Blood Canticle

The latest installment of the Vampire Chronicles continues where the last one left off. At Blackwood Farm the once evil vampire Lestat now effuses endless soliloquies on sainthood, delivered in a self-obsessed, simpering tone that makes his professed holiness all the more suspect. David Pittu projects both the self-absorption and detached narrative powers of Lestat in an effete tone that leaves no doubt as to the vampire's sincerity, or lack thereof. Pittu's portrayal of other male and female characters flows smoothly from one to the other and adds spice as called for by the text. His polished performance leaves no room for doubt as to who speaks, or what Lestat thinks of that speech. R.P.L. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

October 6, 2003
For her 25th fan-pleasing outing, Rice reunites some of her most popular creations and, for the first time since Memnoch the Devil
(1995), lets the Vampire Lestat "write" the book. Taking up where last year's Blackwood Farm
ended, the now-doppelg™nger-free Quinn Blackwood and Lestat save Quinn's true love, the witch Mona Mayfair, from certain death by making her an immortal. In his effort to attain sainthood, Lestat must deal with a lot of metaphysical angst. The opulent Blackwood estate and its spooky swamps, as well as New Orleans and a Caribbean isle, provide the settings for many elegant costume changes as the exquisite vampiric triumvirate gleefully suck several deserving victims dry and lay waste to dozens of a drug lord's minions. The vampirisation of young Mona, a true child of our times, gives Rice a dynamic new vampire personality with whom to play. Writing as if her blood-inked quill were afire, Rice seems truly possessed by her Brat Prince of darkness as she races through the story. She sometimes slights members of the vast supporting cast, both dead and alive, but neatly ties up all their loose ends. The complete unification of the Mayfair witch saga with that of the Vampire Chronicles provides either a befitting end or a new beginning for the Queen of the Vampires. (Oct. 31)

Forecast:
As with many well-established bestselling authors, Rice's first printing numbers aren't what they used to be (400,000 vs. one million for
Memnoch), but an author tour and the debut next year of a TV miniseries based on her Witching Hour trilogy should keep her numbers steady.