It's a long and rambling novel with lots of characters and a gradual exploration of Corbett's personality and how it was formed by his difficult childhood. It often feels like a walking tour of colonial New York, but along the way it develops a complex story with several mysteries to be solved. Corbett is a character in transition in this book, dissatisfied with his work as a magistrate's clerk and looking for work more suited to his talents and his compulsion to seek the truth. And a new and better job does eventually find him, bringing with it danger and a conspiracy with terrifying enemies and stalwart allies.
Despite the length of The Queen of Bedlam it's only the beginning of the telling of Corbett's tale, and although it's complete in itself and Corbett goes through significant and life-changing experiences and solves a web of mysteries, there's clearly much more in store for Corbett in subsequent volumes, which McCammon will hopefully deliver without another decade-long vacation.
I literally could not put this book down once I started and had to make time to read it and put off other activities. Despite its length, it was a quick and easy read which kept me engaged the whole way through. McCammon remains the excellent writer he has always been, but in this new series he has found a unique voice with interesting themes to explore and a setting with which he seems to be very comfortable. The Queen of Bedlam is an even better novel than the remarkable Speaks the Nightbird and I think it's about the best thing I read in 2007, a year which featured some very good novels.
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