Product Description
From the author of the national bestseller My Soul to Keep comes a riveting new novel of supernatural suspense -- a gripping tale that brilliantly showcases a writer at the pinnacle of her astounding storytelling abilities. Jessica Jacobs-Wolde has somehow survived the worst that any mother or wife could ever endure: the deaths of her husband and first daughter. But now, four years later, not only is the nightmare continuing -- it may have only just begun. Jessica has discovered the terrifying truth behind the legacy that her husband left to their second daughter, Fana...a legacy preordained a thousand years before her time and drenched in the powerful lifeblood that now courses through her veins. As young Fana begins to display unearthly abilities that are quickly spiraling out of control, she becomes the target of those who will stop at nothing to exploit her power -- and the unwitting touchstone in an ancient supernatural battle whose outcome may decide the fate of all humanity.
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Amazon.com Review
The pantheon of modern horror gods is a small and frighteningly talented group: Stephen King, Anne Rice, Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Dean Koontz--and Tananarive Due. If there is any justice, Due's exciting, powerful, ambitious, scary, and beautifully written supernatural thriller, The Living Blood, will be the first of a decades-long string of hits that will sell millions. Jessica Jacobs-Wolde's life was destroyed when her husband, David Wolde, disappeared after killing both their daughter Kira and Jessica herself--and reviving Jessica to immortality with his healing blood. David was a Life Brother, member of an ancient, secret, and immortal African clan. Now Jessica, hiding with her surviving daughter in rural Botswana, attempts to make sense of her new existence as she uses her altered blood to save the incurably ill. But her daughter Fana was born with the living blood in her veins, and at the age of 3 can raise a storm, kill with a thought, and possess her mother's mind. The true extent of her abilities is unknown. Jessica's only hope of teaching Fana to control her dangerous talents is to travel to Ethiopia and find the Life Brothers' hidden colony. But the Life Brothers despise the new immortals and may possess the knowledge to end even immortal lives. And others, unknown to Jessica, are searching for her and Fana: Lucas Shepard, a Florida doctor driven to desperation by his young son's untreatable leukemia; ruthless mercenaries in the pay of an aging medical-company executive, who will stop at nothing to gain immortality and the billion-dollar profits that a drug based on the living blood would bring; and a supernatural being or force called the Bee Lady, who stalks Fana in the world of dreams, seeking to possess Fana's mind and powers for her own evil purposes. The Living Blood is the sequel to My Soul to Keep, one of the Publishers Weekly Best Novels of the Year in 1997. Due's historical novel The Black Rose was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award, and her debut novel, The Between, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Due is also coauthor, with Dave Barry, Edna Buchanan, Carl Hiassen, Elmore Leonard, and eight others, of the comic thriller Naked Came the Manatee. --Cynthia Ward
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An addictive escape.... ( themosone76 )
This book was the second in Dues' series about a family of immortals and the extraordinary talents of a young girl. I didnt know anything about the author, when I realized I owned her book 'My Soul to keep' (The first book in this series of the story of immortals). Due does not disappoint with her talent for sucking your brain cells deep into the pages hanging on every word trying not to read too fast because your heart rate accelerates as your eyes roll over each word waiting to get to the next a see whats coming. I was pleasantly surprised, and thats a modest expression!! Please read her work(s)!!
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Great book! Awesome writer. ( supermommie316 )
I loved this book more than the first one. I love Due's writing style. The Living Blood had been on the edge of my seat the entire time. I love the fact that David and Jessica have to work together to save their little Fana. The ending was great. If I didn't know that there was a third book, this one would have summed it up for me but left me wanting a third one.
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One word, wordy ( celebrationstation )
I have one word for this book, wordy! It could have been 300 pages, instead of the 700 it was. Due goes into all kinds of lengthy explanations of feelings and emotions that are just so much blah, blah, blah. The story kept promising to get interesting but never really did, and the ending was down right hokey. I read reveiw after reveiw that said this book was really scary......NOT! It was scary diappointing.
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One drop can damn or heal ( msprissytwo )
"The Living Blood" by Tananarive Due is a riveting and supernatural suspense novel that will hold your interest from chapter to chapter. She introduces her characters through their minds as well as their actions. While parents Jessica, a mortal turned immortal, and David/Dawit, an immortal, are the main characters, for me, four-year old Fana steals the story. The parents are bewildered trying to understand and raise their gifted child, who has inherited her father's living blood. The Creator of the Life Colony says he has allowed Fana to be born, has given her "the power to stand between mortal and immortal, the two races of man. The child is both salvation and destruction."
As in Tananarive Due's other book, "My Soul To Keep," the theme--the blood of Christ--continues in "The Living Blood," proving in her stories that it is more precious than gold.
What happens when the ability to heal the ills of the world with one drop of the living blood? Human beings are honored, hated, misunderstood and frightened out of your wits. This well constructed novel highlights the admirable, reprehensible and greed in mortals. Immortals, who received the blood through the Life Brothers, declare a life or death battle to keep it within the colony, pitting powerful forces against powerful forces.
I could go on but I'll stop here. I could not put this excellently written book down. I am in awe of Tananarive Due. Onward to "Blood Colony." I'm a committed fan.
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Great Read
I found this book less engaging but more fullfilling than My Soul To Keep.
The Living Blood gave a few characters a chance to redeem themselves in what was a dire situation from the first book.
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