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The follow-up to The Witching Hour, 1993’s Lasher, continues the masterful world-building of that precious volume while fully standing on its own: it is a cold, horrifying treat filled to the brim with Anne Rice’s signature gothic, sensual overtones.

The daemon that is Lasher � He who has bestowed wealth and punishment upon the Mayfair clan for centuries � wants nothing more than to reproduce, but it has been a challenge. In Rowan, the most powerful Mayfair witch yet and current keeper of the ancestry, He has found his vessel, the would-be bearer of his spawn. And He will force her to keep trying, if attempts prove unsuccessful � no matter the cost.

Though this book did not immediately grab me, unlike its predecessor, I did soon fall into its groove and could not put it down. As is Rice’s way, I was spellbound by her luscious prose, the unfolding, understated horrors; I was once more captured by the Mayfair family history (and future). This a more than worthy follow-up to the first novel in the Mayfair Witches trilogy, and I will soon read the finale.