When you think about authors that have drawn a cult following, you may imagine Stephen King, J.R.R Tolken, and most recently J.K. Rowling. Another author that has her own group of loyal readers is Anne Rice.

Anne Rice is most famously known as the writer about vampires. When someone mentions an Anne Rice book, you automatically know what the subject and probably the whole plot will center around. She began her Vampire Chronicles series with her first book An Interview with the Vampire.

An Interview with the Vampire takes place in present day New Orleans, but the story takes the reader back through hundreds of years. Louis, a vampire, sets down with a reporter who wants to hear his story. Louis tells of how he was made into an immortal vampire by his master Lestat and all the pain Louis went through in trying to forget his human side.

When Lestat thought that Louis was going to leave him to find answers about the origins of vampires, he made Claudia. Claudia was a young child that Louis found one night with her dead mother. Louis fed on Claudia and left her for dead. Lestat found Claudia in an orphanage and took her to their home to make her a vampire child. Lestat was hoping that Louis’s paternal instinct would take over with Claudia and Louis wouldn’t abandon her. When Claudia was made into a vampire, Louis immediately felt that he needed to protect her like she was his own child.

Years went by and Louis, Lestat, and Claudia stayed in New Orleans, experiencing everything the French city had to offer. Claudia began to read old books about the occult and vampires and her curiosity was pulling her toward central Europe. When asked, Lestat couldn’t answer any of her questions. Claudia realized that as long as Lestat was in the picture, she and Louis would never make it to Europe.

Claudia reveals her plan to kill Lestat to Louis late one night. Louis tries everything in his power to change her mind, but to no avail. To kill Lestat, Claudia poisoned him with the blood of two children that she poisoned before. After killing Lestat, Claudia and Louis packed their bags and head to Europe.

Many twists and turns await Louis and Claudia in Europe. Louis will finally begin to understand the history of vampires when he meets a group of vampires. However, the more Louis begins to understand, the more he hates what he knows.

Anne Rice writes under three names: her own, Anne Rampling, and A.N. Roquelaure. She has published The Vampire Chronicles, The Mayfair Witches, and The New Tails of the Vampires series. After living in San Francisco for a while, Rice returned to live in New Orleans in the house that became her setting for The Mayfair Witches series.

Interview With the Vampire was published with great reviews. The Boston Globe said, “If you surrender and go with her...you have surrendered to enchantment, as in a voluptuous dream.”

Interview With the Vampire is a great book because it draws readers into the life of a vampire. If you’ve never started reading a series before, Rice’s series are great to read. Anyone can enjoy her book whether you’re a fan of vampires or not. A reader can almost feel the thrill and the pain as the vampires take their victims during the night.

*Interview With the Vampire is the first in four books in the Vampire Cronicle Series that will be featured in an Arts & Entertainment series over the next three weeks by Elizabeth Watts.