago so these are all refresher courses for me before I start on book 4 that’s I’ve not read yet. I know the story will be enjoyable as long as EB is reading!

Addicted to this series!

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

Yes. Clever dialogue, great characters, good plot. Just a great read.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Queen of Bedlam?

When the hero and heroine are trapped and about to be killed, the villain notes "she's not doing very well" and our hero responds "it's her first time being murdered."

What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?

His reading is transparent - by that I mean that I can see/experience each character clearly as he creates each unique voice and personality. He manages to voice an array of extremely well-crafted characters without overacting, not once, not ever, so that the listener is never aware of his presence. He's a gem. One of the best readers I've heard.

Any additional comments?

Moving right on to the next book. I hope McCammon and Ballerini have another one in the hopper, because I'm going to be lonely for Matthew when I finish #4.

McCammon is the KING of Historical Fiction!

I am so happy to have discovered this series. I love historical novels especially when they are full of mystery, murder and mayhem! Edoardo Ballerini is an amazingly talented actor who is the perfect narrator for a book of this length. I was never bored- he kept me engaged the entire time. The book is funny, sad, interesting and full of great characters. I highly recommend spending time in Matthew Corbett's world!

Too much of everything except Mr. Ballerini

So, how do you feel about twenty-three hour, four-hundred year old colonial costume dramas? This is exactly the sort of thing for people who like this sort of thing. Me, I like Edoardo Ballerini. He is virtually the only narrator whom I will listen to and thoroughly enjoy for such a lengthy book. With the exception of Shantaram, I just find these epics way overblown in every way. Now, you may say that I knew what I was getting when I bought it, but I will say back to you that my admiration for Mr. Ballerini and his skills is so great that I can sometimes ignore the overdone work he is narrating. I also have to admit to you that I am going to listen to Sings the Nightbird, which is not twenty-three but THIRTY hours long, and I will do it for the same reason, that being Mr. Ballerini's astonishing skills.
To attempt to sum up the plot of a work this large is foolhardy. Moby Dick is about a whale, and Crime and Punishment is about Russia (both of those gags are Woody Allen's; the results of taking an Evelyn Wood speed-reading course). Just as a taste, I will say that the book is situated in the late 1600's, when New York was just beginning to become a shadow of what it now is. Our hero is Matthew Corbett, who the author claims invented the word "detective." Who are we to argue? There is a cast of thousands, almost literally. There is drama and tragedy, and, regrettably, not much comedy at all. I could have used some. Believe it or not, in an epic this size, there are actually a few characters who are under-drawn, and whom we would like to have heard more about. The women tend not to be drawn all that well, which is common in male-written epic dramas. Many of the period details are interesting. Much of the gore may be essential to the work, but I still could have lived without a lot of it, which I will kindly spare you. You can learn quite a bit of history from this thing, although the historical point of view here is idiosyncratic at best. I'm sure it took billions of hours to research these books, and the results are everywhere, particularly in tiny details.
So, can I recommend this book to you? I am deeply ambivalent. If you love and admire Mr. Ballerini's skills as much as I do, maybe you will be able to get through the thing. If you are a true history freak, that might do as well. Otherwise, you might use these twenty-three hours doing something completely different. Like taking an extremely long baaath.