Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice

The vampire saga continues within third installment in Rice's popular vampire series. In this one, the vampire Lestat becomes a rock star, his music and lyrics about vampire history waking the Mother, who is out to kill anyone that is against him.

I'm going to keep reading these but I couldn't get with this at all. Flashing from the past to present, with more characters, both old and new, that are too many to begin to name here, I didn't even know what was going on most of the time. While the story of the twins was very intriguing along with the mystery behind it, it couldn't redeem this even a little.

1 star




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The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

The Vampire Chronicles continue in this second installment, with Lestat taking the center stage to tell his history and his side of things. Going from pre-turn of the century Paris to Egypt, Lestat tries to find meaning in what he has become and the story of how all vampires came to be. I really liked this one also. The history of Egypt and the Mother and Father was fascinating, and at times freaked me out so much I had to stop reading for awhile. I loved the character of Marius and would liked to have seen him with his own installment because I think he was fascinating. I am so glad I tried to read these again because I am really loving them.

5 stars

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

I am not going to summarize this one either because I think pretty much everyone knows what this is about; either from reading or hearing about the book or the movie. I was a huge fan of the movie. When it came out I saw it at least 20 times; I loved it. Not a Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt fan but I found it fascinating. This book made the movie look like something I shouldn't have even wasted my time watching all those times. The writing is beautiful, the descriptions perfect so that you can see all in your head, and the characters you felt you knew. (Every time they talked about "the boy" that was listening to Louis' story I kept picturing Christian Slater) but other than that I didn't even think about the actors who played the characters in the movie. Lestat is mesmerizing, Louis is grappling with his life as a vampire and Claudia may be the creepiest character in all fiction for me to this date. If you loved the movie like I did and didn't read the book because of that, please read the book. You will be blown away like I was.

5 stars

Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice

I have been trying to get into Anne Rice books for as long as I can remember and have never been able to. I loved Memnoch the Devil and the Mummy but that was about the extent of it; until I read Blackwood Farm. It was a 600 page book and I didn't want it to end! I loved loved loved it. Vampires, ghosts, family secrets, and the creepy backdrop of a Louisiana swamp. Perfect in every way. I don't want to give too much away so I am not putting a summary, but if you want to lose yourself in a creepy book for a few days, this is the one.

Reading and loving this has also sent me on an Anne Rice kick, so most, if not all, of my reviews will be of her books until I get through them. I may throw some different ones in there, but right now I can't get enough of Lestat.

5 stars

Angel Time by Anne Rice

Lucky was born and raised in New Orleans by 2 alcoholic parents, one who was a crooked cop that ended up going to jail and being killed when he was very young. Lucky's mother never got off the booze, so he was left to bring in all the money and take care of his 2 younger siblings. The only comfort he finds is when he plays his lute. After a shocking tragedy, Lucky goes to New York to start over. There he finds company with an unlikely man, and ends up becoming what we meet him as, a hit man. He calls his boss, The Right Man, finds out the particulars, and kills with frightening accuracy. He has record with Interpol, the CIA and the FBI but no one knows who he really is. He's a ghost, and he likes it that way. The next job he gets he has to kill a Russian banker in the hotel room in California that Lucky himself always stays in when he needs to get away. He is himself whenever he's there; no disguises, no false names.

"There were omens from the beginning"

Lucky didn't feel good about this assignment. It was a part of his life that he kept away from The Right Man, so he had no idea that this was Lucky's personal place to go and be himself, but it was still a job and had to be done, whether he liked it or not. After completing the job, Lucky is approached in the room by Malchiah. Malchiah is an angel, not a guardian angel, but one of the Seraph, who took an interest in Lucky's life early on. He takes Lucky back to his past, to the tragedy that still haunts him to this day, shows him how he became what he is now, and asks for his help. He wants Lucky to start working for him, using his skills for good instead of bad. With Lucky's consent, they travel back in time and Lucky tries to complete the task given to him. But his past continues to haunt him, the things he has done and seen continue to haunt him, and he wonders if anything he does will make a difference to anything. What happens if he completes this great task given to him? And what happens if he fails?

I was never an Anne Rice fan. I didn't get into the vampire books or the witch books, in fact the only 2 books of hers I really enjoyed were Memnoch the Devil and The Mummy. I fell in love with this book. Her writing is beautiful, the characters are engaging, and as we went back in time with Lucky to see what tragedy befell him when he was 18, the angel Malchiah turned and wept, and I found myself weeping as well. I am thoroughly looking forward to the second book in this series, and can only hope for more wonderful things.

5 stars