The King of Shadows

Set in 1704, bestseller McCammon’s gonzo eighth novel featuring problem-solver Matthew Corbett picks up where 2019’s Cardinal Black left off. To save Berry Grigsby, the woman Matthew loves, he has allied himself with Prof. Danton Fell, a master criminal who poisoned Berry in a previous book. Matthew, a London street gang member turned adventurer, agrees to travel to Italy to help Fell locate a sorcerer’s mirror, which the professor believes can be used as a portal that will allow him with a demon as a go-between to bid his deceased son farewell. After a collision between the ship transporting them to Italy and a pod of whales, Matthew and company wind up on an island supposedly inhabited by a monstrous beast. McCammon isn’t stingy with the gore, and readers should be prepared for some overheated prose (“Clang, clang, clang was the music of the rapiers, and never was Hudson so distraught at knowing this particular symphony was nearing its end”). This may be a bit over-the-top for those not already series fans, but admirers of action-packed suspense with paranormal elements such as Matthew Reilly’s Jack West Jr. novels will find much to like. Agent: Cameron McClure, Donald Maass Literary. (Dec.)