I?ve been a huge Anne Rice fan since seeing the film adaptation of ?Interview with the Vampire? back in 1994 at the tender age of 14. The movie intrigued me enough that I tackled the books and have since read and re-read them all countless times. I even fell in love with her Witches Chronicles and have read and re-read them almost as many times as the Vampires; needless to say, she?s my favorite author. So when she announced the start of a third supernatural series about werewolves 5 years ago, and that she was doing a book signing tour that was bringing her a mere 3 hours from my hometown for an inaugural book signing, needless to say, I was a little more than excited. My friend (another huge Rice fan) and I booked a hotel in Austin, TX as soon as the tour date was confirmed, drove down, met Anne Rice, got our copies of the new book (?The Wolf Gift?) and several copies of our favorite Vamp books signed and drove back to North Texas so high on cloud nine, the fall would have been lethal. As soon as we got home, I tore into the new book like a fat kid on a Big Mac squished between two Krispy Kreme donuts wrapped in a pizza?
? and I hated it. It lacked so much of the magic and mystique of the Vampire and Witches Chronicles; it was just? ?there.? No stand out moments, no real intrigue, none of the deep, rich history and lore spanning centuries and millennia, no memorable protagonists or antagonist, etc., it was beyond disappointing. I know my friend Rachel (the one who went to Austin with me) felt the same; she called me to ask if I?d finished the book after a few days, I just said ?yes,? she said ?me too,? and that was the extent of our conversation around the book; we literally have not spoken of it since.
A couple of years later, 2014, Anne Rice announced another installment of the Vampire Chronicles and another book tour. This time, the tour would take us to New Orleans, the primary city of most of her books, during Halloween. As disappointed as we were with her last book, we couldn?t pass up New Orleans with Anne rice; I?d never been and she?d only been on business once or twice, so we booked a flat and went. Had a blast; some of the most memorable days of my life; I got to SEE the house on First Street, the house haunted by Lasher in The Witches Chronicles. I picked a flower from a tree in its front yard and pressed it between the pages of my hardcover first edition copy of ?The Witching Hour,? now signed by Anne Rice. Lastly I got to SPEAK with Anne Rice during small Q&A sessions she had with groups of us. It was an incredible time; so incredible, I can?t bring myself to read the latest book for fear of tainting my memories if it?s bad the way ?The Wolf Gift? tainted my memories of Austin. No, now I just start the Vampire Chronicles over again, but now I can close my eyes and remember the smell of the Mississippi river, wondering if it was the same for Lestat when Louis and Claudia dumped his lifeless body to its depths.