Zephyr, alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson -- a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake -- and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. as Cory struggles to understand his father's pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him. From an ancient mystic who can hear the dead and bewitch the living, to a violent clan of moonshiners, Cory must confront the secrets that hide in the shadows of his hometown -- for his father's sanity and his own life hang in the balance. . . .

In a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, earth's last survivors have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil, that will decide the fate of humanity: Sister, who discovers a strange and transformative glass artifact in the destroyed Manhattan streets . . . Joshua Hutchins, the pro wrestler who takes refuge from the nuclear fallout at a Nebraska gas station . . . and Swan, a young girl possessing special powers, who travels alongside Josh to a Missouri town where healing and recovery can begin with Swan's gifts. But the ancient force behind earth's devastation is scouring the walking wounded for recruits for its relentless army, beginning with Swan herself. . . .

The year is 1703, and Matthew Corbett, professional problem solver, is missing. Last seen by his friends in New York before he departed on a lucrative, seemingly straightforward mission for the Herrald Agency in Charles Town, he's been too long absent. His comrade-in-arms Hudson Greathouse has an increasing sense the young friend he thinks of as a son must have met with some unexpected peril. Following his hunch, Greathouse retraces Matthew's steps only to find him first presumed dead, then accused of murdering a young woman and apparently en route to London with a devious Prussian count last encountered on Professor Fell's Pendulum Island. Little does he know that Matthews's circumstances are growing worse by the second. For when Matthew arrives in the bustling squalor of Londontown, he's come shackled, charged for the murder of Count Anton Mannerheim Dahlgren. No matter the lack of body, presumed lost to the ocean. He soon finds himself locked up in the infamous Newgate prison, and has drawn the interest of a mysterious mask-wearing vigilante accused of several gruesome murders. Greathouse and the woman Matthew loves, Berry Grigsby, travel across the high seas to England to aid their friend, but it is impossible to know whether they will reach him in time to save his life. Freedom of the Mask * is the sixth installment in bestselling author Robert McCammon's acclaimed series of standalone historical thrillers featuring the exploits of a young hero the USA Character Approved Blog has called the "Early American James Bond." The most surprising and ambitious volume to date, this is a novel filled with unpredictable twists and a note-perfect depiction of early 1700s London. Fans will not want to miss Matthew Corbett's most dangerous adventure yet.

A veteran’s moment of rage leads to a chase through the bayou in this tale of “jackhammer suspense” by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song (Kirkus Reviews).  Two decades after he finished serving his country in the jungles of Southeast Asia, Dan Lambert still pays the price. As he hustles for construction work in the heat of a brutal Louisiana summer, Dan tries to ignore the pounding in his head—a constant reminder of the Agent Orange–caused leukemia which will soon end his life. And now the bank wants to repossess his truck. His attempt to reason with the loan officer does not get him far. Dan loses himself in rage, and for a moment is back in the jungle again. When he comes out of his bloodlust, he has shot the banker through the chest. There is nothing to do but run. On his trail are two peculiar bounty hunters: a onetime Siamese twin and a heavyset Elvis impersonator. To save his own life, Dan is going to have to remember why it was worth living in the first place.

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. 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.

A woman is ravished... and to her a child is born... unleashing an unimaginable evil upon the world! And they call him BAAL in the orphanage, where he leads the children on a rampage of violence...in California, where he appears as the head of a deadly Manson-like cult...in Kuwait, where crazed millions heed his call to murder and orgy. They call him BAAL in the Arctic's hellish wasteland, where he is tracked by the only three men with a will to stop him: Zark, the shaman; Virga, the aging professor of theology; and Michael, the powerful, mysterious stranger.

A MASS MURDER. A DISAPPEARANCE. A CEMETERY RANSACKED. It looked like another ordinary day in Los Angeles Then night came.... Evil as old as the centuries has descended upon the City of Angels---it comes as a kiss from the terrifying but seductive immortals. Slowly at first, then by the legions, the ravenous undead choke Los Angeles with bloodthirsty determination---and the hordes of monstrous victims steadily mount each night. High above glitter city a deadly contest begins. In the decaying castle of a long-dead screen idol, the few remaining human survivors prepare to face the Prince of Evil and his satanic disciples. Whilst the very forces of nature are called into play, isolating the city from the rest of the world and leaving it at the mercy of the blood-hungry vultures of the night.... THEY THIRST Theirs is a lust that can never be satisfied... Afterword by author

Swan is a nine-year-old Idaho girl following her struggling mother from one trailer park to the next when she receives visions of doom—something far wider than the narrow scope of her own beleaguered life. In a blinding flash, nuclear bombs annihilate civilization, leaving only a few buried survivors to crawl onto a scorched landscape that was once America. In Manhattan, a homeless woman stumbles from the sewers, guided by the prophecies of a mysterious amulet, and pursued by something wicked; on Idaho’s Blue Dome Mountain, an orphaned boy falls under the influence of depraved survivalists and discovers the value of a killer instinct; and amid the devastating dust storms on the Great Plains of Nebraska, Swan forms a heart-and-soul bond with an unlikely new companion. Soon they will cross paths. But only Swan knows that they must endure more than just a trek across an irradiated country of mutated animals, starvation, madmen, and wasteland warriors. Swan’s visions tell of a coming malevolent force. It’s a shape-shifting embodiment of the apocalypse, and of all that is evil and despairing. And it’s hell-bent on destroying the last hope of goodness and purity in the world. Swan is that hope. Now, she must fight not only for her own survival, but for that of all mankind. A winner of the Bram Stoker Award and a finalist for the World Fantasy Award, Swan Song has become a modern classic, called “a chilling vision that keeps you turning pages to the shocking end” by John Saul and “a long, satisfying look at hell and salvation” by Publishers Weekly.

