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Tananarive Due Tananarive Due is the author of The Black Rose, My Soul to Keep (one of the Publishers Weekly Best Novels of the Year in 1997), and The Between, and was a collaborator on the bestselling novel Naked Came the Manatee. Her short fiction was included in the groundbreaking Dark Matter, an anthology of African-American science fiction and fantasy. A two-time finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, the former Miami Herald columnist lives in Washington state with her husband, novelist Steven Barnes.
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The Living Blood Jessica Jacobs-Wolde worked hard to rebuild her life in Miami after the disappearance of her husband, David, and the death of her daughter Kira at his hand. Four years later, she is still coming to terms with a shocking truth: David, who is part of an ancient group of immortals-a hidden African clan that has survived for more than a thousand years-gave Jessica and their second daughter, Fana, the gift of his healing blood. Now Jessica is running an isolated clinic in Botswana-one that has swiftly earned a reputation for its astounding success rate in curing desperately ill children-and she hopes to find the tribe of souls with whom Fana truly belongs. Just three and a half years old, the girl is displaying signs of tremendous power-conjuring storms, editing her mother's memories, and striking people down with a thought. Her growing abilities need to be tamed-and soon. Already Fana's dreams are haunted by a shadowy entity, someone-or something--she can only call the Bee Lady. Unaware that they are being tracked by Lucas Shepard, a doctor from Florida who hopes to save his dying son, and by a group of fortune hunters who will stop at nothing to exploit the power coursing through her veins, Jessica journeys to Ethiopia in search of the Life Brothers. There, she will be reunited with her immortal beloved. There, the full force of Fana's powers will be revealed. And there, Jessica, David, Fana, and the good doctor Shepard, though himself a mere mortal, will engage in an epic and transcontinental battle over the ultimate fate of humanity. Blending the supernatural with a thrilling vision of our times, this is a powerful and sweeping tale of love, horror, immortality, and redemption from an astounding storyteller. Acclaimed for her riveting fiction, which tests the boundaries of supernatural suspense, Tananarive Due returns with a gloriously imagined tale of an ancient cult's undying powers-now embodied by a child who can grow to become either monster or savior. "Stunning...an event of sustained power and energy....This novel...should set a standard for supernatural thrillers of the new millennium….One of the best and most significant novelists of her generation." -Peter Straub, author of Mr. X and Ghost Story "Smart, soulful, crafty Tananarive Due deserves the attention of everyone interested in contemporary American fiction. In The Living Blood, this young writer opens up realms of experience that add to our storehouse of shared reality, and by doing so widens our common vision." -Tina McElroy Ansa "Due has started this series with a pair of rich, exciting novels. If we're lucky, it will go on forever." -San Jose Mercury News Pocket Books/Washington Square
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