Rating: 
Summary: Average Rice book
Review: I read this book and if you are a Rice fan, you will enjoy this book. Athough not her best work, she does a decent story telling job and really brings back the characters we know and love. I'd recommend purchasing this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth buying
Review: Anne Rice seems to write books so out of characters from her previous VC books. The characters seem so unlike themselves. I don't understand why Ms. Rice changes her characters to suit her writing even when she is contridicting what she wrote in her previous VC books which were bestsellers. The book dosen't even deserve one star.
Rating:
Summary: Great Way to Bring Everyone Together
Review: I got an ARC of this novel, and read it a couple of weeks before it came out. Anne Rice is one of my favorite writers, yet I find her one of the most inconsistent writers ever -- it's either brilliance or BS. Luckily, she's in brilliant territory here... still not as good as Interview, Lestat, or Tale, but it's close. If you've read all her books and enjoy the characters from the different chronicles, you'll love how she brings them all together, weaving their stories in like a grand tapestry.
Rating:
Summary: A Mockery
Review: This book would have to be the worst perpetuation of tripe foisted upon her readers yet. Ms. Rice's writing ability has not only degraded in the last years, but her ability to create the sort of interesting and captivating characters which once put her in the bestseller list appears to have vanished without a trace. Merrick is nothing but a stereotype - a "Mary Sue", as it is known in the online community. Better, faster, brighter; she parades onto the scene and the former characters, Louis and Lestat and David and all of the vampires which gave birth to a revolution in the genre and the empire upon which Ms. Rice sits instantly fall at the feet of the newcomer to become as less than nothing. Far from actualy inspiring this awe, Merrick herself is a shallow facade of a character who engages the reader not at all, and the entire point of her existance, other than as a medium for a mockery of a story which paints all of the existing vampires as far out of character as one might go while still applying their names to them, is still as meaningless at the end of the book as it was at the beginning.Ms. Rice - one wonders why, once again, you felt the need to write a book placing your formerly vibrant vampires upon a stage that, in truth, would have been better served as a separate entity entirely. Merrick, if written of on her own, might have been interesting. Brought in to disrupt the lives of the vampire coven for insufficient reason, she is nothing but irritating to the reader. It calls to mind the expectations of sequels to good movies, and why so few of them actually work. These "new" tales of the vampires are just that - a poorly thought out and badly handled sequel, which can not hold a light to the originals.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Fascinating Tale
Review: I, as usual, was blown away by Anne Rice. This book was a long awaited joy. I have already read the entire book and find myself wondering what's next. For anyone who is an Anne Rice fan, Merrick delivers. For those of you who have never read an Anne Rice book, I suggest you do. This one may not be the one to start with. There was a lot of history from the other books. I found myself saying "Oh, I remember when that happened" or "I forgot about that". It was wonderful and I'm looking forward to another one!
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I never read an Anne Rice novel before, this was my first one. I thought it was great. and i would recommend it to everyone who loves to read about Vampires and Witches.
Rating:
Summary: Great vampiric romance
Review: Vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac asks vampiric detective David Talbot to find a way to contact the ghost of Claudia. David knows that if anyone has the ability to do this conjuring it would have to be Merrick Mayfair, a voodoo practitioner descended from a long line of witches. Although David has not seen Merrick in years, he still turns to her for assistance. As Merrick and David discuss the ethics of disturbing the dead, a spark ignites between them. However, soon she travels to a remote part of the Guatemalan jungle where ancient powerful runes exist. However, the powerful witch remains in doubt about assisting the vampire with his quest to communicate with a ghost. Maybe it is just this reviewer, but after twenty-two supernatural tales, the vampire chronicles seem a bit anemic. Still, once the great Anne Rice gets rolling, the story line takes off at a rapid speed as vampires converge on witchworld. The joy that holds MERRICK and the previous tales together remain Ms. Rice's ability to persuade the readers that the supernatural creatures and magical powers exist especially in New Orleans. The audience will find this tale turns extremely exciting in Central America and serves to tie up loose ends from previous novels as well as setting the stage for book XXIII. Vampire aficionados will relish Ms. Rice's latest entry in her beloved series. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Whoo-Hooo Witchy Woman!
Review: Merrick is the story of a young woman of color who belongs to the infamous Mayfair family and, although far removed from the so-called "white Mayfairs," is quite the witch in her own right. I enjoyed reading this book because it brought together many of the characters from Rice's previous vampire novels, such as Louis, Lestat, David, and Claudia. For someone who is not an Anne Rice fan, you will definitely want to read some of her previous books before reading this one. If you don't, you may be a little confused. For those of us who are Rice fans and have read many of her books, it's like old home week when you open the pages of this book. The basic plot of the story is that Louis is feeling sorry for himself and pining for his vampire companion of old, Claudia. In an attempt to make Louis happy, David contacts his ex-lover and old friend Merrick, a very powerful Voodoo witch, to ask if she will conjure up the spirit of Claudia for Louis to see one last time. To find out what happens from there, you must read the book, because I will not give away the rest of the story! The story does not encompass a very lengthy period of time; however, the story is told in flashbacks by David, and these flashbacks tell the story of who Merrick is and how she came to be associated with David and the Talamasca starting in her childhood and ending in the present time. While this book is not quite as lavish in its language and descriptions as some her previous novels, Anne Rice nevertheless does a fine job with this story. I would recommend it to all!
Rating: 
Summary: No depth
Review: Fans of the Vampire Chronicles who are expecting to read about Lestat & Louis will be disappointed. There's too little of the beloved Louis and Lestat only turns up at the end of the story. The main part of the book is about Merrick, whom is likely the worst Anne Rice character to-date. Known for her beautiful prose, Anne Rice elaborated on Merrick's external features but the character obviously lacks the depths and dimensions that have made Rice's earlier characters - namely Lestat, Louis, Claudia and Armand lovable and adored by so many fans. I can see that Rice wants to bring new members into the 'Coven of the Articulate' but if doing so is the result of 'Merrick', then perhaps, returning to explore, nurture and develop her old characters would be a much better option. Fans have been dying for a chronicle from Lestat to tell more of his beloved Louis, Claudia and of his other encounters and adventures... Let's hope that's coming next.
Rating:
Summary: One of Ann Rice's Worst books
Review: This book was actually worse than Memnoch or Body Thief(which I hated both). Although not the worst book of hers that I have had the misfortune of reading and yes at one time she was one of my favorite authors. My advise avoid this book. It was so badly done that I never want to read another one of her books again. Read the first three books in the series and Pandora. They are actually worth it. The rest are not very good.
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