takes place in the weird and picturesque heart of the North Carolina mountains. The haughty, aristocratic Ushers live in a mansion near Asheville; the poor but crafty mountain folk (whose families are just as ancient) live on Briartop Mountain nearby. At harvest time, when the book's action unfolds, the mountains are a blaze of color. Add to the mixture a sinister history of mountain kids disappearing every year, a journalist investigating those disappearances, a monster called "The Pumpkin Man," moldy books and paintings in a huge old library at the Usher estate, and a secret chamber with a strange device involving a brass pendulum and tuning forks--and you've got a splendid recipe for atmospheric horror.

An “impressive” tale of psychic power, Native American mysticism, and an ancient evil in Alabama, from the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song (Associated Press). Born and raised in rural Alabama, Billy Creekmore was destined to be a psychic. His mother, a Choctaw Indian schooled in her tribe’s ancient mysticism, understands the permeable barrier between life and death—and can cross it. She taught the power to Billy and now he helps the dead rest in peace. Wayne Falconer, son of one of the most fervent tent evangelists in the South, travels the country serving his father’s healing ministry. Using his unique powers to cure the flock, Little Wayne is on his way to becoming one of the popular and successful miracle workers in the country. He helps the living survive. Billy and Wayne share more than a gift. They share a dream—and a common enemy. They are on separate journeys, mystery walks that will lead them toward a crossroad where the evil of their dreams has taken shape. One of them will reject the dark. The other will be consumed by it. But neither imagined just how monstrous and far-reaching the dark was, or that mankind’s fate would rest in their hands during an epic showdown of good versus evil. From the author of Gone South, Boy’s Life, and the Matthew Corbett series, a master of suspense who has won the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Awards, Mystery Walk offers “creepy, subtle touches throughout [and] splendid Southern-town atmosphere” (Kirkus Reviews).

This book is a remarkable tale of pulse-pounding excitement with a uniquely sympathetic, fascinating portrait of the werewolf as noble warrior-and conflicted being. Complex, compelling and utterly real. First published in 1989, The Wolf's Hour remains one of Robert McCammon's most indelible creations. Ranging freely and with great authority through realms of history, folklore, and myth, it combines two seemingly disparate genres the World War II action thriller and the paranormal romance into a seamless, irresistible whole.McCammon's hero is Michael Gallatin, embattled inhabitant of two different worlds. Born into the Russian aristocracy, but 'changed' and raised by a pack of werewolves, Michael's journey takes him from the wild regions of his native Russia to the battle-scarred landscapes of a world at war. Offering his unique talents to the Allied cause, Michael becomes a sort of secret weapon aimed at the destruction of Hitler and his 'Thousand Year Reich.' His adventures take him from the deserts of North Africa to the German-occupied countries of Western Europe. There, with the aid of a vivid assortment of friends, comrades, and lovers, he uncovers a horrific conspiracy known as 'Iron Fist,' which threatens to disrupt the Allies' long-planned invasion of Europe and to alter the very outcome of the war.Both a scrupulously researched historical thriller and a brilliant re-imagining of the traditional werewolf tale, The Wolf's Hour offers pleasure, excitement, and illumination on virtually every page. Exotic, enthralling, and endlessly inventive, it is the work of a master storyteller in full command of his matchless narrative gifts.The Subterranean Press edition of The Wolf's Hour will feature an original introduction by Robert McCammon, as well as a full-color dust jacket and a number of color plates by Vincent Chong, including a gatefold illustration depicting the novel's famous 'death train' scene. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Adrift in the 1980s and slowly losing her mind, a heavily armed former '60s radical kidnaps a baby with the hope, deluded as it may be, of returning her life to simpler times. The child's mother, though, isn't about to take it lying down and, along with a tracker, begins a cross-country chase to get her child back.

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 streeti 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.

He is the foul seed of evil the dark prophet who sees what is - and creates what will always be. Across the earth, he spreads his fiendish blasphemy, unleashes his holocaust, proclaims himself messiah. But he is Baal, the prince of demons. Fear him. He will never be destroyed. A woman is raped and a child is born - they call him Baal. He is too much to handle and his mother puts him in an orphanage where he leads the children on a rampage of violence. This is the beginning of a life which unleashes unimaginable evil upon the world.

The Carolinas, 1699: The citizens of Fount Royal believe a witch has cursed their town with inexplicable tragedies, and they demand that beautiful widow Rachel Howarth be tried and executed for witchcraft. Presiding over the trial is traveling magistrate Issac Woodward, aided by his astute young clerk, Matthew Corbett. Believing in Rachel's innocence, Matthew will soon confront the true evil at work in Fount Royal. After hearing damning testimony, magistrate Woodward sentences the accused witch to death by burning. Desperate to exonerate the woman he has come to love, Matthew begins his own investigation among the townspeople. Piecing together the truth, he has no choice but to vanquish a force more malevolent than witchcraft in order to save his beloved Rachel and free Fount Royal from the menace claiming innocent lives.

