Blackwood Farm, English edition

Blackwood Farm

1

Lestat,

If you find this letter in your house in the Rue Royale, and I do sincerely think you will find it you ll know at once that I ve broken your rules.

I know that New Orleans is off limits to Blood Hunters, and that any found there will be destroyed by you. And unlike many a rogue invader whom you have already dispatched, I understand your reasons. You don t want us to be seen by members of the Talamasca. You don t want a war with the venerable Order of Psychic Detectives, both for their sake and ours.

But please, I beg you, before you come in search of me, read what I have to say.

My name is Quinn. I m twenty-two years old, and have been a Blood Hunter, as my Maker called it, for slightly less than a year. I m an orphan now, as I see it, and it is to you that I turn for help.

But before I make my case, please understand that I know the Talamasca, that I knew them before the Dark Blood was ever given to me, and I know of their inherent goodness and their legendary neutrality as regards things supernatural, and I will have taken great pains to elude them in placing this letter in your flat.

That you keep a telepathic watch over New Orleans is plain to me. That you ll find the letter I have no doubt.

If you do come to bring a swift justice to me for my disobedience, assure me please that you will do your utmost to destroy a spirit which has been my companion since I was a child. This creature, a duplicate of me who has grown with me since before I can remember, now poses a danger to humans as well as to myself.

Let me explain.

As a little boy I named this spirit Goblin, and that was well before anyone had told me nursery rhymes or fairy tales in which such a word might appear. Whether the name came from the spirit himself I don t know. However, at the mere mention of the name, I could always call him to me. Many a time he came of his own accord and wouldn t be banished. At others, he was the only friend I had.

Anne Rice is the author of thirty-seven books, including the Vampire Chronicles, the Lives of the Mayfair Witches, and the Wolf Gift book series. Rice was born in New Orleans in 1941 and grew up there and in Texas. She lived in San Francisco with her husband, the poet and painter, Stan Rice until 1988, when they returned to New Orleans to live with their son, Christopher. In 2006, Rice moved to Rancho Mirage, California. She died in 2021.

Rice breathes new life into the long-running Vampire Chronicles with the tale of Quinn Blackwood, a young vampire haunted by a menacing doppelganger .Rather than extrapolating from previous Vampire Chronicles, the latest presents a completely fresh story, a gripping gothic yarn that revives the series. -- Booklist

Rice s books have always had a sexy edge, and she s not gone stale. -- Metro Weekly (Washington D.C.)

At least as good as Rice s earliest novels because she centers her story on new characters with interesting stories of their own. Using lush, voluptuous prose, Rice tells a complex and mesmerizing story. Recommended. -- Library Journal

Blood refreshed for Rice: Vampiric intrigue returns in Blackwood. Blackwood Farm is strong and continues the return to form for Rice that began with Merrick. -- The Denver Post

Blackwood Farm is Anne Rice s best book in years. In fact, it may be necessary to go back to the initial trio of vampire novels to find one that flows with as much grace and continuity. Not only is it beautifully descriptive; it is wonderfully scripted -- with all sorts of unexpected turns . Rice fires all the weapons in her storyteller s quiver -- including several kinky, sexually explicit scenes. She uses surprisingly short chapters, most ending with a suspenseful note that practically begs the reader to move on for just one more page. -- Miami Herald

Quinn s story is beautifully haunting. His tale is like a curiosity shop, filled with lovely and unusual things . There is an intimacy to Blackwood Farm that makes readers feel as though they are an important part of Quinn's world. And it's a world they won t want to leave. -- Detroit Free Press

Classic Anne Rice hard to put down Fans of Rice will enjoy this novel, since it is a return to the form that originally drew so many into her bizarre subworld of blood drinkers and witches in the first place. -- United Press International