I have a new favorite author to add to my lengthy list, and a new favorite book to add to the towering stack.

Tananarive Due was described to me as a “female Stephen King”. I dislike the need to label authors as other authors, but the suggestion did cause me to seek out one of her books.

Female horror/supernatural writers are not given the due or respect they deserve, especially female authors of color, Octavia Butler, science fiction writer extraordinaire, one of the few exceptions.

I am so glad I picked this book up. Tananarive Due’s novel, published in 2003, is so much more that just a tale of supernatural horror, although it is that in every way, it is one of the best I’ve read of the genre I love so dearly, it is also a story about love, regret, family, ancestors, magic, and the tenebrous line between belief and disbelief (a subject always near and dear to my heart).

This is one of a handful books that, as I read it at night, I looked nervously over my shoulder, or sat bolt upright as the house settled in for the night around me as I read. I mean that as the deepest compliment I can give a book. This story is that good.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who likes a good scare, but, more than just that, loves a book that reaches down into the depths of your mind and spirit and takes up residence there, leaving you just a bit different after turning the last page.

Do yourself a favor. Read this book…

I’m off to read another of Due’s books. Search her out. You will not be disappointed.

10 dry, fallen leaves out of 10. Best book I have read this year.