In "Creating suspense in your writing," John Lutz explains the most important ways to create suspense. First, getting the reader to identify with your character. Next, having a time limit. Finally, creating an atmosphere that fits into the passage of the book. In Anne Rice"s "The Queen of the Damned," she uses the techniques illustrated by John Lutz, to write a very captivating book. .

             First, getting the reader to identify with the character. In all writing, this is a very important thing. One way to do this, is by giving the reader more than just a description of the hero and his surroundings. The writer wants the reader think, 'Yes, I understand," or 'I"ve been to one of those." That way the reader will learn something about the leader and his situation and on a certain level will feel what the main character feels (Lutz).

             In "The Queen of the Damned," the main character is Lestat de Lioncourt, a very handsome, aristocratic vampire, that has been given the "Dark Trick" in France, in the 18th century. If the reader has read Rice"s previous book "The Vampire Lestat," he or she will already be accustomed to the way this vampire acts and thinks. If not he/she will get accustomed to it quickly, because Lestat is very handsome, he"s smart, he"s very powerful and he doesn"t always go by the rules. He also needs to be in the centre of attention. "I"m the vampire Lestat. The vampire that became a super rock star, the one who wrote an auto biography. The one with the blond hair and the gray eyes and the insatiable desire for visibility and fame" (Rice, 1). Although he"s a vampire he"s also got feelings and emotions. "Why did you bring me here?" I asked her. "It"s so painful to see this, as painful as everything else" (Rice, 257).

             Next, having a time limit in the story. Then, the reader will be on the edge of their seats, not knowing if the main character will succeed in completing the task, before it is too late.