A psychopathic female fugitive provokes a mother’s vengeance in this terrifying thriller by the New York Times–bestselling author of Gone South and Boy’s Life. Back in the 1960s, Mary Terrell shot and killed a man. A former member of the fanatical Storm Front Brigade—a splinter group of the notorious Weathermen—Terrell has stayed one step ahead of the FBI for decades. Living with numerous identities and menial jobs, Terrell’s only constants in life have been LSD, psychotic delusions of motherhood, and murderous rage. The sixties are long gone, but Mary is still out there. Now, provoked by a message she reads in Rolling Stone, she’s convinced that the surviving leader of her old band of radicals wants to build a life with her. So one night, Mary sneaks into the maternity ward of an Atlanta hospital. Laura Clayborne has a successful career and now, a newborn baby. She’s the type of person who is sensitive to suffering and injustice. But the kidnapping of her infant son has brought out a white-hot fury. She’s not going to sit and wait while the FBI investigates. She’s going after Mary herself—headlong and relentless—on a twisting and violent cross-country pursuit to get her child back. But to track a madwoman, Laura will have to think like one . . . A Bram Stoker Award winner, this “expertly constructed novel of suspense and horror” (Publishers Weekly) from the author of Swan Song, Speaks the Nightbird, and other acclaimed works is “feverishly exciting . . . a page-whipping thriller” (Kirkus Reviews).

Judgment of the Witch The Carolinas, 1699: The citizens of Fount Royal believe a witch has cursed their town with inexplicable tragedies ? and they demand that beautiful widow Rachel Howarth be tried and executed for witchcraft. Presiding over the trial is traveling magistrate Isaac Woodward, aided by his astute young clerk, Matthew Corbett. Believing in Rachel's innocence, Matthew will soon confront the true evil at work in Fount Royal. . . . Evil Unveiled After hearing damning testimony, magistrate Woodward sentences the accused witch to death by burning. Desperate to exonerate the woman he has come to love, Matthew begins his own investigation among the townspeople. Piecing together the truth, he has no choice but to vanquish a force more malevolent than witchcraft in order to save his beloved Rachel and free Fount Royal from the menace claiming innocent lives.

From a New York Times–bestselling and Bram Stoker Award–winning author: Three novels with monsters ranging from alien to werewolf to vengeful moms. Whether writing Southern Gothic horror or reinventing the monster genre, World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award–winning author Robert R. McCammon proves himself a master of a wide spectrum of modern horror and dark fantasy. In these three novels, McCammon presents a terrifying predator from another world, a werewolf war hero, and two crazy moms you do not want to mess with. Stinger: In this New York Times bestseller, when Stinger, a monstrous alien bounty hunter, crash-lands in the West Texas hellhole of Inferno in search of a young fugitive, the relentless creature encloses the town in an impenetrable and inescapable dome to isolate and kill its prey. Now, the few remaining survivors must band together to save the fugitive—who’s taken the human form of a small girl—and themselves from annihilation. “The ultimate horror novel.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer “One of the best suspense novels of recent years.” —Science Fiction Chronicle The Wolf’s Hour: Michael Gallatin—master spy, Nazi hunter . . . and werewolf. As the Allies’ secret weapon, the lycanthrope parachutes into occupied France to subvert a Nazi plan to thwart the D-Day invasion, code-named Iron Fist. With the Normandy landings only hours away, it’s a race against time. The Nazis may have Iron Fist, but Gallatin comes with claws, in this New York Times bestseller. “Powerful . . . fuses WWII espionage thriller and dark fantasy. Richly detailed, intricately plotted, fast-paced historical suspense is enhanced by McCammon’s unique take on the werewolf myth.” —Publishers Weekly Mine: Suffering from psychotic delusions of motherhood, former sixties radical and FBI fugitive Mary Terrell sneaks into the maternity ward of an Atlanta hospital and snatches a newborn baby. Burning with primal maternal fury, the baby’s mother, Laura Clayborne, is going after Mary herself on a twisted and violent cross-country pursuit. In this Bram Stoker Award winner, to track a madwoman, Laura will have to think like one . . . “Feverishly exciting . . . a page-whipping thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews “An expertly constructed novel of suspense and horror.” —Publishers Weekly

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 eighteenth-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, 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...while young law clerk Matthew Corbett has other obsessions in mind. Earnest and hardworking, Matthew spends his precious spare time attempting to vindicate the abuses he witnessed growing up in the Sainted John Home for Boys, at the hands of its monstrous headmaster. But Matthew's true calling lies not in avenging the past but salvaging the future -- for when the Masker claims a new victim, Matthew 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.

"The Providence Rider is the fourth installment in the extraordinary series of historical thrillers featuring Matthew Corbett, professional problem solver. The narrative begins in the winter of 1703, with Matthew still haunted by his lethal encounter with notorious mass murderer Tyranthus Slaughter. When an unexplained series of explosions rocks his Manhattan neighborhood, Matthew finds himself forced to confront a new and unexpected problem. Someone is trying--and trying very hard--to get his attention. That someone is a shadowy figure from out of Matthew's past: the elusive Dr. Fell. The doctor, it turns out, has a problem of his own, one that requires the exclusive services of Matthew Corbett. The ensuing narrative moves swiftly and gracefully from the emerging metropolis of New York City to Pendulum Island in the remote Bermudas. In the course of his journey, Matthew encounters a truly Dickensian assortment of memorable, often grotesque, antagonists."--Amazon.com.

