Seven Shades of Evil

Matthew Corbett Novel, Book 9

By: Robert McCammon

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 17 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling author continues his colonial-era thriller series with eight tales of mystery, adventure, and supernatural suspense.

From his first appearance in Speaks the Nightbird to his latest adventure in The King of Shadows, Matthew Corbett has faced enemies of all kinds, from serial killers to sorcerers. Now author Robert McCammon presents eight gripping stories featuring the professional problem solver and his associates that take place between the popular novels.

Seven Shades of Evil includes four original stories, including “Wandering Mary”, and four additional tales that previously appeared in limited form and are no longer available elsewhere. Ranging from twisting murder plots to ominous portents of the paranormal, these stories are an intriguing blend of everything that has drawn audiences to the Matthew Corbett series for more than twenty years.

This volume includes:

• “The Four Lamplighters”
• “Night Ride”
• “The House at the Edge of the World”
• “The Scorpion’s Eye”
• “Skeleton Crew”
• “The Pale Pipe Smoker”
• “Wandering Mary”
• “Incident on the Lady Barbara”

©2023 The McCammon Corporation (P)2023 Audible, Inc.

A welcome return to old friends

I appreciate Mr. McCammon giving Matthew’s supporting cast more face time so we can enjoy them just as much as we do Matthew. All the stories are fun with the “The Four Lamplighters” being mainly silly and “Wandering Mary” being more like a traditional Corbett novel. This is a good bridge gap until we get to embrace the ultimate novel in the series.

Brilliant Adventures! McCammon does not disappoint

McCammon has proven once again that he is a master storyteller. This book, along with Speaks The Nightbird, has become my favorite Matthew Corbett book. To be able to experience such intimate adventures with these characters was something I didn't want to end. I hope we get to visit them again in this format. Thank you, Mr. McCammon, for reaffirming why you are, and will always be, my favorite!

Matthew Corbett Universe

Some stories great, some ok, depending on which characters you like most or least. I devoured them all like a bag of popcorn though.
Solid narration as usual.
Can't wait for the final installment!

Great Encore

The first story was basically a parody of the series, felt more like Scooby-Doo than Sherlockian, but the good news is, the rest of the stories are much better.

Love these short stories

I originally didn’t think I’d enjoy these stories. Instead I wanted the next installment of Matthew’s adventures. But I decided these stories filled in some blanks about the other characters and I was captivated. Lovely narration as always.

Absolutely Delightful!

Absolutely a delight from start to finish.

Seven historical mysteries, set around 1700 in several different areas of the US at the time. New York Town, Boston, etc, and even one story set aboard on ocean voyage.

They were all fantastic stories and each featured characters I already know and love. I enjoyed Hudson Greathouse's tale. He is so funny and Edoardo Ballerini's voicing of him makes the huge man vivid in my mind. I love that big lug.

Katherine Herrold, Matthew Corbett's boss at the problem solving agency has a wonderful story here, in which she attempts to help a freed slave from having her land taken by a local cattle baron. In this tale, I learned of the game jingo...and as the cards were being drawn, I was on pins and needle, holding my breath. Clearly drawn good and evil here, but the fun was in the cards.

Matthew Corbett's story was my favorite, I think. A classic mystery in a stone manor, with servants and all kinds of gothic elements. Ballerini's voicing of the doctor, (because of course there's a doctor), all smug and full of himself had me cracking up.

Turns out there are actually 8 stories in this collection, with a little intro from Mr. McCammon himself, and read by Ballerini. The last tale belongs to Berry Grigsby. Aboard a ship, trying to evade rather grabby passengers, Berry finds her own mystery to solve. Plus it helps keep her mind off Matthew, and his quest for Professor Fell's mirror.

And now that I'm done with this, my mind turns to Matthew as well. With the next book being the last, (I believe), I'm both highly anticipating and dreading its arrival. While I'm excited to see Matthew's journey end, (hopefully with being wedded to Berry), I'm also worried that he won't make it back to her. And of course, I'll be unspeakably sad to see the end of this series.

Let me add this for those unfamiliar with this series. If you're not reading it because you think McCammon is a horror writer, please think again. While some of the books have had horrific aspects, these are historical mysteries. They're full of fun facts about life in America at that time, the politics, the popular games and plays, and it's all woven into intriguing mysteries. The characters feel real, and they are a truly fun bunch.

Edoardo Ballerini is so entertaining while bringing these words to life, I'm considering relistening to the entire series on audio to ready myself for that aforementioned last book.

My highest recommendation!

*I bought 3 versions of this book.*

Masterful writing and narration.

I will never get enough of Matthew Corbett and these stories are excellent additions to his adventures.

Ho Ho Ho

Thanks to Robert McCammon, Edoardo Ballerini, and Audible Christmas came early. The Matthew Corbett series is one of my favorites and book 9 did not disappoint! All eight stories were great but Wandering Mary my favorite!! Hope for more Matthew in the future!!!

Encore! Encore!

I’m obsessed with this series & when I saw that there was a new book, I downloaded it without reading the description. I was expecting another addition to the Corbett storyline but instead got a medley of stories in the same story universe that were all thoroughly enjoyable. The narration is also amazing. Can’t wait for the next book!

Matthew Corbett's World Continues to be Wild

In Robert McCammon's ninth installment of colonial problem solver Matthew Corbett's world, we get eight short stories that add to the mythos. Having grown up on McCammon's work, including "They Thirst," "Wolf's Hour," "Night Boat," as well as must-read's "Swan Song," and "Boy's Life" - I always loved "Blue World." The short story genre is difficult to break into and harder to master. These were novella's and featured the characters featured in Matthew Corbett's colonial world. It reminded me a bit of the old TV show, "Wild, Wild West" where there is a mythical jewel that tells the future in a castle full of booby traps, another fanciful look at a colonial version of the Beatles and even a tip of the cap to Vampires vs. Werewolves. Maybe even a story about a cyclops in the basement that I couldn't help think about Jon Matuszek's portrayal of Chunk in "The Goonies."

This was a lot of fun and takes the Corbett series further without the diabolical Professor. Edoardo Ballerini manages to balance so many characters and so many accents. It's a great read and worth the credit for over 17 hours of listening.