The Snow Garden Book Review

Author Christopher Rice blows his mother Anne Rice's books off the shelf with his new book, The Snow Garden.

The Snow Garden is sensual, breath-taking and a bizarre roller coaster ride from beginning to end. Christopher Rice lures you into his book with his out of the ordinary characters, the descriptive scenes and everything else in between.

The story begins with Randall, Kathryn and Jesse, three students beginning their freshman year at Atherton University, having the idea that they can forget about their dark past and start with a clean slate. That happy thought is busted when professor Eberman's wife is found dead in a car accident. An autopsy showed that her blood-alcohol level exceeded the legal limit.

At the time of the crash, Randall is in bed with professor Eberman. A note lies on the bedside table. It reads, "I saw." From that point forward, lies and deception take over the story.

Anne Rice's tales do not compare to her son's by any means. Anne goes on about the surroundings of the characters and what is going through their mind. With her books, you stop reading and think to yourself, "Where is the dialog?"

Christopher Rice, however, builds the suspense of the story with every turned page. His mother's books are basically life stories. Her Vampire Chronicle series is basically the vampires' sob stories. I loved Anne Rice's books. And to a degree, I still do. But Christopher's books are, to me, so much better.