|
Newcomers
may need a primer to understand the relationships at the heart of
Anne Rice's latest novel, but fans will recognize it as her best
work in years. Elegantly written, MERRICK centers on the title character,
a voodoo witch imposed upon by two vampires to raise a ghost. Rice
pens an emotional, well-detailed story of black magic, intrigue
and forbidden love, without surrendering pace. Laced with several
surprises, including appearances by the dormant vampire Lestat,
and the long-dead Claudia, MERRICK is a flawless addition to the
author's "Vampire Chronicles" series.
Through the voice of frequent narrator David Talbot, we meet Merrick
Mayfair, a gifted voodoo witch and distant relation to the stars
of Rice's other series (THE WITCHING HOUR, LASHER, TALTOS). David
reluctantly asks her to conjure the ghost of the child vampire,
Claudia, for the vampire Louis. The request is made because Louis,
consumed with guilt over Claudia's life and death, is obsessed with
learning that her spirit is at rest. But David's ulterior motive
is to rekindle a relationship. Cut off from his former life as leader
of the secretive order of "psychic detectives," the Talamasca, when
he became a vampire, David is drawn to reconnect with Merrick, his
former student and lover. The story unfolds as David, in crisp British
tones, alternates between the preparations to raise the ghost of
Claudia and recollections of Merrick's life.
The author leads us through this engaging story with her trademark
style of writing, laying bare the hearts of all three principles
with lyrical phrasing and eloquent emotions: "If you'd come up to
me with no preamble," she said, "whispering in a crowd as you touched
me --- I would have known you, known who you were." The narrative
is free of the severe excess of physical detail that mires the pacing
of several of her recent novels, including MEMNOCH THE DEVIL and
PANDORA. Readers will find this seventh installment in her vampire
saga quite the page-turner.
Also compelling is the character of Merrick, herself. A Talamasca
scholar, she is a native of New Orleans, descended from Haitian
slaves and the white Mayfair clan. Haunted by her own tragic past
and at times vengeful, Merrick is as devoted to David Talbot as
he continues to be to her. Merrick turns the world of the Immortals
on its ear with a scheme of her own, revealing the secret motivations
of Claudia and causing the enigmatic Talamasca to go to war with
Lestat's coven. Merrick promises to be as adventurous a character
as Lestat ever was.
Not surprisingly, the book ends in a cliffhanger. The concluding
scenes of MERRICK will leave readers breathless and hungering for
more.
--- Reviewed by Sofrina Hinton
© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
|