Amazon.com ReviewRobert McCammon asks, "What happened to those children of the sixties who learned the language of hatred, who swore oaths upon their bloodstained manifestos and vowed to never surrender?" Most went on to other lifestyles. But Mary Terrell, a.k.a. "Mary Terror," did not change. Her insanity deepened into schizophrenia, and in the late '80s she still calls herself "freedom fighter for those without rights in the Mindfuck State." Hallucinating, heavily armed, and possessed by the delusion that an infant son will restore the good ol' days with her ex-lover, Mary steals a baby. But the child's mother is a strong, resourceful woman, and she recruits an ex-radical to help her. What ensues is a hair-raising chase across the American Midwest in wintertime, toward a final confrontation in which both "mothers" proclaim, "He's mine." Not only is Mine an intense horror novel (winner of a Bram Stoker Award), but refreshingly, all three main characters are women. From Publishers WeeklyA psychotic leaves a trail of murder victims in her wake after she kidnaps a newborn child and goes off to join a revolutionary group to which she belonged during the '60s. Although McCammon portrays his left-wing characters as motivated by adolescent rebellion rather than by radical politics, "he delivers an expertly constructed novel of suspense and horror," said PW. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

World Fantasy award-winning, bestselling author Robert McCammon makes a triumphant return to the epic horror and apocalyptic tone reminiscent of his books Swan Song and Stinger in this gripping new novel, The Border, a saga of an Earth devastated by a war between two marauding alien civilizations. But it is not just the living ships of the monstrous Gorgons or the motion-blurred shock troops of the armored Cyphers that endanger the holdouts in the human bastion of Panther Ridge. The world itself has turned against the handful of survivors, as one by one they succumb to despair and suicide or, even worse, are transformed by otherworldly pollution into hideous Gray Men, cannibalistic mutants driven by insatiable hunger. Into these desperate circumstances comes an amnesiac teenaged boy who names himself Ethan—a boy who must overcome mistrust and suspicion to master unknowable powers that may prove to be the last hope for humanity's salvation. Those same powers make Ethan a threat to the warring aliens, long used to fearing only each other, and thrust him and his comrades into ever more perilous circumstances. A major new novel from the unparalleled imagination of Robert McCammon, this dark epic of survival will both thrill readers and make them fall in love with his work all over again.

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. 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.

A German submarine is sunk during World War Two. How do you turn this gimmick into a horror novel? Which direction do you go? What's the creep factor? Robert McCammon, who took the premise of vampires in Los Angeles to its natural conclusion by having half the city turned into vampires and unleashed an Allied werewolf loose on a secret Nazi base, can be counted on to accomplish the task. The raising of the Nazi submarine is central to McCammon's story which delivers surprising twists and bloody confrontations. The U-boat was sunk off a Caribbean island, but under circumstances that leave it largely intact until a diver accidentally dislodges an unexploded depth charge which lets the sand-covered sub bob to the surface. This could result in a nice sale to museum. But soon, it's decided the sub would be better off back in the Big Drink. The problem is, see, the crew is not dead, thanks to a voodoo curse.

In me are the memories of a boy's life, spent in that realm of enchantments. These are the things I want to tell you.... Robert McCammon delivers "a tour de force of storytelling" (BookPage) in his award-winning masterpiece, a novel of Southern boyhood, growing up in the 1960s, that reaches far beyond that evocative landscape to touch readers universally. Boy's Life is a richly imagined, spellbinding portrait of the magical worldview of the young -- and of innocence lost. Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson -- a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake -- and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand his father's pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him. From an ancient mystic who can hear the dead and bewitch the living, to a violent clan of moonshiners, Cory must confront the secrets that hide in the shadows of his hometown -- for his father's sanity and his own life hang in the balance....

The Hunter from the Woods marks the much-anticipated return of Michael Gallatin, the lycanthropic hero of Robert McCammon's 1989 classic, The Wolf's Hour. These all-new, interlinked stories offer a full measure of McCammon's trademark narrative excitement, and comprise a fascinating composite portrait of a unique fictional creation. The volume opens with a pair of brief glimpses into Michael's early life in Russia and his initial recruitment into the British Secret Service. It ends with a haunting vision of the werewolf at twilight. In between, McCammon gives us three stellar novellas depicting different phases of Michael's long, brutal war against Nazi Germany.

Set in a village in which the women get caught up in occult rituals and wholesale slaughter perpetuated in the name of the Amazon women, the goddess of the cult being incarnated in the form of the town's female mayor. The evil only happens at night - and only happens to men.

One talks to the dead. The other heals the living. Both must make the . . . "Mystery Walk" From deep within the empty house of a murdered family, Billy Creekmore hears his name whispered. . . and is drawn inside. At a revival meeting in Alabama, Wayne Falconer demonstrates his miraculous healing powers. . . while demons feast and grow in his soul. On separate journeys through the Deep South to Chicago, from a world of innocence to a world of evil, greed and lust, the two young men discover their manhood - and fuel a deadly rivalry. On a scorched slab of desert they will meet in fear and unite their extraordinary powers against a raging, unshackled spirit - the walking, hungry corpse of the Shape Changer.

Flooded by memories, poisoned by Agent Orange, Dan Lambert kills a man in a moment of fear and fury -- and changes his life forever. Pursued by police and bounty hunters, Dan flees south toward the Louisiana bayous. In the swamplands he meets Arden Halliday, a young woman who bears the vivid burdens of her own past, and who is searching for a legendary faith healer called the Bright Girl. Looking for simple kindness in a world that rarely shows it, bound by a loyalty stronger than love, Dan and Arden set off on a journey of relentless suspense and impassioned discovery. . . over dark, twisting waterways into the mysterious depths of the human heart.

