Prince Lestat

Compared to the poorly received Blood Canticle (2003), Rice’s newest Vampire Chronicles installment is triumphant. The Voice, a mysterious power, is compelling older vampires worldwide to annihilate the more newly made. Not since the massacre committed by Akasha, the original Queen of the Damned, have so many vampires been killed in one of Rice’s novels. The narrative is often nonlinear; in many chapters the elders reveal their backstories before heeding a young vampire’s frantic pleas for them to convene in Manhattan to uncover the Voice’s agenda and stop it. All wait for Lestat to lead them, but he remains reluctant until the last minute. Rice fills the dense story with plenty of deliciously gory mythology, but many of the info-dumps are bone-dry. Lestat’s journey from brat to prince fits his personality, but his attitude irritates even during the book’s fascinating climax. (Nov.)