肉体窃贼 (1992)

《肉体窃贼》（英语：The Tale of the Body Thief）是美国作家安妮·赖斯的系列小说“吸血鬼编年史”第四部，于1992年出版。时报文化于1999年3月1日在台湾发行繁体中文版，简体中文版由译林出版社发行于2007年10月1日，均由冷杉翻译。此作续接《吸血鬼女王》，继续为读者讲述莱斯特的探险历程，并着重描写莱斯特在20世纪末试图重新找回他丢失已久的人性。美国杂志《花花公子》于1992年10月发行的月刊里引用了这部小说的部分章节。

内容概述

故事始于在吸血鬼本性钳制下的莱斯特变得懊悔又沮丧，虽然他试图减少杀生次数，但噬血的欲望让他无从满足。夺走一个“无辜”之人的生命让他越来越难以忍受，此外，他也为自己已故“女儿”克劳蒂亚之死而自责不已。

电影改编

2007年有谣传说联艺电影有意购买小说的影视版权并将其改拍为电影。几年之后，赖斯于2012年宣布 Imagine Entertainment 获得小说改编权，将由李·派特森编写剧本，艾力克斯·寇兹曼和罗伯托·奥利奇也会参与电影制作。但2013年4月，赖斯又说电影制作计划已经停止，她在脸书上写道：“关于莱斯特的电影制作已经搁浅，在多年的努力下，我们遇到许多困难，而这次的困境尤其难以克服。”赖斯的儿子克利士多福·莱斯参与了起草及改编剧本，并获得其他参与者的赞扬。然而制片商不接受这个剧本，以至其被驳回。2014年8月，环球影业和 Imagine Entertainment 收购了全系列小说的影视版权。到2016年11月，环球没有续约版权，因此影视版权又回到赖斯手中。她目前已经与克利士多福一起着手开发这套系列小说的电视剧。

The Tale of the Body Thief is a vampire novel by American writer Anne Rice, the fourth in her The Vampire Chronicles series, following The Queen of the Damned (1988). Published in 1992, it continues the adventures of Lestat, specifically his efforts to regain his lost humanity during the late 20th century. Chapters from the book appeared in the October 1992 issue of Playboy.

Plot summary

At the beginning of the story, Lestat grows depressed and becomes remorseful because of his vampiric nature. Although he tries to limit his victims to murderers, serial killers and other criminals, he nonetheless caves into temptation once in a while and kills an "innocent", or someone who he feels does not necessarily deserve to die. Lestat also suffers from constant nightmares concerning his late "daughter", Claudia, for whose death he blames himself.

Since Akasha's defeat, Lestat has become extremely lonely. Among his only remaining friends is David Talbot, the elderly mortal head of the Talamasca. Although Lestat has repeatedly offered to turn David, he has always refused to become a vampire and keep Lestat company through eternity. Lestat goes to the Gobi Desert at dawn in a half-hearted suicide attempt. When he does not die, he goes to David's home in England to heal.

A mysterious figure, Raglan James, approaches Lestat with what seems to be a cure for his ennui and depression. James sends Lestat several messages hinting that he has the ability to switch bodies. Eventually, he proposes to Lestat that the two of them trade bodies for a day. David reveals that James was a gifted psychic who once joined the Talamasca, but was kicked out of the order for constant theft.

James is a kleptomaniac who has stolen or schemed for literally everything he owns, from his house to his body. However, he also has major psychic problems, and his life is a series of cycles—he gets rich by theft, then often ends up in prison. Dying of cancer several years before, James tricked an inmate of a mental institution into switching bodies with him, allowing him a type of immortality. Against the advice of David and other vampires, Lestat jumps at the opportunity. Unfortunately, James has no intention of ever switching back, and Lestat is forced to scheme to regain his body.

Lestat nearly dies after becoming human again—his new body is wracked by pneumonia, which he ignores during a tour of Washington D.C. in the middle of winter. He is saved by the care of a nun named Gretchen. He enjoys a short love affair with Gretchen before she returns to South America, where she works in a convent, and Lestat sets out in search of his body.

Lestat seeks help from other vampires but is completely ostracized. Louis turns Lestat away when he asks to turn his new body, arguing that Lestat ought to be happy to be human again and also calling him out for slandering him in previous writings. Marius is extremely angry at him for leaving such a powerful body to a thief. Lestat's only ally is David.

It is James's lack of imagination and petty thievery that allow Lestat and David to track him down. Despite his newfound wealth and powerful new body, James continues to steal jewelry from people. He also makes a conspicuous show of his wealth, boarding the Queen Elizabeth 2 and draining victims of their blood along the ship's path. The pattern allows his pursuers to easily find him aboard the ship. While Lestat manages to regain his body with David's help, he performs the switch during a sunrise and must immediately flee to a safe place during the day. When he awakes in the evening, he finds that both David and James have disappeared.