This book is a remarkable tale of pulse-pounding excitement with a uniquely sympathetic, fascinating portrait of the werewolf as noble warrior-and conflicted being. Complex, compelling and utterly real.

In this most gothic of Robert McCammon's novels, setting is key: the continuing saga of the Usher family (descended from the brother of Roderick and Madeline of Edgar Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher") takes place in the weird and picturesque heart of the North Carolina mountains. The haughty, aristocratic Ushers live in a mansion near Asheville; the poor but crafty mountain folk (whose families are just as ancient) live on Briartop Mountain nearby. At harvest time, when the book's action unfolds, the mountains are a blaze of color. Add to the mixture a sinister history of mountain kids disappearing every year, a journalist investigating those disappearances, a monster called "The Pumpkin Man," moldy books and paintings in a huge old library at the Usher estate, and a secret chamber with a strange device involving a brass pendulum and tuning forks--and you've got a splendid recipe for atmospheric horror. Originally published: New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1984.

Even God stays away from the village of BETHANY'S SIN. For Evan Reid, his wife Kay, and their small daughter Laurie, the beautiful house in the small village was too good a bargain to pass up. Bethany's Sin was a weird name, but the village was quaint and far from the noise and pollution of the city. But Bethany's Sin was too quiet. There were no sounds at all...almost as if the night had been frightened into silence. Evan began to notice that there were very few men in the village, and that most of them were crippled. And then there was the sound of galloping horses. Women on horses. Riding in the night. Soon he would learn their superhuman secret. And soon he would watch in terror as first his wife, then his daughter, entered their sinister cabal. An ancient evil rejoiced in Bethany's Sin. A horror that happened only at night...and only to men.

The Five tells the story of an eponymous rock band struggling to survive on the margins of the music business. As they move through the American Southwest on what might be their final tour together, the band members come to the attention of a damaged Iraq war veteran, and their lives are changed forever. The narrative that follows is a riveting account of violence, terror, and pursuit set against a credible, immensely detailed rock and roll backdrop. It is also a moving meditation on loyalty and friendship, on the nature and importance of families—those we are born into and those we create for ourselves—and on the redemptive power of the creative spirit. Written with wit, elegance, and passionate conviction, The Five lays claim to new imaginative territory, and reaffirms McCammon’s position as one of the finest, most unpredictable storytellers of our time.

From the living hell of her watery grave she rises again... THE NIGHT BOAT Deep under the calm water of a Caribbean lagoon, salvage diver David Moore discovers a sunken Nazi U-boat entombed in the sand. A mysterious relic from the last war. Slowly, the U-boat rises from the depths laden with a long-dead crew, cancerous with rot, mummified for eternity. Or so Moore thought. UNTIL HE HEARD THE DEEP HOLLOW BOOM OF SOMETHING HAMMERING WITH FEVERISH INTENSITY...SOMETHING DESPERATELY TRYING TO GET OUT! Beneath the waves she will seduce the living and devour the dead... THE NIGHT BOAT

After tragedy turned Elizabeth Shea's world upside down, she was lost—unable to let go of the past and unwilling to face the future. Until she meets a handsome stranger, and their unlikely friendship breathes new life into her. He's the last thing she expected, but exactly what she needs. Since a near fatal night, Brenden Scott has been living in the moment. He doesn't do relationships or believe in love. Yet he's instantly drawn to Elizabeth. He knows pursuing her is a bad idea, but she heals parts of him he didn't even realize were broken. When emotions get involved and lines start to blur, they find themselves standing at a crossroad. Brenden wants something more than Elizabeth can give.After all, you can only have one love of your life—And she already lost hers.

"The Hunter from the Woods" marks the much-anticipated return of Michael Gallatin, the lycanthropic hero of Robert McCammon's 1989 classic, "The Wolf's Hour." These all-new, interlinked stories offer a full measure of McCammon's trademark narrative excitement, and comprise a fascinating composite portrait of a unique fictional creation. The volume opens with a pair of brief glimpses into Michael's early life in Russia and his initial recruitment into the British Secret Service. It ends with a haunting vision of the werewolf at twilight. In between, McCammon gives us three stellar novellas depicting different phases of Michael's long, brutal war against Nazi Germany. "Sea Chase" is a nautical tale about the hazards of transporting a defecting German scientist to a place of sanctuary in England. "The Wolf and the Eagle" is the account of an unlikely friendship between rival "men of action" and a harrowing portrayal of a lethal forced march through the North African desert. ?The Room at the Bottom of the Stairs? tells of an impossible, ultimately tragic love affair set in the embattled city of Berlin during the latter stages of the war. Erotic, visceral, and filled with moments of desolating horror and unexpected warmth, The Hunter from the Woods is a triumph of imaginative storytelling. Like the best of McCammon's earlier work, it offers intelligent, world-class entertainment. In the process, it shines a welcome new light on one of the most uncommon heroes in contemporary fiction.

