Rating: 
Summary: Not up to standards
Review: I enjoyed Rice's first few novels of the Vampire Chronicles (I liked The Mummy even better.), but find she has increasingly missed the mark with the genre. The later stories are little more than erotic melodramas about people who just happen to bite each other on the neck. Vampirism itself is either ignored or portrayed as nothing more than a serious skin rash. The entire mythos of the vampire is missing; and that, after all, is what makes the subject so fascinating in the first place.
Rating: 
Summary: Tantalizing!
Review: I am a really big Anne Rice fan. I've read all her vampire novels. Merrick, I have to admit, is not her greatest work by far. (Don't worry, the following isn't a "spoiler") The story begins with David Talbot asking Merrick to raise the ghost of Claudia for Louis. The book drags. Merrick eventually raises the ghost of Claudia...250 pages later. For that length of the story, David is telling Louis about the life of Merrick (Which is painfully boring). I won't tell you what happens after the 250 pages as I will spoil for you the only good part of the book. But I will tell you that what does happen is more than enough to redeem the novel. The book went from a 1 to about an 8 or a 9. So, to sum up my review, I recommend this book, if for nothing else but the last 100 or so pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply Brilliant!
Review: I am an Anne Rice fan, but not biased -- I have been disappointed in a few of her books. But not this one; it is a glorious accomplishment by a true talent. As a short novel, it is very tight -- every word is compelling and necessary. As in all of Ms. Rices works, the characters are richly developed -- when you finish the book, you "know" them and are reluctant to let them go. The story features a captivating blend of love and darkness, history and lore, and simply a wonderful plot. And, as always, it is beautifully written.
Rating: 
Summary: The Judy Collins of the Goth Set
Review: Why is every person in Anne Rice books so unbelievably beautiful, smart and fabulously wealthy? Why can't there be a story of an ugly, poor person who gets the "Dark Gift" and spends the book in a rage at being stuck for eternity trying to fit in with the Vampire in crowd? It could be a nice departure for Anne, considering the formulaic dreck she's turning out these days.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Anne Rice
Review: This is another that belongs on the rack with the other Anne Rice books. The Queen of the Damned was my favorite and this one was in fair competition with it. This book makes the reader feel deep sympathy for Louis. Jesse Reeves heard the music and the birds chirping(if you didn't read The Queen of the Damned you don't know what I am talking about) and David heard them as well. Louis never hears these things. So he sends David to ask Merrick to do something that she hasn't done in awhile; raise a spirit. Not just any spirit. The spirit of the one who was made a child and died a child; Claudia. Merrick's life story is told and how she came to part with Great Nannane, Cold Sandra, and Honey in the Sunshine to become one of the Talamasca. Very good read. DO NOT read if you have not yet read the other 6 tales in the Vampire Chronicles.
Rating:
Summary: Rice's Best Since "Servant of the Bones"
Review: While certainly not as good as the older VC book, this is her best after Pandora, Armand and Vittorio.
Full of some interesting surprises most notably at the end, this book opens doors to what are some potentially great future adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Tedious
Review: Merrick is tedious because it is so predictable. Gee, let's try to guess what will happen to Merrick by the end of the book. . . I had it figured out by the time I had finished the first few pages. Also, her vampires are inconsistant beings. She takes people who under normal circumstances would hopefully have some compunction about harming others and, once they become vampires, turns them into serial killers. They seem to have no real problem with this. They are all young and never seem to want to mature. They all want to live forever never really thinking that there might be anything beyond this physical world. They are shallow, spoiled, pretty murderers. They can never seem to get beyond this.
Rating:
Summary: Continues in true Vampire Chronicle style...
Review: As the title of this review indicates, Merrick carries on the tradition of the Chronicle legacy. With perhaps the exception of Memnoch, every story has been painfully similar to the last. And now with my beloved David Talbot--a vampire that, in the beginning, I felt no affection for--writing the life story of this vampire and that vampire...frankly, it's wearing on me. Pandora, Vittorio (by the way, O where O where has my Vittorio gone), Armand, Merrick, and now with the release of Blood and Gold even Marius--where will it end?
Rating:
Summary: Worst Anne Rice Book So far
Review: I am usually a fan of Anne's vampire series. But this book was the worst. This book lacked the originality of the others. Not to mention, I didn't care about the characters in this book. Usually, Anne draws you into the storyline through them. If your new to Anne, blow this book off and read the early books.
Rating:
Summary: Has The Magic Returned?
Review: I hesitated reading this book. An avid Ann Rice reader I became disenchanted soon after Queen Of The Damned, a novel I adored. The appeal of the old Vampire Chronicles and the MayFair Witches brought me to try again. Is the old magic there? Not fully. Do I recommend it? Yes. There is a sparkle of the old Ann Rice magic.
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