The Tale of the Body Thief   (book)

The Tale of the Body Thief: (The Vampire Chronicles #4)

This book is Anne Rice's 4th installment of The Vampire Chronicles. I read them somewhat out of order, having finished Memnoch the Devil (#5) before this one. One thing that I like about Rice's books is that she makes a valiant effort to make her books work by themselves, without having read any of the others in the series. While you obviously don't the full experience, she does a decent job of this.

Anyway, I enjoyed this book. It's quite a different type of story from the ones before it. The basic premise is that a human is able to switch bodies with a vampire. It's quite an amusing account on the vampire's end, experiencing everything from a human's perspective again.

I feel like I've said what I'm about to say several times, so I might as well get it in writing. I enjoy Anne Rice's writing about vampires for different reasons perhaps than stereotypical vampire fanboys. Her stories span long periods of time and also describe complex interaction between characters with unique perspectives. The stories are engaging too, but I really enjoy the landscape behind the actual story at least as much as, if not more than the story itself.

Summary? Recommended.