McCammon's novel "takes place during a single twenty-four hour period in Inferno, Texas. Inferno is a town in trouble, driven to the brink by racial tension, gang violence, and a collapsing economy. But things can always get worse, and they do so with astonishing speed when an unidentified spacecraft crash lands in the desert outside of town, followed by a second craft bearing the alien being who will soon be known as Stinger. Stinger is a kind of interstellar hunter on a mission he intends to complete, whatever the cost. He brings with him an endless array of technological marvels and an infinite capacity for destruction that threaten the existence of Inferno, its inhabitants, and the larger world beyond"--Dust jacket flap.

A virtual first of its kind, this African American Young Adult Fantasy novel is full of adventure and heart. On the planet Madunia, a young arrogant warrior, Bomani is intent on proving himself worthy of his father's crown. His journey unites him with a young chatty sorcoress named Farra, She is just learning to use her powers and her magical bond with her wolf. Their best asset, friendship.Corry showed up at the orphanage two years ago, wearing strange clothes and speaking a language no one recognized. Corry can remember snippets of another life, but no matter how hard he tries to recall the details, it just keeps slipping away. Then one day, he meets a fauness in an orange grove. She’s from a world called Panamindorah, and he can understand her language. In addition, Corry can read a language that no one in Panamindorah has been able to read for three hundred years. Has he really been gone that long? Now he must recover his lost memories and rebuild his life, because the person who tried to kill him once is about to try again.This is the first book in The Prophet of Panamindorah trilogy. The series is also available as a single omnibus edition.

From the battlefields of a Vietnam veteran's memory to an old-time movie hero's search for a serial killer, from Halloween in a special town--where the rules of trick-or-treat are written in blood--to a Texas road where a wrong turn leads to a nest of evil, horror master McCammon is at his terrifying best in this collection of stories.

Businesses went under by the hundreds, debt and foreclosures boomed, and breadlines grew in many American cities. In the midst of this misery, some folks explored unscrupulous ways to make money. Angel-faced John Partlow and carnival huckster Ginger LaFrance are among the worst of this lot. Joining together they leave their small time confidence scams behind to attempt an elaborate kidnapping-for-ransom scheme in New Orleans. In a different part of town, Curtis Mayhew, a young black man who works as a redcap for the Union Railroad Station, has a reputation for mending quarrels and misunderstandings among his friends. What those friends don't know is that Curtis has a special talent for listening... and he can sometimes hear things that aren't spoken aloud. One day, Curtis Mayhew's special talent allows him to overhear a child's cry for help (THIS MAN IN THE CAR HE'S GOT A GUN), which draws him into the dangerous world of Partlow and LaFrance. This gritty depression-era crime thriller is a complex tale enriched by powerfully observed social commentary and hints of the supernatural, and it represents Robert McCammon writing at the very top of his game.

McCammon  does a superb job of dishing out the details piecemeal. Not for the weak stomached.

When Julianna Stevens found her husband in bed with another woman, she felt defeated—leaving him meant moving back to her hometown and facing the demons she ran from for ten years. Until she lands a dream job, working for an old crush. He's the one person who could heal her wounded heart, but she's not ready to let him in. Eric Winston fell apart after Julianna left town. It took years for him to put the pieces of his life back together. He was determined to keep her at a distance. Julianna's return could shatter his world again, but he couldn't turn his back on her. It doesn't take long for feelings to resurface, giving them a second chance at happily ever after. But the shadows of their past could jeopardize everything. They're both harboring secrets.And the truth could either destroy them—Or set them free.

“Our lives are made up of moments, and I used to think it was only the big moments that made an impact, but now I know even the smallest of moments can change your life forever.” Two years ago, tragedy struck for Elizabeth Shea, ensuring her life would never be the same. Unable to let go of the past and unwilling to face the future, she closed herself off from the world and the people who loved her most. “It’s strange how the worst day of your life can become the very thing that changes it for the better.” Brenden Scott chose to embrace the ugliness life can offer and help others find their way through the darkness, but it took a near fatal night for him to truly begin to embrace life. Now, he lives his life in the moment, enjoying it to the fullest and taking nothing for granted. When Elizabeth and Brenden meet, they’re drawn to each other and an unlikely friendship forms. Brenden breathes new life into her, while Elizabeth heals parts of him he didn’t even realize were broken. Though Brenden knows pursuing her is a bad idea, he can’t resist her pull. When emotions get involved and the lines start to blur, they find themselves standing on opposite sides of the tracks. Elizabeth is desperate to put the pain and heartbreak behind her—to find herself again—but will she be able to let go of the past or fears holding her back and learn to live in this moment?

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 eighteenth-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, 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...while young law clerk Matthew Corbett has other obsessions in mind. Earnest and hardworking, Matthew spends his precious spare time attempting to vindicate the abuses he witnessed growing up in the Sainted John Home for Boys, at the hands of its monstrous headmaster. But Matthew's true calling lies not in avenging the past but salvaging the future -- for when the Masker claims a new victim, Matthew Saulis 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.

After a decade, New York Times bestselling author Robert McCammon returns with an epic novel of suspense that reinstates him as one of the great storytellers of our time....The Carolinas, 1699: The citizens of Fount Royal believe their town is cursed by a witch. What else could explain the sudden fires, crop failures and gruesome murders? Convinced that Rachel Howarth, the beautiful widow of the recently slain minister, is to blame, they throw her into a gaol to await trial and execution.Presiding over the trial is traveling magistrate Issac Woodward, aided by his astute young clerk, Matthew -- who, despite the evidence against Rachel, believes in her innocence. But soon he realizes that there truly is Evil at work in Fount Royal: a malevolent force more powerful than any witch could ever hope to conjure....

