I picked this one up at the same time I picked up Merrick. I liked Merrick much better.The book is the "mortal" tale of the vampire Vittorio. It is not a part of the Vampire Chronicles series, as it states in the prelude. It was interesting only as a filler book. I didn't find it a compelling read at all. It seemed like Rice had some leftover ideas that didn't fit into where she felt the Vampire Chronicles series was going, so she wrote this book to include them.There are some interesting parts to the book. Particularly of note is when Vittorio, still a mortal, breaks into the coven's crypt with the help of angels and slaughters all of the vampires except for the vampiress he has fallen in love with. He is convinced he can get her to repent and be forgiven by God. Basically, that sums up the plot of the book. Rice continues her flirtation with Christianity versus the vampires. I found this to be boring in Memnoch The Devil, but at least then it involved Lestat. In this book it is just repetetive and boring.I would recommend most any Anne Rice book I've read over this one. I just didn't enjoy reading it that much.