Merrick

I had the opportunity to meet Anne Rice just recently at the booksigning of "MERRICK". She is a very sweet and wonderful woman. Everything that you thought she was, she is. She cared about what books of hers that we enjoyed and how we Loved the "Interview" movie in so on. Well anyway, this novel is wonderful! I found it difficult the first 100 pages, but then again It seems like I always have this problem! The narrator of this story is, of course, the wonderful David Talbot (Body Theif) and of his encounters and his life with the lovely Mayfair, Merrick. He is telling Louis this story of what had happened in her life. Louis is, of course, very interested because Merrick has the ability to talk to the dead, and of course, he would give anything to speak with Claudia again...The novel is well written in the ways of Anne Rice. The story was brilliant and I was glued to the pages, as if reading into a journal of someone's real life! Any Rice Fan will enjoy this book! And also Lestat is in this one also!!!

I truly enjoyed Merrick more than recent Anne Rice novels dealing with characters of the past. The challenges David Talbot, Lestat (TVL) and Louis face in the present day are compelling. With the new millennium upon us, it is time for the ancient ones and the young ones to deal with modern realities of the world. Perhaps that is why Lestat awakens in this book. Anne hints at advanced genetic technologies that threaten to unravel the vampire's secret world. By uniting a Mayfair witch with the vampire blood, Anne promises to take us into new gothic explorations. The Talamasca continues to provide an interesting dimension to the plot of Anne's books. While this book is obviously a prelude to other vampire chronicles, it offers an engaging tale of transition for the characters. There are a few editorial errors that should have been caught before this book was published, but these did not deter my enjoyment. Rather, they made me wonder about the author's real intent and meaning for those particular sentences. I'm an admitted fan, and I intend to keep reading. I just wish these books about witches and vampires would be filmed, as was Interview With The Vampire.

David Talbot, vampire from previous novels, sets the stage to have Merrick, a witch, help him raise the ghost of Claudia, a vampire child destroyed in "Interview With The Vampire".Merrick will begin telling her story to Talbot, taking him from present day to days gone by in New Orleans, to the Maya Ruins of a century ago, bringing vivid life to the witches of the Talamasca, as well as the vampires. Before ammends can be made with the ghost of the dead child, these stories will have to unfold, and come together for both the vampire and the witch worlds."Merrick" is classic Anne Rice; sensual, dark, eerie, gothic, lush detailing, and always a pleasure to read. This is Rice's best book in years, bringing the two worlds of the witches and vampires together in a story that is completely fascinating.As any reader of Anne Rice knows, her novels need to be scarce on the plot description, as to keep the reader captivated in the web she is spinning with her story.Anne Rice has created a great heroine in Merrick, and readers will welcome her return in future novels.Fans of her books will enjoy their favorite characters making return appearances, but new readers may be confused as Rice uses many, and I mean many, of her characters from "The Vampire Chronicles" and "The Mayfair Witch's" series.A MUST read!Nick Gonnella

In Anne Rice's new book, "Merrick," the worlds of her vampires and her witches come together in an epic tale that spans the lush streets of New Orleans to the mystical hidden caves of Guatemala. Through the vampire narrator, David Talbot, Rice introduces her newest character; Merrick Mayfair is a powerful witch who works with the Talamasca, an order of psychic detectives, who specialize in the myths and realities behind such creatures as vampires and witches. Rice also reintroduces her classic vampire characters, Lestat, Louis, and even the "dead child" Claudia. It is easy to get completely lost in Rice's beautiful prose; it is like she has cast a Voodoo spell on her readers. The story begins as the tale of Merrick, but by the final pages it serves to bring the entire Vampire Chronicles full circle from her very first novel. This is a novel of rebirth and redemption for all of Rice's beloved vampires and witches, and it is an excellent beginning to her next vampire or witch saga.