Stalking Tender Prey is the first novel in Storm Constantine's Grigori Trilogy. It is a dark and erotic book, based on the idea that the Nephilim, hybrid offspring between angels and humans, are still living amongst us today. They call themselves Grigori, and they are tall, thin, serpent-like people who live far longer than humans and can access great magical power if they choose. Some of them don't, some of them prefer to try to live as though they are humans, but it can never last for long. They are beautiful and perfect and they do not age.
We are introduced to this slowly, and when we first meet Peveral Othman, the character who is the fulcrum of the events of the story, we are presented with someone who is mysterious and a bit odd, but it takes a little while before we understand he is Grigori, and he just gets stranger as the novel progresses.
He is tall and handsome with blond hair and a disreputable air, and he arrives in the sleepy English town of Little Moore looking for something to spark his interest. He finds it in Lily and Owen Winter, twin orphans who are a little strange themselves. The town is full of secrets and Pev slowly peels back the layers, manipulating and seducing his way toward the truth.
Owen's friend Daniel has only recently moved to Little Moore, and tries hard to suppress his psychic ability, but can't help following where Owen leads him. As time goes on Pev suggests to Owen that he give in to his urges and seduce Daniel. It is interesting to see the difference between how Owen is viewed by Daniel and how he is viewed by Pev. From Daniel's perspective we see a clever and intimidating older boy, attractive and sophisticated, yet in Pev's eyes, Owen is young and naive, easily manipulated and charmingly gauche.
We are presented with each of the characters from different viewpoints, including their own, and it is done cleverly, and with a great deal of humour. Storm Constantine has a knack for situational humour and clever word play, which results in a rather dry humour that fits very well with the cynicism of some of her characters.
Pev discovers that Little Moore was a town of Grigori dependents as recently as twenty years ago, and in fact Owen and Lily are the result of an affair between their human mother, Hellen, and the local Grigori Lord, Kashday Murkaster. The twins are ignorant of this, not realising that the town has prtected them discretely for years in the hope that they will draw back the Murkasters and restore the Grigori power to the dependents, who do not age while in service, but in the last twenty years have shrivelled to wizened old crones.
The leader of these former dependants, Emilia, manipulates Pev into restoring her to her former self, transformed from dying old Emilia to seductive young Emma, and proceeds to assist Lily to act independently, despite the manipulations of Pev.
Pev decides to use Owen and Daniel to try to revive the wellspring of power beneath Litte Moore, and enslaves several of the locals, including Daniel's father. But Daniel's sister Verity has a secret ally, the physical guardian of the Murkaster house, disguised as a huge black cat, which Verity has named Raven since it arrived on her doorstep. Despite her cold demeanour, Verity has a touch of psychic ability herself, and distrusts Pev immediately. She gradually comes to realise that the erotic dreams involving Raven are quite real, and he can at times transform into a very man-like creature, a powerful force to oppose Pev.
The events in Little Moore are complimented by the story of Aninka, another Grigori who had recently been involved with Pev. She has been damaged by the encounter and has returned to her childhood home to tell the story to her protector and guardian, the Grigori Elder Enniel. When her story is finished, she is sent with Taz, yet another Grigori victim of Pev's, and Lahash, a Murkaster indebted to the Grigori Elders, to hunt down Pev and capture him.
When they arrive at the village, they are confronted by one of Pev's now loyal human dependents and unleash the demons who are the Grigori's militia. As Pev attempts to open a mystical gate by sacrificing Daniel, it is revealed that he is more than just a renegade Grigori. He is an incarnation of the soul of Shemyaza, the original renegade who took a human woman as a lover and revealed the secrets of his race to humans. Shemyaza was sacrificed and his lover, Ishtaha, was enslaved. Ishtaha appears to Pev and the soul at last recognises itself, but while Ishtaha has become a Goddess, drawing upon her love for him to nourish humans and Grigori alike, Shemyaza has remembered only the cruel separation and become twisted and dark. He cannot rejoin her until he is healed.
The power is unleashed as Istaha leaves and they all scatter, leaving Aninka and Taz with the realisation that they were desposable, and the Elders want Shemyaza's unrealised power for their own ends. Emma gathers the twins, Daniel and Pev into a car and flees the town.
This is an amazingly detailed and beautiful book, and the multiple perspectives that the author has used not only provide a means for showing what is happening at various times in different areas of the village, but also show how the confidence of Pev in his own superiority is often misplaced. As a story it is dark, and often deeply erotic, and Storm Constantine cleverly keeps the curiosity levels high by implying more than she reveals in any given situation.
This is a masterwork by a highly talented author, definitely recommended.