Merrick by Anne Rice - Audio Book Review

Even though I never could really get into the Mayfair Witch sagas, I've read a few and did look forward to see what Rice would do in marrying her supernatural literary offspring. I was not disappointed. Rice demonstrates once again her gift for spellbinding story-telling and the creation of mythos and magic infused with her own creative twists. Here, in a magnificent tale of immortality, sorcery and the occult, she does her fans proud.

While very good, this is not the book to begin with if you have not read Rice before. It would behoove you to start with Interview With the Vampire, then read Tale of the Body Thief, and finally The Witching Hour. Those books will give you a much better understanding of the characters presented within Merrick. (The main ones being David Talbot and Louis Pointe du Lac.) Merrick herself is a brand new creation, and a delightfully welcome one: she's a feisty, passionate voodoo priestess with a penchant for rum, and the ability to communicate with the dead. And therein lies the rub--while it comes fairly late in the book, the focal point and the lure of this book is that Merrick is there to raise the spirit of the departed child vampire, Claudia.

Actor Derek Jacobi does an outstanding job reading this book. One of Britain's most distinguished stage performers, his superlative performance here should come as no surprise.