"Do any of you remember me as the Superior General of the Talamasca, the Order of psychic detectives whose motto was 'We watch and we are always here'?
"The Talamasca has existed for over a thousand years. I don't know how the Order began. I don't really know all the secrets of the Order. I do know however that I served it most of my mortal life.
"It was in the Talamasca Motherhouse in England that the Vampire Lestat first made himself known to me . . ."
With these words David Talbot reintroduces himself and says that he is currently among the most dangerous of the vampires, and one of the most trusted.
Now, many years and events later, all the vagabonds, rogues, and foolish young vampires who once preyed on the mortal population of New Orleans are gone.
As this story begins, only three vampires remain in New Orleans: The sleeping Lestat, and his two fledglings--Louis De Pointe duLac, and the narrator of this tale, David Talbot.
It is important to remember that Talbot lived a mortal life for 70 years before his encounter with The Body Thief. He is now in a new body, a body vulnerable to the seduction of Lestat. As a vampire David has not taken life. It is too simple to feed without doing it, attractive though it was. He prides himself in being able to take only the "little drink" to sustain himself. Also, as Lestat has instructed, he seeks only the unwholesome and cruel individuals whom he fancies worse than himself. His new body, that of an Anglo-Indian, is tall with wavy dark hair and deep brown eyes.
When Louis de Pointe du Lac, who is obsessed with seeing the spirit of Claudia--the dead child vampire he loves, asks Talbot to seek out the powerful witch Merrick Mayfair to raise Claudia's spirit, Talbot is hesitant. Louis explains that he must know if the child is at peace or in torment. He is guilt ridden for having caused her death, and cannot rest without knowing her circumstance. Finally, Talbot agrees to find Merrick and make the request.
Merrick, is a descendant of the Les
Gens De Couleur Libres, a society of New Orleans octoroons and quadroons steeped in the lore and ceremony of voodoo. She is also a descendant of the great Mayfair witches, of whom she knows nothing, but from whom she has inherited the power and the magic of a Circe.
Merrick's background story is as frightening as it is captivating. She is beautiful, seductive, powerful beyond imagination, and carries a guilt of her own that could destroy her soul. When Talbot renews his friendship with Merrick and makes his request, she tells him, "A ghost can speak dreadful things to those who call it, and this is the ghost of a monster child who died by violence. You ask a potent and terrible thing."
The story unfolds in flashbacks to Merrick's youth when the Talamasca brought her under their protection, and David Talbot was in his mortal body. Five years prior to the current story Merrick feels she can ask Talbot a favor. She wants him to go with her to the jungles of Guatemala, from the Maya ruins of a century ago to ancient civilizations not yet explored. At first David refuses due to his age.
However, Merrick
prevails and with the assistance of four Talamasca employees they embark on one of the eeriest adventures ever told.
Rice's vernacular, like her characterizations, carries an otherworldly nuance. It seems to me that the author chooses each word and phrase to capture the essence of her intentions. There is nothing random about her lush adjectives or active verbs. Her words flow as sweetly as a mountain stream or race and roil as menacing as a tidal wave, depending upon the mood of individual scenes. Altogether the author's style and voice are mesmerizing.
Throughout the story you are taken two steps forward and three steps backward until ultimately comes the finale which brings witch and vampire into direct conflict with the great elders of the Talamasca. This is such an astounding event that the sleeping Lestat awakes from his slumber.
If you smell a sequel, you may be on the right track. Think of it: David Talbot, Louis, Merrick, and Lestat, all together, leaving New Orleans and losing themselves somewhere out in the great wide world. By the way, if you hear the music of Mozart playing on a harpsichord and the singing of caged canaries run for your life.
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(Jones is a published writer & literary critic)
COPYRIGHT NOVEMBER 19, 2000, PATRICIA A. JONES, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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