Murder and ghoulish mayhem are the order of the day in bestseller McCammon's colorful third thriller featuring “problem-solver” Matthew Corbett and his escapades in early 18th-century America. After confronting a criminal mastermind in The Queen of Bedlam (2007), Matthew finds himself a celebrity whose exploits have become sensational fodder for colonial tabloids. This heady attention contributes to a bad lapse of judgment when he and his senior associate, Hudson Greathouse, accidentally allow a brutal murderer, Tyranthus Slaughter, to give them the slip while they transport him to prison in Philadelphia. The rousing narrative details Matthew's dogged pursuit of the indestructible Tyranthus as the killer cuts a bloody swath through the Pennsylvania wilderness. McCammon shows a sure hand balancing scenes of Matthew's quiet contemplation with the cold-blooded carnage that makes his quarry's name so appropriate. (Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

I Travel by Night marks Robert McCammon's triumphant return to the sort of flamboyant, go-for-broke horror fiction that has earned him an international reputation and a legion of devoted fans. The terrors of the Dark Society, the gothic sensibilities of old New Orleans, and the tortured existence of the unforgettable vampire adventurer Trevor Lawson all combine into a heady brew that will thrill McCammon s loyal readers and earn him new ones as well.For Lawson, the horrors that stalked the Civil War battlefield at Shiloh were more than just those of war. After being forcibly given the gift of undeath by the mysterious vampire queen LaRouge, Lawson chose to cling to what remained of his humanity and fought his way free of the Dark Society's clutches. In the decades since, he has roamed late nineteenth century America, doing what good he can as he travels by night, combating evils mundane and supernatural, and always seeking the key to regaining a mortal life.That key lies with his maker, and now Lawson hopes to find LaRouge at the heart of a Louisiana swamp with the aid of a haunted priest and an unexpected ally. In the tornado-wracked ghost town of Nocturne, Lawson must face down monstrous enemies, the rising sun, and his own nature. Readers will not want to miss this thrilling new dark novella from a master storyteller.

Now McCammon returns to Lawson’s gripping journey and sends him West, in the chilling sequel novella Last Train from Perdition.

