The Keeper - by Tananarive Due & Steven Barnes (Hardcover)

About the Book

Aisha, a young black girl, has lost her parents to a car crush. She moves in with her grandmother, but the old woman is dying. The grandmother summons a spirit that has protected their family and asks it to watch over Aisha. At first, it seems as though the spirit, the Keeper, is doing what the grandmother asked. But soon it begins stealing life from others, becoming an uncontrollable monster.

Book Synopsis

A young Black girl finds herself trapped between desperation and her family's dark history in The Keeper, a horror graphic novel written by New York Times bestselling, award-winning masters of horror Tananarive Due (The Reformatory) and Steven Barnes, illustrated by Marco Finnegan.

NAMED A BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST
NAMED A BOOK WE LOVED BY NPR

Aisha has suffered a devastating loss. Her parents were killed in a car crash, and now she must move to decrepit and derelict Detroit to live with her ailing grandmother. However, shortly after moving in, Aisha's grandmother's health rapidly deteriorates. With her dying breath, she summons the dark spirit that has protected their family for generations to watch over Aisha.

At first it seems that this spirit, whom Aisha refers to as the Keeper, is truly doing as her grandmother asked, caring for Aisha and keeping her safe; however, it soon becomes clear that this being can only sustain itself by stealing life from others. As the Keeper begins to prey on the apartment building's other residents, Aisha and her friends must come together to destroy it . . . or die trying.

Review Quotes

"The Keeper is the best of what classic modern horror can be. Deep character development that draws you in and makes you care, coupled with frights that live with you long after you've completed reading. I love this book!"--Rodney Barnes, author of Killadelphia

"The Keeper is as hypnotic as it is wonderful. A deliberately paced story about a young girl's loss, like the best horror, it's both intimately moving while being unnerving . . ."--Pornsak Pichetshote, author of The Good Asian and Infidel

"The Keeper broke my heart and may be the best graphic novel of 2022."--Adam McGovern, author of Nightworld

"The Keeper is an imaginative, terrifying tale of generational trauma in a Black family that is crafted with expert technique and told with real heart."--Jordan Peele, Oscar and Bram Stoker Award-winning writer and director of Get Out and Us

"The Keeper is full of horror and heart. Barnes, Due, and Finnegan are masters of the creepy, and I was just as moved by all the kindness and love I found inside. A wonderful piece of work."--Victor LaValle, author of Destroyer, The Ballad of Black Tom, and The Changeling

"A heart-wrenchingly compassionate confrontation with the realities of grief, tragedy, family secrets, and the courage it takes to survive a world waiting to swallow you whole. Aisha is a glorious vision of the complexity of Black girlhood: our tenderness and vulnerability as much as our strength. Fans of Candyman and The Girl With All the Gifts won't be able to get enough of The Keeper."--Lea Anderson, horror scholar and critic for Fangoria

"A masterful stroke of horror from Due, Barnes, and Finnegan, The Keeper is the kind of graphic novel that slithers into your subconscious and refuses to leave. Haunting, beautifully illustrated, and well-paced, The Keeper is, in fact, a keeper."--Alex Segura, acclaimed author of Secret Identity

"An enthralling and literally haunting tale centered on home and family. Due and Barnes, geniuses of the genre, have done it again, providing a tale that weaves the horrors of real-life events with terrors of the unknown."--Frances Gateward, Eisner Award-winning comics scholar

"As moving as it is eerie, the story that unfolds in The Keeper is perfect for comics. Finnegan's art gets under your skin in the best possible way."--Qiana J. Whitted, Eisner Award-winning comics scholar

About the Author

Tananarive Due (tah-nah-nah-REEVE doo) is an award-winning author who teaches Black horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA. She is an executive producer on Shudder's groundbreaking documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror. A leading voice in Black speculative fiction for more than 20 years, Due has won an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a British Fantasy Award, and her writing has been included in multiple best-of-the-year anthologies. Her books include Ghost Summer: Stories, My Soul to Keep, and The Good House. She and her late mother, civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due, coauthored Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights. Due is married to author Steven Barnes, with whom she collaborates on screenplays. They live in Los Angeles with their son, Jason, and two cats. Steven Barnes is a New York Times bestselling, NAACP Image Award-winning author of more than 30 novels. Nominated for Nebula and Hugo awards, writer of the Emmy Award-winning "A Stitch In Time" episode of The Outer Limits and winner of the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Award, he is a pioneering Afrofuturist and one of the most honored voices in the field. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, British Fantasy Award-winning novelist Tananarive Due. Barnes has taught or lectured at UCLA, USC, University of Washington (Seattle), Mensa, Pasadena JPL, the Smithsonian Museum, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), and many other institutions. His books include Twelve Days (Tor, 2017). Marco Finnegan is a storyboard and comic book artist known for his work with 12-Gauge, Vault, Boom, Image Comics, and Lerner Books. He graduated with a bachelor of arts in art from California State University, Fullerton, and teaches graphic novel and art classes for high school students. He lives in Southern California with his wife and four children.