Rating: 
Summary: Professional Reviews and Quotes
Review: "Stalking Tender Prey is a spectacular novel, superblycrafterd by a naturally gifted writer with a genuinely unique andimaginative talent." --James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, The Midwest Book Review"She charms the young and defiant with apocalypses of her own design."-The Sunday Times "Dark, sensual, and mysterious-Storm Constantine weaves sensual enigmas from familiar tapestries. Old Gods fantasy of the highest order."-Phil Brucato, developer of Mage: The Ascension and Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade "Storm Constantine's love for her characters, their love and lust for one another, and her celebration of their beauty fairly drips from the pages of her work. She is a daring, romantic sensualist as well as a fine storyteller."-Poppy Z. Brite "Storm Constantine is a powerful visionary, and her lush and haunting dark fantasies explore the secret nooks and crannies of our mythologies and religions, places most of us only think we know. A storyteller who has mastered the alchemy of the sacred and the profane and knows the heady revelations such mixtures release, she's the genuine article."-Caitlín R. Kiernan "Stalking Tender Prey, is such a strange book that it all but defies description so imagine the following: Jackie Collins has spent a few months living in England reading up on Tom Stoppard and Alan Bennett. She begins to write a mystery thriller when she meets Aleister Crowley, Tanith Lee and Joseph Campbell in the local pub. The bizarre local beer fuses them together and they come up with this. The novel manages to balance the aforementioned combination, producing a work that reads with the energy and POV-shifting pace of a bestseller. It also contains well-observed characters and supernatural powers strong and dark enough to satisfy the discerning fantasy reader's desire for wild magic."-Nova Express "To combine the natural and the uncanny on epic scale is a matter of novelistic skill, and Constantine succeeds well."-Vector Magazine "This housebrick of a book is possibly the best novel I have ever read. Do yourself a favor, buy Storm's book. You won't be disappointed."-Ian Read in Chaos International #20 "It's atmospheric, the language is rich and the settings vivid. Constantine stays firmly in control or the intricate plot, conveying the necessary information deftly by shuffling the characters so that the experience of each forwards the story."-Dark Side Magazine "The name Storm Constantine conjures up images of sexy heroes with long hair and leather trousers, enigmatic races with supernatural powers, and dark tales of science, sex, and magick."-SFX Magazine "If you have read any of her work before, you will already know that she is a brilliant and imaginative writer. The style of the writing is beautiful and often shocking in the way it draws the reader in, and so vividly describes the events that take place. Stalking Tender Prey also has a dangerous amount of realism, leaving you thinking 'the Grigori could be among us.' "-The Scone Magazine "Gothic, cruel, and sometimes startlingly funny, Storm Constantine's work takes on the subjects of beauty and power with a ferocious storytelling energy far beyond the usual genre formulas. She's worth reading even if you aren't a young person who wears lots of black."-Patrick Nielsen Hayden "Stalking Tender Prey-such a delightful premise. It conjures up images of tall, lean, and mysterious predators who walk the shadows around us, winnowing out the weak, making love to the strong and generally doing their part for the unnatural order. Nobody does this better than Storm Constantine who understands that sensuality without irony is meat without salt. Irony frees Constantine's other worlds from the constraints of heroics and villainies. Every predator is prey to something and survival is a delicate dance of nuance and perception. There's no telegraphing on these pages, no way to know for a reader to know where sympathy may be safely bestowed. Every character has sufficient strengths and foibles to insure an interesting, unanticipated fate. Manners matter among the Grigori, as they always have among those who dwell in the English countryside. Once lost, innocence can never be recaptured. Indiscretion has dire-sometimes fatal and spectacular-consequences. In the end, few things are more revealing than what one of Constantine's chooses to drink in public or in private. Stalking Tender Prey reads as if Jane Austen had dyed her hair black. Buy this book."-Lynn Abbey "With razor-keen prose, Constantine weaves a complex tale of passion and mystery. While possessing the flavor of her Wraethu novels, this is wonderfully different, new, and should win her the larger audience her work deserves."-Robin Wayne Bailey "Constantine weaves all these late twentieth century concerns-the impending Millennium, the Nephilim, and love transcending death-into a tapestry of desire, faith, and power. Her darkly erotic prose is captivating; the breadth of her vision astonishing."-Helen Knibb, BSFA "Storm Constantine defines Dark Fantasy. People who don't read fantasy (like me) are for whatever reason tempted to read her, and discover themselves lost in worlds of sinister glory, or tense beauty. Her language is rich and intense, drenched in metaphor but always following compelling storylines. Her wordsmithery doesn't drown her vision."-Carpe Noctem Magazine, July 1998 "Constantine's complex setting may be hard to absorb at first but the effort will be well rewarded in fine tension and twists of plot."-The Bookwatch, October, 1998
Rating:
Summary: The Grigori are an ancient race.
