Bound and Unbound: A paranormal novella duology
Ali Hazelwood
My Soul to Keep
by Tananarive Due
About this book
From the award-winning master of horror and Afrofuturism Tananarive Due comes a modern classic of dark introspection.
When Jessica marries David, he is everything she wants in a family man: brilliant, attentive, ever youthful. Yet she still feels something about him is just out of reach. Soon, as people close to Jessica begin to meet violent, mysterious deaths, David makes an unimaginable confession: More than 400 years ago, he and other members of an Ethiopian sect traded their humanity so they would never die, a secret he must protect at any cost. Now, his immortal brethren have decided David must return and leave his family in Miami. Instead, David vows to invoke a forbidden ritual to keep Jessica and his daughter with him forever.
Harrowing, engrossing, and skillfully rendered, My Soul to Keep traps Jessica between the desperation of immortals who want to rob her of her life and a husband who wants to rob her of her soul. With deft plotting and an unforgettable climax, this tour de force reminiscent of early Anne Rice will win Due a new legion of fans.
- Publication Date
- May 25, 2026
- ASIN
- B0853CMT5W
Reader Reviews
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...
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...
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...
January 19, 2014
Let me start by saying that this was my favorite book I've read in the last 6 months. Not because it was the most well written book I’ve read in that time but because it was the first time in 6 months that I’ve fallen head over heels for the hero. The last time this happened to me the hero was a bad boy. Beyond that actually, because that character was such a bad boy he was, in fact, an antihero. This is also true of this novel’s lead character, Dawat. I prefer the term antihero to bad boy in...
August 2, 2025
I became a fan of this series a couple of years ago. These are my kind of immortals. They are created through divine blood, can walk amongst the mortals in the sun, and are not parasitic to humans. In fact, their maker prefers his sons to sever connections to all mortals. He encourages his Ethiopian Sect to spend their immortality seeking knowledge. Kudos to Ms. Due for creating another standard of immortal. If anyone has researched Lalibela, Ethiopia, we know that there are tunnels underneath...
