Rating: 
Summary: Merrick
Review: Very slow and somewhat disappointing but it does set a great foundation for a new series. Personally, I think it would have been a better read if Talbot's storyline narration was done through Merrick's voice and prespective. Maybe in the next book Merrick will speak for both the undead and the practitioners of magic. The combination of both venues of witchcraft and vampires would bring a very different and more interesting storyline especially if it was intertwined with the history, mysterious background and investigations of the Talmesca.
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Summary: A bridge between Rice's previous series and.....what?
Review: In terms of style and writing "Merrick" is up to Rice's usual high standards, and it is noteworthy in that it brings her vampires and witches (although not the "main" Mayfairs) together. But the plot reads like "a day in the life" of David, Louis, and Merrick (and Lestat, to a small degree) - until the last few chapters; then (as others have indicated) the story gets REALLY interesting. These last few chapters leave you begging for Rice's next book - and I hope it comes out soon.Unfortunately, except for those last few chapters, although the writing is excellent, the subject matter is very drab. It's the writing and style that gets this review its three stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was disappointed with this latest by Anne Rice. I found myself just wanting to get through it so I could move on to something more interesting. I hope future books in this series will be better.
Rating:
Summary: First there was ANNE RICE ... then... there was anne rice
Review: Let's seperate Anne Rice into two people...The first writes books like Queen of the Damned and The Witching Hour. The second writes books like Vittorio and Merrick. The Rice I fell in love with wrote about characters with character. About love, violence, lust, anger, and soul. This new Rice obviously didn't read any of her former works and simply must supply 100,000 words to her publisher by the end of the quarter. Merrick is, in a word, boring. Remember in school when YOU had to write an essay and used "filler" words? "The flowers were red. Bright red. So red, the color red was not sufficient to describe them" Now picture an entire book like that. "New Orleans with streets so vibrant the word vibrant isn't vibrant enough to capture it". PLEASE! Anne...for all our sakes' STOP!
Rating: 
Summary: Witches and Vampires Unite!
Review: I truly enjoyed Merrick more than recent Anne Rice novels dealing with characters of the past. The challenges David Talbot, Lestat (TVL) and Louis face in the present day are compelling. With the new millennium upon us, it is time for the ancient ones and the young ones to deal with modern realities of the world. Perhaps that is why Lestat awakens in this book. Anne hints at advanced genetic technologies that threaten to unravel the vampire's secret world. By uniting a Mayfair witch with the vampire blood, Anne promises to take us into new gothic explorations. The Talamasca continues to provide an interesting dimension to the plot of Anne's books. While this book is obviously a prelude to other vampire chronicles, it offers an engaging tale of transition for the characters. There are a few editorial errors that should have been caught before this book was published, but these did not deter my enjoyment. Rather, they made me wonder about the author's real intent and meaning for those particular sentences. I'm an admitted fan, and I intend to keep reading. I just wish these books about witches and vampires would be filmed, as was Interview With The Vampire.
Rating:
Summary: Misleading book synopsis leads to disappointment!
Review: Merrick in and of itself would have been an compelling read, however, when it is hyped as a blending of the Vampire and the Mayfair witch chronicles it is an utter disappointment! This book should have been called David, not Merrick, because it seems this is HIS story and we only get to know Merrick through his perception of her (however skewed that may be). And who are these people masquerading as Louis and Lestat? How could Anne do so little justice to the characters her loyal fans have known and loved for so many years? I give this book 3 stars as a stand alone novel and zero as a Vampire chronicle.
Rating: 
Summary: Merrick, why did you do it???
Review: To find out what Merrick did, you have to read the entire book, so I can't disclose here what it was. For me, that is the tantalizing question, maybe, hopefully, we will find out in the next installment. I was anxiously awaiting this book's release, mainly because of its supposed tie to the Mayfair witches, but that connection is practically nil. I think the angle of the Mayfair witches with the vampires would have been a fabulous combination, but that is not what we get. This book seemed more of an introduction to another story than a story in its own right. But Anne Rice has had me hooked for many years and although I was slightly disappointed in this one, I anxiously await the next.
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Summary: More Please!!
Review: After reading many of the other reviews I have become dismayed. So many of you have ruined the story for the people who have not read the book! Let me say, while keeping the secrets of the book to myself, that this book, while not her best, has a very enthralling story and the characters we all love are back! This is a must read for any Rice fan. It offers mystery and suspense...as the "real" critics say... it's a page-turner. I have to admit there are some continuity problems with David's back story from The Tale of the Body Theif to Merrick, but this isn't a text book, it's fiction and Anne Rice can do what she wants with her characters just as long as she keeps writing. And to all you out there outraged with the sexual nature of the books, lighten up! As I said before, it's fiction. No one says that Thomas Harris is advocating cannibalism just as no one is saying that Anne Rice endorses child molesting. Merrick is a wonderful novel. Buy it, Read it, Love it and take it for what it is...a book.
Rating:
Summary: Too short
Review: As somebody else previousely said, I really wanted to love this book as I have loved some of her others. But it seemed like 200 of its 300 pages were exposition! Then when the real "page-turning" story began, the book was over. I hope this is merely a prequel for what could become a great story line. I still enjoyed the book, and eagerly await the following tales.
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Summary: Though wobbly and condensed, the Rice magic is still there
Review: I've read all of Rice's work and I know her style. As we all know who enjoy Rice's work, her last few offerings have been somewhat sub par. It is my opinion that her latest works have been somewhat experimental and thus I applaud her for trying something different and not resting on her tried and true "fang and fancy" filled formula. Merrick is no exception. With Merrick, Rice expirements with a new setting (no more French and Italianate richness, welcome to the jungle), a tropical sense of danger, a new title character, and shifts in the characters of her older, beloved vampires, proving that even the timeless can change with time. Because of this expirementation, Merrick, like her last few books, seems to lack the cohesion of her earlier works. The descriptive passages are sometimes stale, the emotions sometimes petulant, and the sexuality of the book is somewhat overwhelming and gratuitous. However, if you enjoy Anne Rice, this is a must read. Her old magic is still there. Her unique and seductive style is as strong as ever, the story is gripping. This is a book you will not have to struggle through. This book, unlike Servant of the Bones, Vittorio, or Violin, is a refreshing injection of life into Anne's work, and it makes me hopefull that as the Vampire Lestat rises from his catatonic state, so too is the Old Anne Rice rising from literary comatose typing into the stunning, lavish and extremely gifted writer she is. My biggest complaint about this book is that it is too condensed, (rather ironic for rice considering the epic and sprawling works of her past), and it ended to suddenly. However, I am very glad that I bought it and it deserves a space on your shelf as well. I read this book in two sittings in about 5 hours, so it deffinetly held my attention.
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