Review: Powerful people, possessing abilities and senses humans do not have. They live among us, their presence clear to those who have eyes to see... Owen and Lily Winter, twins, always knew they were different than the others who lived in the quiet hamlet of Little Moor. Their mother dead, never knowing who their father was, they lived alone in the large house. When Peverel Othman arived in Little Moor he was looking for something or someone, he really was not sure which. When he found the twins he knew his search was over. For Lily and Owen their lives would be forever changed. The quiet hamlet of Little Moor just became the new home of a Grigori.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprised fan
Review: A friend loaned me this book and I have since ordered the second of the trilogy. I had never read "goth" works before, and am unsure whether or not I will read much within that genre; however, the writing was excellent, the characters very interesting and I will be interested to see if Ms Constantine can carry through with the remainder of the trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Subject Matter...Fallen Angels~The Grigori
Review: Although the storyline took a while to set up, this book packs a wonderful *punch* in the arm of mainstream fantasy fiction. The story of fallen angels and their interaction with man throughout time is a bold and refreshing change, as well as its setting in a contemporary timeframe.
I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to more of the Grigori Trilogy!
Rating:
Summary: Ah, Darkness, Sweet Darkness . . .
Review: Can Storm Constantine's work be described as belonging to any particular genre? I don't think so, and that's one of the things that makes her stories so wonderful. However, if I had to pigeonhole her work, then "Stalking Tender Prey" would definitely fit the role of "dark fantasy." No captured princesses, no magical kingdoms, no elves and hobgoblins. This stuff is raw, in-your-face. The magic is delicously seamy, at times unsettling. You can't even tell who the good guys or the bad guys are here; all of the characters have their own demons (literally, in some cases), their own motives. They make no excuses or apologies for what they do. If you're a new intiate to stories dealing with the occult (like I was when I first read this book), then you might feel a little uncomfortable at first, but the read is no less enjoyable, simply because it's not stuff you see much in fantasy. And for those who enjoy Constantine's trademark sexual undercurrents, you won't be disappointed. So if you're a Storm Constantine freak, a stray from the mainstream, or just your average lover of good stories, pick up this book. But if you're a prude (and living in the Bible Belt, I know my share) then stay away, lest your god smite you. He can smite me all he wants, I'm still gonna read this book, and the other two that follow it!
Rating:
Summary: Ah, Darkness, Sweet Darkness . . .
Review: Can Storm Constantine's work be described as belonging to any particular genre? I don't think so, and that's one of the things that makes her stories so wonderful. However, if I had to pigeonhole her work, then "Stalking Tender Prey" would definitely fit the role of "dark fantasy." No captured princesses, no magical kingdoms, no elves and hobgoblins. This stuff is raw, in-your-face. The magic is delicously seamy, at times unsettling. You can't even tell who the good guys or the bad guys are here; all of the characters have their own demons (literally, in some cases), their own motives. They make no excuses or apologies for what they do. If you're a new intiate to stories dealing with the occult (like I was when I first read this book), then you might feel a little uncomfortable at first, but the read is no less enjoyable, simply because it's not stuff you see much in fantasy. And for those who enjoy Constantine's trademark sexual undercurrents, you won't be disappointed. So if you're a Storm Constantine freak, a stray from the mainstream, or just your average lover of good stories, pick up this book. But if you're a prude (and living in the Bible Belt, I know my share) then stay away, lest your god smite you. He can smite me all he wants, I'm still gonna read this book, and the other two that follow it!
Rating: 
Summary: WARNING: Contains strong scenes ...
Review: I have nothing against gay people and have a couple of gay friends, but still I do NOT want to know the intimite details of their ...life, which this book provides in abundence. It just goes on and on many times across many pages. If I had know this then I wouldn't have picked it up.
Also I found the writing to be below average. The book can't decide if it wants to be a fantasy/horror book or make a stand against male oppression. It's just too stupid when the female charactars all have "magical" female powers and everyone understands everything about everyone else, and therfore knows what everyone are doing and thinking all the time.
