Book Reviews
Like the hurricane that threatens Florida at its climax, this stunning sequel to My Soul to Keep (1997) is an event of sustained power and energy. Its predecessor introduced Jessica Jacob-Wolde, a journalist who belatedly discovers that her "perfect" husband, David, is a renegade from a secretive 1,000-year-old clan of Ethiopian immortals who will kill to prevent members from sharing their life-extending blood with mortals. David has returned to Africa to do penance among his Life Brothers, and Jessica, whom he resurrected from the dead with a transfusion from himself, follows close behind, setting up a jungle clinic to dispense dilutions of her blood as medicine. Jessica's daughter Fana, whom David did not know Jessica was pregnant with when he transfused her, has begun to show magical powers, and her precocious divinity is the catalyst for a volatile brew of subplots that includes a violent schism among the Life Brothers, an alternative medicine guru's desperate efforts to save his leukemic son with Jessica's blood and a force of unspeakable evil trying to channel itself through Fana. Due exercises assured control over her wildly gyrating story, exploring its drama in terms of African culture, African-American experience and a variety of parent-child relationships. What's more, she fuses clich d themes from a variety of genres jungle adventure, transcontinental espionage, natural disaster into an amalgam that reclaims their powers to excite. A rare example of a sequel that improves upon the original, this novel also should set a standard for supernatural thrillers of the new millennium. My Soul to Keep was one of the most talked-about debuts in the horror field since the advent of Stephen King. Expect heavy interest sales for this sequel.
Publishers Weekly
In this sequel to My Soul To Keep, protagonist Jessica Jacobs-Wolde has joined the ranks of immortals thanks to a ceremonial infusion of magical blood from her husband, David, a member of an ancient, secret society the Life Brothers. After being accused of murder, David disappears, leaving Jessica alone in Florida to await the birth of their daughter, Fana. Two years later, Jessica and Fana move first to South Africa and then to Botswana. With rising horror, Jessica watches as little Fana begins to demonstrate tremendous psychic powers that give her control of life and death over mortals. Jessica believes that with their age-old knowledge, only David and his Brothers can give Fana the guidance she needs. So Jessica ventures into Ethiopia to find the Colony to which her husband has retreated. How unfortunate that this intriguing plot is so poorly executed. The writing is flaccid, and the story moves at a glacial pace. Better editing might have made this a more readable novel. Not recommended.
Library Journal
Readers will be glad to see the resurrection of the characters from Due's last novel, My Soul to Keep (1997), but there is nothing to keep readers new to the author from enjoying this sequel. It reunites Jessica and Dawit for the rearing of their daughter, Fana, and in the many pages of this mesmerizing narrative, Due shares the lives of Jessica and her sister, Alex, since they learned of Dawit's existence as a Life Brother. From Miami to South Africa to Botswana to Tallahassee, these women are constantly reminded of Dawit's extraordinary curse-gift through the positive powers and negative abilities of the child Fana. These women's determination to use the living blood in a healing and charitable way to help children is the decision that sets this novel on its course. In five compelling sections, Due explores human behavior, scientific discovery, medical and natural healing practices, and religious ideology. Due ends the novel at a place to begin the next installment. — Lillian Lewis
Booklist
This supernatural thriller continues the story of reporter Jessica Jacobs-Wolde, four years after the death of her first child and the disappearance of her husband. She has revealed the secret of the living blood (from book one) to her sister, a doctor, and together with Fana, the child she gave birth to nine months after her husband's disappearance, the sisters live as quietly as possible in remote African villages. The constant action takes Jessica and Fana eventually to Ethiopia, to the place where the immortals live, to be reunited with Fana's father, Jessica's husband. It doesn't stop there, however, and the suspense builds as the action goes from Africa back to the States in a desperate chase to save a small boy's life, to protect the miraculous blood, to find a way to live in the world as immortals. Due is a wonderful storyteller. She is a young woman who already has an impressive career as a writer and journalist. As an African American, writing about African Americans, she brings layers of cultural nuance to an already complex story. The living blood obviously has religious significance, and there is much in this story that ties African Americans to African culture and history. One of the Christian churches that traces back to the early centuries of Christianity is the Ethiopian church, an important fact that pulls this story together thematically. Most readers will want to search the Internet or the library for photographs of the underground churches in Ethiopia so vividly described in this thriller. Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. — Claire Rosser
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