Anne Rice — Servant of the Bones

Arrow (UK) 1997 Paperback, 406pp. With this novel Anne Rice creates a new world every bit as mesmeric as her vampire world, and a new hero, Azriel, every bit as seductive and ambivalent as Lestat. Born almost 2,500 years ago to a Jewish family in exile, Azriel's restless spirit can be summoned by whoever holds the key to the casket of his golden bones. Called forth in the present day to witness and avenge a brutal murder on Fifth A venue, he is caught up in a dizzyingly malevolent plot to destabilise the world.As rich, terrifying, sensual and violent as any novel by Anne Rice, Servant of the Bones conjures up over two thousand years of Jewish history and penetrates the mysteries of evil and redemption, life and after-life. (ISBN: 9780099184423). Good.