The authour tries so hard to be Clive Barker, but fails terribly.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Work
Review: I loved the way Constantine uses the cliches of the English rural gothic novel to play with the reader's expectations. Innocent youngsters preyed upon by sinister stranger, small country village containing Terrible Secrets, etc. -- all these staples of the genre are presented early on only so as to trick the reader into a false sense of security in preparation for later wackiness. And simply put, Peverel Othman is the most diabolically seductive and utterly ruthless antagonist I've seen in print. The ambiguities of this character repulse and attract in equal measure (well, more repulse, actually, but still...). I think I spent more time, when I wasn't reading the book, thinking about his motivations than I did about the rest of the plot (the plot's good, too, though). Constantine's strong point in her novels has always been characterization, and she outdoes herself with Othman.
Rating: 
Summary: the cat was cool
Review: I was extremely disappointed with this novel. I was expecting a dark fantasy that also contained elements of desire and sensuality. Although there was sex in this novel, none of it was sexy or sensual. Characters seemed to have sex with each other randomly with little emotion involved. The sexual encounters were usually not described but happened off the page and when they were described, it was done so briefly and clinically that it rendered the scenes almost uninteresting.
The relationships in the book did not seem to ring true at all. We are told that Pev is wanted by everyone who meets him but we are never shown why. Classic rule of story telling "Don't tell, show." We are told that the twins are in love with each other and have only had each other to rely on since their mother died. They are so intrinsically bound that they have a sexually relationship as well and live more like man and wife than brother and sister. Yet a couple of rolls in the hay with Pev and Lily betrays her brother, leaving him to be brutally raped physically and emotionally by Pev until he is a mere husk of his former self. Yet she is not so enthralled by Pev that she cannot protect her neighbor's cat from him. Several brutal rapes occur in the novel but no one seems to mind. There's some same sex scenes between willing partners which are again underdescribed and some between partners who maybe are willing or maybe are just bewitched. It's hard to tell because Storm doesn't really elaborate. I think she may just be trying to shock her readers with scenes that some might consider freaky or something. Whatever.
Desire is not just about the groin. Desire is about the whole body. It's about the way your breath catches when a hand brushes against your shoulder or the way you feel you could bite someone's back until you draw blood or whatever. I'm not really getting that from Storm's writing. Just the same old in and out.
And she makes it seem so quick. I also dislike the way these characters have absolutely no loyalty towards one another. Whether they are friends, lovers, or family members, once Pev comes to town they are willing to betray their loved ones at the drop of the hat. And that makes them seem so unrealistic to me. I am not saying that people wouldn't act this way, just that Storm does nothing to deepen the readers under standing of why they act that way.
The only thing that I liked about this book was the chick who got it on with her cat. At least they had a nice loving relationship. I wish there had been more scenes with the two of them.
Rating:
Summary: the cat was cool
Review: I was extremely disappointed with this novel. I was expecting a dark fantasy that also contained elements of desire and sensuality. Although there was sex in this novel, none of it was sexy or sensual. Characters seemed to have sex with each other randomly with little emotion involved. The sexual encounters were usually not described but happened off the page and when they were described, it was done so briefly and clinically that it rendered the scenes almost uninteresting.
The relationships in the book did not seem to ring true at all. We are told that Pev is wanted by everyone who meets him but we are never shown why. Classic rule of story telling "Don't tell, show." We are told that the twins are in love with each other and have only had each other to rely on since their mother died. They are so intrinsically bound that they have a sexually relationship as well and live more like man and wife than brother and sister. Yet a couple of rolls in the hay with Pev and Lily betrays her brother, leaving him to be brutally raped physically and emotionally by Pev until he is a mere husk of his former self. Yet she is not so enthralled by Pev that she cannot protect her neighbor's cat from him. Several brutal rapes occur in the novel but no one seems to mind. There's some same sex scenes between willing partners which are again underdescribed and some between partners who maybe are willing or maybe are just bewitched. It's hard to tell because Storm doesn't really elaborate. I think she may just be trying to shock her readers with scenes that some might consider freaky or something. Whatever.
Desire is not just about the groin. Desire is about the whole body. It's about the way your breath catches when a hand brushes against your shoulder or the way you feel you could bite someone's back until you draw blood or whatever. I'm not really getting that from Storm's writing. Just the same old in and out.
And she makes it seem so quick. I also dislike the way these characters have absolutely no loyalty towards one another. Whether they are friends, lovers, or family members, once Pev comes to town they are willing to betray their loved ones at the drop of the hat. And that makes them seem so unrealistic to me. I am not saying that people wouldn't act this way, just that Storm does nothing to deepen the readers under standing of why they act that way.
The only thing that I liked about this book was the chick who got it on with her cat. At least they had a nice loving relationship. I wish there had been more scenes with the two of them.
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