Rating: 
Summary: A fun read
Review: While Merrick is not an Anne Rice masterpiece by any means, it is still a fun read. After The Vampire Armand and Vittorio, which were both rather disapointing, Merrick is like a breath of fresh air. Merrick is a likable and interesting character, and what she sets out to do is very interesting! I felt unsatisfied with the ending, but that is how I usually feel after finishing one of Rice's novels. I guess they have to end sooner or later! Anyways, I don't think you can go wrong with Merrick. It's a quick read. I read the last 150 pages in one day. Paced well, interesting, and fun.. I'm hoping for something new in her next book. Something more along the lines of Violin or Servant of the Bones. Give the vampires a rest for a while! :)
Rating: 
Summary: Anne Rice has done it again - her best yet!
Review: I listened to the Unabridged version of this book and was mesmerized by Graeme Malcolm's melodic reading. I found myself driving out of my way just so I could hear another chapter. Merrick not only seduced her way into the minds of David and Louie, but her seemingly childlike innocence easily overtakes the reader and makes you want more of her story. I highly recommend this story to any Anne Rice fan, and my biggest hope is that we have not heard the end of this surprising tale.
Rating: 
Summary: She should have written a book about the Elephant Man...
Review: Merrick is a bore. Both the person and the book. Mostly the person. Curious that the only interesting part of the novel is the ending (and I must admit I am looking forward to the sequel, just to see what will happen), promising a conflict between vampires and humans, which would seem hackneyed if written by any other author but seems brilliant from Anne RIce.
Rating:
Summary: Merrick, a Masterpiece
Review: I had the opportunity to meet Anne Rice just recently at the booksigning of "MERRICK". She is a very sweet and wonderful woman. Everything that you thought she was, she is. She cared about what books of hers that we enjoyed and how we Loved the "Interview" movie in so on. Well anyway, this novel is wonderful! I found it difficult the first 100 pages, but then again It seems like I always have this problem! The narrator of this story is, of course, the wonderful David Talbot (Body Theif) and of his encounters and his life with the lovely Mayfair, Merrick. He is telling Louis this story of what had happened in her life. Louis is, of course, very interested because Merrick has the ability to talk to the dead, and of course, he would give anything to speak with Claudia again... The novel is well written in the ways of Anne Rice. The story was brilliant and I was glued to the pages, as if reading into a journal of someone's real life! Any Rice Fan will enjoy this book! And also Lestat is in this one also!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Flaky
Review: The book does deliver some mysteries and a fairly interesting plot/story, involving the vampires we have grown to love, Lestat and Louis. But one can't help wondering what happened to the Anne Rice who wrote INTERVIEW With The Vampire whom so many readers all over the world had fallen in love with. In Interview*, Anne brought us a fallen-from-grace vampire, Louis. A vampire left with a conscience, a tragic to what he had become because of the things he had to do due to his unnatural nature. Through Louis, Anne wrote so beautifully & excruciatingly about loneliness, alienation, the struggle between good&evil, love&hate and about seeking for answer to one's existence and one's state of soul. Anne's Louis was reflective, weakened yet strong ... INTERVIEW* became a classic. Even in this part of the world, we have educators using this book in their classes, and a lot of us fell in love with it and became Anne Rice's ardent fans. However, sadly, in recent years, Anne has not been able to produce the same kind of depth in her writing although she still writes beautifully as in Merrick. We still have interesting plot, characters and questionings...but none as that of Interview*, which simply touches the depth of our hearts and soul. And the story/subplots seemed flaky. We miss Louis, and the old Anne who truly explores the souls and the searching ..Anyway, Merrick still makes a good read. But it won't leave you gasping and searching as what Interview* does. My lecturers still refer to Interview* in their teachings.
Rating:
Summary: Swept back into the World of Lestat
Review: Not a bad place to be. This book almost recreates the wonderful texture of "Interview" giving me the feeling I was truly entering a fantastic new world. Here we have the world of vampires and Voodoo. I love Ms. Rice's writing. And I very much liked this book. It is a page turner. A last visit with Claudia. Feeling again the steamy lushness of New Orleans. Catching up with Lestat. It's all good.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was also disappointed in this latest book. I'd skipped over her last few novels. I was very surprised that in passages referring to "Matthew", Merrick's stepfather, the name "Michael" was used twice. Did I miss something? Is there a Michael or was this a misprint? Surprised to see this kind of mistake in an author of Ms. Rice's caliber.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to vote "no stars" but it wasn't an option.
Review: This is it. The last Rice book I'll ever read. I still enjoy her earlier works; "The Vampire Lestat" is a classic and I consider it to be her best. But I couldn't even get through "Merrick." Rice's prose is becoming too flowery even for her. I mean, really, folks; how many times does she have to halt her narrative to remind us how beautiful Louis is? She meanders off the subject so often that I'm surprised she even remembers her own plots. I have skipped over maybe half the novel already, just skimming the interesting parts. I'm glad I checked this out from the library instead of actually paying for this piece of garbage. Someone needs to tell Rice that she is getting senile. At least, that's the way "Merrick" reads. And it looks as though it carries on to the younger generation. Her son's novel, "A Density of Souls," is exactly the same way. I couldn't finish that one either.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I am a huge Rice fan and I was really disappointed by this book. There were plenty of interesting elements in this story, but she didn't seem to bring them together. Possibly the frequent references to other books and storylines? The character of Merrick is an interesting addition to her lineup but I don't feel she capitalized on it. It is still worth reading if you are a Rice fan, but not by much.
Rating:
Summary: A Beginning... (spoilers included)
Review: to getting back to what reading an Anne Rice novel used to be. I used to consider myself a strong Rice fan, but admittedly, I have skipped "Pandora", "The Vampire Armand", "Violin" and "The Vampire Vittorio". Heck, these novels are so off my radar that I am not even sure if I have recounted the titles properly. In addition to skipping her latest installments, for several novels now, I have skipped whole passages (or just skimmed them) due to her inclination to verbosity and overly detailed descriptions. I may be in the minority, but I actually liked Menoch & Servant of the Bones. Oh well. Back to Merrick. It was the fastest read I've had in a while. I tend to skip over Rice's references to pedophilia and pseudo-homosexuality (inevitably, her gay characters actually turn out to be bisexual). I'd rather she assign sexuality to a character and stick to it. Actually,I have missed the smoldering sexuality so rampant in most Rice books. Merrick came close a couple of times, but I had a problem with the characters as introduced. It really bothered me that the age difference between David and Merrick was so vast - he's 50-something when he first meets her at the tender age of 14! What the? Could there have been some other way for that story to play itself out? Then, there's Louis. I have never been a Louis fan, but even I found the "instant" love he and Merrick feel for each other to be completely unbelievable. David in the younger body was a much better fit. Actually, Lestat is a much, much better fit for her, considering their mutual manipulation tendancies. I felt that Rice got it wrong. Oh well. But I can't complain. I couldn't get through 10 pages or either "Violin" or "Pandora". I finished this one in two sittings and will probably purchase the sequel as soon as it's published.
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