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Books » Fiction & Literature » Horror
The Tale of the Body Thief
http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Tale-of-Body-Thief-Anne-Rice/9780345384751
By
Anne Rice
RRP $19.99 $8.10 Save $11.89 (59%)8.10
Free shipping Australia wide Ships within 24 hours from USA supplier | Rating: | | | Format: | Paperback, 448 pages | | Release Date: | 01 May 2003 |
ReviewsThe fourth book of the Vampire Chronicles series, launched in 1976 with Interview with the Vampire (which Knopf is simultaneously reissuing in cloth), reconfirms Rice's power as a mesmerizing raconteur. In sensuous, fluid prose, she follows the tormented vampire Lestat as he struggles to integrate his bloodthirsty nature with his aspirations to achieve humanity. Desiring to see the sun, to love without taking blood, to seek God as mortals do, Lestat enters blindly into an unholy bargain. In order to experience mortality for one day and two nights, he agrees to switch bodies with the scoundrel Raglan James, a former member of the secret order of scholarly occultists called the Talamasca, and a ``sinister being,'' according to David Talbot, the order's superior general and Lestat's longtime friend and advisor. But Lestat has given little thought to how James intends to use his body and its vampiric powers. Trapped in the mortal state, Lestat must overcome the human frailties of despair and physical pain to thwart James's evil intentions and, with Talbot's help, regain his immortal self. Drawing on characters met in earlier novels as well as the lushly evoked settings of New Orleans, Miami and Paris, Rice once again deftly lures readers into the enchanting world of her anguished and deeply sympathetic hero. 500,000 first printing; BOMC main selection. (Oct.) This fourth book of the ``The Vampire Chronicles'' is by far the weakest. The plot involves everybody's favorite blood drinker, Lestat de Lioncourt, who foolishly strikes a bargain with sinister sorcerer Raglan James for a brief exchange of bodies; the soul of each vacates its respective flesh and slips into that of the other. Once befanged, James welshes on the deal, so Lestat, aided by David Talbot, Superior General of the Talamasca (a sort of CIA of the supernatural) must pursue and evict him from the immortal coil. The characters' body swapping could have made fun reading, but rather than using the vampire powers to truly seize the night, Rice has James merely dance with old ladies on the QE2 and rob wall safes. Lestat in human form contracts pneumonia, adopts a stray dog, and has safe sex with a nun. In between, there are doses of homoerotica and much silly talk on the nature of God, the soul, and good and evil. Though Rice's popularity demands its purchase, this book has little sound and less fury that signify next to nothing. A real disappointment. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/92; BOMC main selection.-- Michael Rogers, ``Library Journal'' |
| Publisher: | Ballantine Books Inc. | | ISBN: | 034538475X |
| EAN: | 9780345384751 | | Dimensions: | 17.32 x 12.24 x 2.49 centimeters (0.25 kg) |
| Age Range: |
15+ years |
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Reviews
3.0
out of 5 based on
5
reviews.
 – Customer review on 07/01/2007
Some time has passed since the Queen of the Damned, and Lestat is a bit depressed. He tries to get a tan, but that doesn't work, and he can't talk his best human friend into becoming a vamp.
Thereafter we get a triangle, after the Body Thief turns up, and offers to switch bodies with Lestat, then Talbot gets a turn at youth, etc. Eventually Lestat gets mad, and does away with BT and turns Talbot.
A significant drop in quality from the first three books.
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3.0
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5
reviews.
– Customer review on 20/08/2006
The fourth instalment in the Vampire Chronicles, this one follows Lestat as he finds himself in a funk, and to get himself out of it, he conceives a plan to swap his body for a week with a mortal. Of course, after not being mortal for centuries, Lestat's adjustment to mortal life is an adventure in itself. However, the plot thickens when the mortal runs off with Lestat's body...
While this book has its positives, such as being a really intricate character study of Lestat, and having a more developed sense of humour than the previous books, this book is the one that "jumped the shark" in some respects with some of the inconsistent and plain nutty plot points that are included here, which portray Lestat as some sort of god. Still, it's rather fun, though it does mark the dip in quality that will infect the rest of the series.
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5.0
out of 5 based on
5
reviews.
 – Customer review on 10/08/2006
Ah lestat when will you learn, here lestat wants to be mortal again so he trades his body for what was meant to be a week, with a mortal man, but this goes terribly wrong when this mans never returns with lestats body, can lestat recover his body, read the book and you will find out.
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4.0
out of 5 based on
5
reviews.
 – Customer review on 05/08/2006
4th instalment of the vampire chronicles, this deviates from the standard vamire plot line of hunt-feed-create new vampires-teach them to hunt-feed and so on.
This one explores some of the other powers lestat and some others in his circle of friends have. They can inhabit other peoples bodies (vampires and mortals). It provides a new element to a classic series with the same characters you already love.
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5.0
out of 5 based on
5
reviews.
– Customer review on 19/06/2006
this is book number 4 in the vampire chronicles, and in this story lestat misses being human and makes a deal with a being who can push his spirit out of his body and swap with another, so lestat sets about doing this. he gets his human body and only for a week, or so hwe thinks until the body theiof doesnt return with hios body, so lestat must get his own body back from this theif.
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