Story: Jessica is an investigative reporter for a Miami newspaper, her husband David is a jazz and languages scholar and university professor. Their lives are filled with happiness and love – for their beautiful home, for her mother and sister, and for their 5-year-old daughter. Then Jessica accidentally uncovers evidence that makes her suspect David is not exactly what he seems. He has a secret that, if revealed, will put his wife and daughter in mortal danger.
Review: In my quest to expand my knowledge of African-American storytelling, I found a revelation – a black female author who writes horror stories! I was reading through the book section of the CNN website one day and came across an article about a young woman who was chosen to finish up Alex Haley’s book about Madame C. J. Walker. Intrigued by the praise Ms. Due was receiving for her work on that novel (“The Black Rose”), I decided tolook at more of what she’d written. I was utterly thrilled to find that she has written several horror novels, so I added this one to my wish list – and Santa came through.
David was known as Dawit (DAH-weet) when he was born in Ethiopia in the 1500s. He and his friend Mahmoud fell in with a group of men led by Khaldun, a man who claimed that he could make them immortal by passing his blood to them after their death. They decided to participate and became members of the “Life brotherhood”. Jump 500 years into the future and we find David happily married to Jessica and living in Miami, the proud father of 5-year-old Kira, a scholar of jazz music and languages. Things are going well for David until he decides to visit a nursing home while he’s in Chicago guest-lecturing. He sees his daughter, Rosalie, dying alone in a bleak room and cannot stand to leave her there, suffering for who knows how long, her beauty and life ravaged by old age. David makes the hasty decision to end her suffering, a decision that comes back to haunt him later.
Jessica is an ambitious reporter who has worked her way up the ladder to become a part of the newspaper’s investigative team. The story she has been working on, about abuse and neglect of the elderly in nursing homes, has accumulated enough evidence that she and her co-worker and friend, Peter, are approached by a publisher to write a book on the subject. (Coincidentally, she has just received a report from the Chicago PD about Rosalie’s murder, but has not yet followed up on it.) Jessica knows this prospect will not thrill David but decides that it’s an opportunity she can’t pass up. She is surprised by David’s offer of complete support for the project, and all seems to be going well – until Peter is murdered and Jessica’s world begins to fall apart. David begins to suspect that “the Searchers” have tracked him down and he may have to leave this family too. He decides that he has left too many families in the past; he wants Jess & Kira with him forever, so he reveals his secret. What follows is a roller-coaster ride for Jessica – and a rousing good story for the reader.
This book is somewhat unique in the genre, as it combines a classic love story with the elements of horror. The reader knows that David is immortal, so the suspense of his slow revelation is quite high. The author combines sensuality, murder, theology and love into a tale that is extremely well-written. I was absolutely gripped by the chapter in which David finally reveals his true self to Jessica; it bears favorable comparison to any of the other “established” genre authors. The characters’ heritage has little bearing on the story in general, but I found it refreshing to read about people who weren’t all presumed to be caucasian. All in all, I found this book to be very enjoyable reading, and plan to read more by this author.
Year: 1997
Author:
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 346