The Tale of the Body Thief

• Author: Anne Rice
• Genre: Horror
• Publication Date: July 28, 2015
• Publisher: Books on Tape
• Series: The Vampire Chronicles #4

In a gripping feat of storytelling, Anne Rice continues the extraordinary Vampire Chronicles that began with the now-classic Interview with the Vampire. For centuries, Lestat—vampire-hero, enchanter, seducer of mortals—has been a courted prince in the dark and flourishing universe of the living dead. Now he is alone. And in his overwhelming need to destroy his doubts and his loneliness, Lestat embarks on the most dangerous enterprise he has undertaken in all the years of his haunted existence.

Naturally, I’m hooked on the series, and determined to see how far I can get. The audiobooks are narrated by Simon Vance, and he’s fantastic. I’m endlessly impressed by how many different tones and accents he can do, and this book continues to showcase new talents.

This book is a little slower paced than the previous ones, focusing in on one aspect of Lestat’s new chaotic adventures. In his hedonistic pursuits, he discovers a man with the ability to transfer his consciousness into new bodies, and he is offered a chance to inhabit a mortal body for the first time in hundreds of years. And despite the advice of his friends, he takes the chance. It works out about as well as it sounds like it would, which means it doesn’t work out very well at all.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Lestat’s descriptions of living in a mortal body, because it calls attention to the things that we, mere mortals, don’t even usually think about. But the real story lies in his efforts to find his immortal body again. He winds up having to pull out all the stops and rely on all of his brains and the various resources that he has. 

Granted, Lestat is narcissistic so any book from his POV is guaranteed to be a bit overly self-absorbed. His drawn out thoughts wind up coming across more like a long-winded monologue, and I found myself tuning out at points, only to realize that it had shifted to something important and having to skip back to catch what he had said. 

But what I loved was seeing the relationship between Lestat and David Talbot. He’s popped up a bit in previous stories, but this is where we really get to know him better, and what makes him tick. The connection between Lestat and David is fascinating to see unfold, and watch the give and take between them, although it seems like Lestat is more on the taking end, while David is more of the giver.

Overall, this wasn’t as exciting as the last two books, with a lot less action, but it was still relatively interesting. I’m excited to see where the rest of the series goes, and what other kind of trouble Lestat and the rest of the characters get into.