The Tale of the Body Thief (Vampire Chronicles)

If I could give this book 1000+ stars I would! This is probably my favourite story of the series so far. Mind you, back in the 90's when these stories first came out, I read them all voraciously. I am a huge Anne Rice fan. But, over the past 30 odd years, I have felt compelled to reread the series from the beginning. Having just finished this installment, I am seeing this story with fresh eyes and have had a quite profound epiphany. Now, let me preface this by saying a few have criticized this story in negative ways, which imho is on account of they have missed the point...not only does this story pull you deeper into the psyche of the creature Lestat and who he is at his most intimate core, it emulates what it might be like to "body switch" with him...to actually see life/unlife thru his eyes...exactly what he is doing thru out this tale. Quite excuisite storytelling on Rice's part. I simply could not put it down! I absolutely loved this tale and recommend it to everyone - especially tried and true Lestat fans. Buckle up! Keep hands and feet in the ride at all times!

For some reason this is one of my favorite Vampire Chronicles.. is it a tale of redemption? Find out for yourself.

I read some reviews before I downloaded this, and they are mixed... I'm glad I read some of the bad reviews, however, because I really didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I'm also glad to have read reviews that didn't spoil anything for me plotwise. In fact, something one of the negative reviews said had me thinking the plot was about Lestat stealing bodies. So here I am, thinking Lestat is going to murder victims and pile them up in a basement like some serial killer. Glad that is not the case. The current top negative review gives away the major idea for the plot in the first few lines, and I really think it was better for me not to know where the book was headed until I got there. No spoilers here, though. It makes it hard to say why I liked the book so well, but what I can say, is it is told from Lestat's viewpoint. And, if you are considering this book you've likely read the first three Vampire Chronicles. So at this point, you are familiar with Lestat, and if you like him, I think you'll really enjoy this part of his story. The experiences he has in this book are unlike any that he or any of the other vampires have experienced at this point, and some of it is quite moving. More than one reviewer said Anne Rice's writing in this book is not as good as previous books. I thought there were plenty of moving passages. In one section a character repeated something he'd said earlier and it felt like a mistake, but it may have been intentional. It didn't detract from the story. So I can't say I agree with it being badly written. In summary, I'd recommend this to anyone wanting to continue with Vampire Chronicles and Lestat fans because it is an interesting and unique story. Once it hooked me, I did not want to put the book down until I knew what was going to happen. It explores many of the themes I love about the vampire genre. What they've lost, what they've gained, how they relate to humans, what is left of their humanity... and while the idea that drives this plot may have been done elsewhere, for me it's a first. Overall, I say it's a good read.

She delivered. A fun and irksome tale. Can anyone do this kind of thing better than she can? I think not!

Oh how I love this book! It's the third time I've read it and probably won't be the last. Over the years I've enjoyed reading your books again and again. The Vampire Series and the Mayfair Witches Series are my favorites. The characters and story lines of these books rate right up there with Les Miserable by Victor Hugo. I love the characters and feel like they are family and great friends. Ms. Anne Rice you are my favorite author! If you wrote it, I have it. Thank you for the years of pleasurable and exciting reading!

Though Tale of the Body Thief did not live up to its three predecessors it was still a novel I would place among my favorites. It is hard to deny Anne Rice's exquisite writing talent and her ability to weave the net of her tale so tightly that the reader finds themselves trapped within it, unable to set the book down. In my opinion this was that last good novel in the Vampire Chronicles series. As I'm sure most fans know Anne Rice, regrettably, made the choice to rejoin the Catholic Church which for me spoiled her later writings. I was intrigued by Lestat's return to a human body though I was also endlessly annoyed by the fact that some lunatic was cavorting around in his beautiful immortal body! I also found in the novel that I rather liked David, I was glad that he became Lestat's friend and confidant even more than he had been previously. Tale of the Body Thief displays all of the virtues of the previous three novels and I love it but it somehow falls short in a way that I cannot quite explain. However, I highly recommend it to Anne Rice fans!

The master of deception and king of the night ponders on his existence and through an unfortunate turn of events somehow ends up in a human body. He has forgotten how weak humans are and gets to experience all the fun stuff we go through like pain, using the bathroom, eating, in his attempt to reclaim his real body

Muy buen servicio, llegó antes de lo previsto. Lo único es que el material de la portada desplegable es un poco endeble, pero creo que eso ya es cuestión de la fabricación del libro en general no del vendedor.

J'ai toujours voulu lire les Chroniques Vampiriques depuis le Film Entretien avec un vampire. Et les livres sont fabuleux de profondeur! Un chef d'oeuvre!

Lestat & dog, what more is there to say. It's been a while since I've been drawn in by a book this way. The writing, oh the writing, absolutely magnificent.

We all had an Anne Rice period I believe. At some point the draw of specialized, blood sucking monsters speaking wittily and globetrotting around the world with a freedom most of us will never have was intoxicating. But this one goes too far. If you could switch bodies, why a vampire? I would assume, because it is laid out in the book, that you could technically switch with anyone. So why not a billionaire or the president? As I see it, there are a lot of reasons to not to switch with a vampire. First, only awake at night? I mean, if you like Solitude and not much going on, by all means. If you idea is reading a good book or binging tv and movies (perhaps with Amazon Prime) for all eternity, it might be for you. Also, the way the craving of blood is described over and over in these books, it sound horrendous. It’s not like you can go through a McDs and satisfy that craving with a Big Mac, you have to practically kill a human. And then, clean up after that dinner. This isn’t ‘stuff the trash in its bag and put it into the bin’ kind of situation. Digging holes, burying bodies.... that has got to take some time, not to mention finding the right person to feast upon. I can’t help think of all the missing people posters in this world. Sure, I guess if you drank the blood of the first vampire and you could fly and stuff, like Lestat, then it might be worthwhile. I mean, how many chances do you get to fly without any help? But he developed how to over years, and the body thief just thinks he can get into the body and just pilot it like a new car? Ha I say. But I digress... still a good read, not as wordy as, say, the Mayfair Witches. Anne hits a home run!

This is a really great read , I can't believe Lestat could be so silly as to exchange bodies with Raglan but he's always after an adventure! The disgust he has for having to use the toilet after hundreds of years will never not be absolutely hilarious to me!! I loved it & I absolutely adore Lestat even though he does some awful things in this book & the Stigmata was very strange!

Bought brand new and it has arrived damaged and scuffed