5.0 out of 5 stars Thinkin' Fiction -- the Ancient African

B.S.P. · September 20, 2006

It baffles me why some folks want to force Ms. Due to be a horror writer. She is absolutely not, and this is why I love her work. She incorportes realism, with myticism, the supernatural, but not horror. The people live very real lives, but have some quirks about them. Ms. Due write fiction with depth. She makes you think, and is an excellent, imaginative storyteller.I feel like David and Jessica are members of my family. Every sistah needs a David/Dawit, of course, minus his indiscretions and personality deficits. If you are looking for a great love story, thrown in for good measure, murder, secrets, suspense, and the unbelievable, why My Soul to Keep is for you.I discovered Mrs. Due a couple of years ago by accident. I was in the library one day and I saw this book with this very menacing cover. Out of curiosity, I opened the book and began to read. I was hooked. It was love at first sight. Imagine my utter joy when I discovered that The Living Blood was a Sequel to My Soul to Keep. Immediately, I returned to the library a few weeks later and checked out My Soul to Keep. I kept that book for almost 6 weeks. At that point, I knew I had to have my own copies for my library.This is a love, suspense, supernatural thriller. David and Jessica are a happily married couple. Actually, Jessica has counted herself so lucky in meeting a fantastic man so early in her life. In comparison to so many sisters, where the pool of viable & desirable marriage partners is very shallow, she has a good man. She could not have asked for a better man. He is a great provider, husband, lover and father. Unbeknownst to Jessica, Dawit/David has a secret. When it is discovered, all hell breaks loose.The book is so well written and highly imaginative. Mrs. Due makes you believe the unbelievable, that immortals inhabitant the earth and live among mortals. She is an excellent story teller. What also attracts me to her is she is obviously well-versed in African American history. On the sneak, she gives the reader a history lesson.I also appreciate the fact that the black men are fully developed human beings, not caricatures. I know many sistahs would love to have a man like Dawit. He is everything a woman could ask for - well almost.This is not a vampire story, though I love them. This is about human beings, with no supernatural powers. They just want permanently kick da bucket. Jessica doesn't realize her man is way older than he says. 30? Yeah right? Enjoy! The saga begins.I love this author. More people need to know who she is.

4.0 out of 5 stars There Truly Are No Good Monsters

S. · February 3, 2013

I found this book to be absolutely captivating. I don't believe I've ever found myself so anxious to find what will occur next as I did with this novel. I actually had to restrain myself from reading ahead, which was a first.Due's style is well written and flows smoothly. I was drawn to the characters, especially Jessica. To have had such a burden thrust upon her and all because of David's selfishness. He truly was crazy.If you're seeking a suspenseful thrill, this book is without a doubt a must read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful and unusual

H.G.(. · June 7, 2021

Tananarive Due’s My Soul to Keep (African Immortals series, 1) is almost a vampire book, but not quite. There’s no blood-drinking, but there is an immortality that can be passed on to others through blood. Jessica, her husband David, and their daughter Kira just lost their Great Dane, Princess, and it seems to be hitting David particularly hard. We learn very early on that David has lived for about 500 years so far, and he’s worried that a group called “the Searchers” has caught up to him and that he’ll have to leave his family–again, because this has happened to him before. The Searchers are a part of a brotherhood formed of people like David and the apparent first of their kind, who said he was made immortal by Christ’s blood. David is deemed to be cleaving too close to humans, thus risking discovery, and the Searchers have come to take him back to Africa. This time, however, he’s determined not to give up his wife and daughter–even if it means killing a few people who could conceivably be a threat to them.There are some fascinating themes in here. Jessica is a religious woman, while David has gradually become an atheist. Her faith is important to her, and definitely impacts how she handles the things she deals with in this story. She’s coming face-to-face with something that should be impossible, something she’s likely to see as a miracle from God, when the man who is embodying this miracle doesn’t believe in God. Her inner (and outer!) conflict is very well-handled.David is a living memory of slavery. He ended up in America during the time of slavery, and died several times then. He was also witness to a great deal of horrifying violence against Black people, and that has scarred him as well. These past issues, plus his desire to have a family when he’s supposed to be living apart from humanity, set him apart from his fellows and risk the very people he loves.There seem to be a few ghosts to add to the paranormal side of things. The ghost of Jessica’s grandfather seems to speak to both her and Kira, although it’s hard to know for sure. Ghosts and visions play a low-key part in the story, and they’re woven in so naturally.There are misunderstandings between people that make things much harder on everyone, but I never felt like these were the stereotypical kind of fictional misunderstandings where if people just communicated halfway decently they wouldn’t even be an issue. The characters have so much depth, and are so different from one another, that they never seemed to act out of character in any way. We get to see things from both Jessica’s and David’s point of view, and it really brings everything home.This is an emotional rollercoaster of a ride set within a gorgeous paranormal context. I look forward to reading the sequel!Content note for explicit sex, child death, animal illness and death, depiction of slavery and the slurs and violence that go with it, animal murder.

Bland

J.M. · December 30, 2023

It is a story of a family with a supernatural element. Could have been more thrilling. There is no doubt of the authors storytelling ability. However, lacked the punch a story like that can deliver.

Came on time and was in great condition

T.C. · October 25, 2020

It came before the due date and it was in great condition — practically brand new with one mark, just as the seller described. Really happy with this buy.