I speak of course of the physical book and not my phones Audible copy. Many times I want to just throw the thing across the room. (Tom Cruise?.really!? bah!) Still I always cringe when I get to The Tale of The Body Thief because although I am oftentimes frustrated by the actions of Lestat the 'Spoiled Prince' (so true) I am never truly angry at his hasty actions met with no forethought as I am in this book. May I say the narrator is absolutely fantastic! I wasn't convinced at first (mostly because of the way he pronounces 'sensual') If you have only seen the movies, you have done yourself a great disservice. But now going through again I will be there soon! I own the set on Google Read, and in a mixture of well worn and lovely smelling paperback and hardbound physical books and now I am HAPPILY purchasing them again one by one here on Audible! (I like them read to ME at times lol.) I believe that should tell how good this series really is imo. Except for the newest one, released fall of 2016 I believe, I have read that one only once. I have read the Mayfair Witches as well as the Vampire Diaries all the way through countless times. Good book, no foul language or explicitly obscene content, but this is a book for adults. It is clear that Rice begins her turn toward the more philosophical in The Tale of the Body Thief. Later books in the series wax very philosophical. I can tell you that this one is not as fast moving or gripping as the first three, but it's still a great story, mystery, adventure.

I'll confess, I've read ahead in the series, but had skipped this one. The adventure allows Rice to explores what it means to be human, angel and devil. In this, the 4th installment, he actually becomes a mortal man.

In the 3rd, Lestat is a rock star adventuring in the modern mortal world.

In the second we meet Lestat as a sympathetic character. In the first book, we learn the early story in a dark 18th century New Orleans. For blood sucking fiends, Rice's vampires spend a great deal of time discussing God, the meaning of their own existence and spirituality. With all their gifts, they are not the reflection of God capable of creation that humans are. It has always struck me that Rice uses Vampires as metaphor for angels. In the 4th in the Vampire Chronicle series, Rice returns to the search for meaning that was such a strong theme in the first, Interview with a Vampire.

The tale of the body thief by anne rice