The original queen of vampire lit has released a metaphysical thriller about angels and assassins that takes place in the present day. With her commitment to abandon vampires and instead write Christian fiction in various forms, Anne Rice is developing a new series called "Songs of the Seraphim" in which "Angel Time" (Knopf) is the first installation.
According to Rice's Web site, "Angel Time" centers around Toby O'Dare, a soulless contract killer:
"Into O’Dare’s nightmarish world of lone and lethal missions comes a mysterious stranger, a seraph, who offers him a chance to save rather than destroy lives. O'Dare, who long ago dreamt of being a priest but instead came to embody danger and violence, seizes his chance. Now he is carried back through the ages to thirteenth-century England, to dark realms where accusations of ritual murder have been made against Jews, where children suddenly die or disappear . . . In this primitive setting, O’Dare begins his perilous quest for salvation, a journey of danger and flight, loyalty and betrayal, selflessness and love."
Widely famous for "The Vampire Chronicles" (Ballantine Books) and the passionate cult following that emerged after the 1994 movie adaptation of "Interview with the Vampire" (Random), Rice announced in a 2005 interview with Newsweek "that from now on [she] would write only for the Lord."
Her following book, "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" (Ballantine Books), took a diversion from the gothic theme of vampires and witches she had long written of, and instead she focused her storytelling around a 7-year-old Jesus Christ and his childhood.
In her 2008 memoir, "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession" (Knopf), Rice goes into greater detail about how after being an atheist for decades, she rediscovered and embraced her Catholic faith.
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