UnknownEDITORIAL REVIEW: ***“We’re about to cross the point of no return. God help us; we’re ******flying in the dark and we don’t know where the hell we’re going.” ***Facing down an unprecedented malevolent enemy, the government responds with a nuclear attack. America as it was is gone forever, and now every citizen—from the President of the United States to the homeless on the streets of New York City—will fight for survival. *Swan Song *is Robert McCammon’s prescient and “shocking” (John Saul) vision of a post- Apocalyptic nation, a grand epic of terror and, ultimately, renewal. In a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, earth’s last survivors have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil, that will decide the fate of humanity: Sister, who discovers a strange and transformative glass artifact in the destroyed Manhattan streets . . . Joshua Hutchins, the pro wrestler who takes refuge from the nuclear fallout at a Nebraska gas station . . . And Swan, a young girl possessing special powers, who travels alongside Josh to a Missouri town where healing and recovery can begin with Swan’s gifts. But the ancient force behind earth’s devastation is scouring the walking wounded for recruits for its relentless army, beginning with Swan herself. . . . EDITORIAL REVIEW: ***“We’re about to cross the point of no return. God help us; we’re ******flying in the dark and we don’t know where the hell we’re going.” ***Facing down an unprecedented malevolent enemy, the government responds with a nuclear attack. America as it was is gone forever, and now every citizen—from the President of the United States to the homeless on the streets of New York City—will fight for survival. *Swan Song *is Robert McCammon’s prescient and “shocking” (John Saul) vision of a post- Apocalyptic nation, a grand epic of terror and, ultimately, renewal. In a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, earth’s last survivors have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil, that will decide the fate of humanity: Sister, who discovers a strange and transformative glass artifact in the destroyed Manhattan streets . . . Joshua Hutchins, the pro wrestler who takes refuge from the nuclear fallout at a Nebraska gas station . . . And Swan, a young girl possessing special powers, who travels alongside Josh to a Missouri town where healing and recovery can begin with Swan’s gifts. But the ancient force behind earth’s devastation is scouring the walking wounded for recruits for its relentless army, beginning with Swan herself. . . . I've always thought that any kind of film based on a book or short story can be a fascinating experience for the author---not necessarily because the film is good or bad, but because it's a reflection of how other people visualize the author's words. A writer creates the word pictures, and then people who weren't directly involved in that creation process have the task of making the word pictures solid. But I think the real challenge of being a writer is to create a mental movie: doing the lighting, the costumes, the casting and makeup, the special effects, the directing and making sure all the props are there on cue. I hope the readers do approach my books as films, that they can see in their minds as they read. The devil, it's been said, is in the details. If the details aren't there, a scene often lacks vitality. Which is a long way of getting around to writing that the illustrated version of Swan Song has just been published by Dark Harvest, and it was an interesting experience for me to see how an artist visualized scenes from the mental movie I'd created. The details are right. If something was in the scene, it's there in the illustration. So I want to thank Paul Mikol and the two artists who worked on the book, Charles and Wendy Lang, for an excellent job. Paul Mikol promised me Dark Harvest's production of Swan Song would be a quality work, and the Langs added an extra dimension of quality that I feel very, very proud about. All books are like children. They develop their own personalities as they're written. Some of them are sweet and gentle, others are nasty bullies, some don't want to grow up, others jump ahead so fast they pull you along by the throat. This, strangely enough, has nothing to do with length or complexity. It just is. No book I've ever written has been born in quite the same way, though my work patterns don't vary. Swan Song was a relatively easy birth, in that it flowed smoothly from beginning to end. Stinger was a beast; about sixty pages from the end, I realized I'd made a major goof and had to go back two hundred pages and start from there again. Usher's Passing almost put me under, but Mystery Walk was easy. The Wolf's Hour was really fun to do, probably the easiest birth of all even though it went back and forth between time periods. But my latest book---called MINE---was much tougher, even though the story is simple and straight-ahead. So it's hard to tell what the child will be like until you get into the birthing process. You just have to grit your teeth, hope for the best, and prepare to face the detail devil again. I was asked to talk about how and why I wrote Swan Song. I'd like to tell you why I don't want to do that. Swan Song, even though the new hardback version is out and it looks terrific and I hope it does very well, is ancient history to me. I got a letter not long ago addressed to Robert "Mr. Swan Song" McCammon. Now: let me say first of all that I'm really, really glad readers responded to Swan Song, and that the book continues to speak to people about hope in a world where hope seems to be a dirty word. That's great---but I'm not satisfied. I want more. Not more money, not more fame, not movies and "celebrity status." I want more from myself, and I don't plan on letting anybody believe for a second that Swan Song is going to be a laurel wreath on my head. I'm going to write better books. I'm going to write ones not as good. But the point is, I'm going to write different books. Many people have written urging me to do a sequel to Swan Song. I leave most of my books open for sequels---not so I can write them, but so readers can carry the story line further along in their imaginations. Sequels are never as good as originals, and almost always disappointing. Having said that, I also have to say that I am kicking around the idea of doing a sequel to The Wolf's Hour in three or four years. I would do it because I really enjoyed writing the original, because I would have something different to say, and because I might be interested in doing a series of books that span the continuation of Michael Gallatin's line into modern times. It would not be The Wolf's Hour Part II. Believe it. For me, writing is a great freedom. I don't use an outline. I don't usually know what's going to happen from one point to another, though I develop what I call "signpost scenes" as a kind of free-form roadmap. Writing is a great adventure, a journey of faith into the unknown. Sometimes it's a night trip, and you lose your way for a while. But when you get to your destination, and see the home fires burning, the joy is beyond description. I almost gave it up, a while back. I got really tired of hearing things like "the poor man's Stephen King," and that I was "walking on King and Straub's territory," that I was a rip-off artist and a hack with no style of my own. I almost said to hell with it, and for a while I was looking through the want ads trying to figure what else I could do. When I reached the bottom of that particular pond, I realized there was nothing else I could do besides write. For better or worse, I was married to writing, and I had to keep going no matter what was shoveled at me. So here we are. I'm not always going to write horror novels. The new book, MINE, isn't a horror novel in the supernatural sense, though it certainly is horror in the real world. I may do a fantasy novel next. I have a science-fiction book in the early stages. I'm planning on doing a love story---of a sort---set in the 1600s. I may do a book of the further adventures of Poe's detective, Dupin. Whatever: the point is, writing is the freedom to go and do and be and see, and I have no idea of where the boundaries lie. As I said before, I might write books that are better than others, but of one thing I'm certain: I won't repeat myself. Neither will I stop trying to become a better writer. Easy to say, hard to do. I know where the want ads are; I've seen their gray solemnity and invitation into a world of locks and keys. I can't live there. Again, I want to thank Paul Mikol and the Langs for an excellent job on Dark Harvest's production of Swan Song. And for knowing that the devil is in the details. What's past is preface. We go from here.

Gripping, unsettling, and richly atmospheric, The River of Souls is a masterful historical adventure and a major addition to Robert McCammon's extraordinary body of work.featuring the continuing exploits of a young hero USA Today has called 'the Early American James Bond.'

Amazon.com ReviewRobert McCammon asks, "What happened to those children of the sixties who learned the language of hatred, who swore oaths upon their bloodstained manifestos and vowed to never surrender?" Most went on to other lifestyles. But Mary Terrell, a.k.a. "Mary Terror," did not change. Her insanity deepened into schizophrenia, and in the late '80s she still calls herself "freedom fighter for those without rights in the Mindfuck State." Hallucinating, heavily armed, and possessed by the delusion that an infant son will restore the good ol' days with her ex-lover, Mary steals a baby. But the child's mother is a strong, resourceful woman, and she recruits an ex-radical to help her. What ensues is a hair-raising chase across the American Midwest in wintertime, toward a final confrontation in which both "mothers" proclaim, "He's mine." Not only is Mine an intense horror novel (winner of a Bram Stoker Award), but refreshingly, all three main characters are women. From Publishers WeeklyA psychotic leaves a trail of murder victims in her wake after she kidnaps a newborn child and goes off to join a revolutionary group to which she belonged during the '60s. Although McCammon portrays his left-wing characters as motivated by adolescent rebellion rather than by radical politics, "he delivers an expertly constructed novel of suspense and horror," said PW. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

SUMMARY:In the remote Texas town of Inferno, a creature of evil beyond anything the world has ever encountered descends. He traps the town and ravages the land with grisly executions and horrible mutations . . . until the people rise up in a final, desperate battle. From the author of Swan Song. Original.

Originally published in Stalkers 1989