REVIEWS AND QUOTES



PRAISE FOR ‘ZOMBIES IN NEW YORK AND OTHER BLOODY JOTTINGS’

'Sam Stone without doubt is a mistress of the grisly and the glutinous. She is one of the few horror writers who makes you feel when you have finished her stories that you need to wash your hands. Twice. I believe that we can look forward to seeing Sam Stone develop into a major influence in the realm of blood and shadows and things that wake you up, wide-eyed, in the middle of the night.’ Graham Masterton

‘Stone’s pulpy blend of sex-driven mystery/monster fiction is decidedly decadent, filled with fanged female protagonists and predominantly emotional and sexual themes, which range from the typically monstrous to the utterly bizarre.’ Rue Morgue Magazine.

‘Sam Stone’s writing style dispenses with excessive verbosity for a tighter prose, ensures the words seamlessly flow off the page. Despite this concise narrative, the stories never lose any of their atmospheres, and constantly remain evocative throughout. Sam Stone’s work has always been engaging, and this carries over into her short stories as well, which makes for a memorable and easily enjoyable read.’ Pete Allison – OneMetal.com

‘Inside Zombies you’ll experience the weird, the erotic and spend some time in the company of some strongly written characters. Overall a generally good read, but not for the young or feint hearted.’ Charles Packer – Sci-Fi Online

‘Sam Stone must certainly be the new Madame of the Macabre. Whether or not she is revealing other facets and idiosyncrasies of her Vampire Gene's main protagonist, Lucrecia, or she is delving into the psyches of zombies, clowns or ghosts, Miss Stone is always entertaining and original. Sam Stone will intertwine lust, murder and a penchance for blood in a unique and contemporary gothic style of her own, always fearless and imaginative.’ Risa Hall – Amazon Review

‘Graphic, frequently gory, often erotic, this is a world of horrific imaginings presented with wry humour and an eye for the grotesque. Sam Stone's method is to take the standards of the horror genre and give them a unique twist, subverting cliché by reimagining the familiar classics, the vampires, werewolves, zombies, sea spirits, ghosts, bringing us fully-rounded characters rather than types, who behave in comprehensible, if frequently horrific, ways. With her humane, and human, insight, we are brought uncomfortably close to the cold, bleak terror which often underlies what we like to think of as reality.’ Paul Doody – Amazon Review

‘The second group of stories are not themed, and it is in this group that I found my two favourites: ‘Immortal Monster’ and ‘The ToyMaker’s House’. In his foreword, Graham Masterson says that ‘Zombies’ will make you “want to wash your hands. Twice”. For these two stories, I wanted gloves. Thick, industrial ones.’ Robert Harkess -  http://robertharkess.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/review-zombies-in-new-york-by-sam-stone/
 
PRAISE FOR ‘KILLING KISS’:

Silver Award Winner in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards 2007

‘A deceptively readable date with darkness watch your step! This book is lit for the much more discerning chick (and cock) who likes to walk in the shadows. Relax with it, but be prepared for sudden jewels and little masterpieces and the rug to be pulled from under your feet.’ Tanith Lee

‘Read this book and change the way you feel about vampires for the rest of your so short life.’ Geoff Nelder

‘Sam Stone’s writing is beguilingly easy to read, and not above luring you into a false sense of security before dropping a bombshell.’ Pete Allison – OneMetal.com

‘Having been told great things about this book I was looking forward to reading it, however I did not count on the fact it would drag me in, captivate me and then leave me begging for more.’ review on Amazon.co.uk

‘Worth getting your fangs into.’ Peter Mark May

‘Very impressed with this first book!’ review on Amazon.co.uk

‘Vampire fans who are drawn to the mysterious sexual lure that the immortals have over their “common” peers will love Stone’s seductive prose. She captures the passion and lust perfectly, without going overboard and making it a tawdry romance novel.’ Eddie Gresham

‘I cannot get this story out of my head and it will have you hooked and want more!!’ review on Amazon.com

‘I was floored by Sam’s work. Really flat-out delighted to see such a level of style combined with narrative drive. I suppose one could use those terms in an overly technical sense, but Sam is at a level that simply shines. Soaking in her story even while seeing her powerful ability to make me feel and see what the narrator is experiencing – she’s not only got a gift, she clearly knows how to employ it to powerful effect.’ Gardner Goldsmith

If Dracula and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s Count Saint-Germain mixed you’d have Gabriele, the lead in Sam Stone’s throwback vampire novel, Killing Kiss … Vampire fans, especially those feeling left behind by romance’s siege on the genre, will find Killing Kiss (the first in a trilogy) has a lot to offer and shouldn’t be missed.’ Michele Lee – Booklove

‘The thing that really stands out when reading Killing Kiss is Sam Stone’s fantastic writing and thorough characterisation. I haven’t seen writing this good for a while, and as for the characters, they’re so deep and layered they could almost be real.’ Jenny Davies – Wondrous Reads
‘Sex and history and vampires acting as they ought.’ Jan Edwards – The Piper At the Gates of Fantasy.

‘This book is deceptively compelling. Like that alcoholic drink you shouldn’t like but can’t resist having just one more of. It is a purposely different, contemporary horror.’ Laura – Book Chick City

‘Sam’s writing is as hypnotic as a vampire’s stare, and the intelligence she uses to set the scene – not dictating, but merely suggesting what images your mind will conjure up – lets me, as the reader, feel part of the narrative.’ Trudy Messingham – The Art of Randomology

‘Loving the lusty lines and serial killer intentions of the protagonists … thinking @SamStoneAuthor Killing Kiss is very Chick Slash.’ Nicholas Butler (@Loudmouthman) on Twitter

‘This is what happens when Jackie Collins writes Twilight. Makes Edward seem so Disney.’ Nicholas Butler (@Loudmouthman) on Twitter

‘The first author I have read for whom vampires are essentially time travellers.’ Nicholas Butler (@Loudmouthman) On Twitter

‘I did not count on the fact it would drag me in, captivate me and then leave me begging for more.’ Michelle L Hurd on Amazon.co.uk

‘I hestitated to read this at first, as I hate paranormal romances and lurid vampire books but within seconds of reading Killing Kiss I was transfixed. Killing Kiss does NOT belong to those genres. This is a very classy, intelligent and beautifully written book. Vintage champagne to other vamp stories’ cheap plonk!’ Demonica on Amazon.co.uk

‘It is imperative that all fans of good vampire fiction, those turned off by the popular vampire fiction out there … need to pick this book up. Killing Kiss … is a unique tale, and not one forced into a predictable format.’ Andy Frankham – Goodreads
  
PRAISE FOR ‘FUTILE FLAME’:

Finalist in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards 2009

Sam Stone's Futile Flame was a seductively easy and pacey read that draws you in on every page and never lets go.’ Pete Allison – OneMetal.com

‘This trilogy is a different twist on the vampire story. Vampires are put firmly back in the horror genre, they are a species to be feared and are above the normal rules of society. Despite some of their horrific acts, you are seduced and absorbed into their lives. A book I would definitely recommend to horror lovers.’ Laura – Book Chick City

This book has it all, sibling incest, lesbianism, male on male rape, and people getting their hearts ripped out of their chests.’ J R LeMar

‘Vibrant and colourful.’ Peter Mark May

‘When you have a vampire, as sexually charged as Lucrezia, survive burning at the stake and living among the whores of an Italian dockland, you don’t want your reading flame to go out. The sensual show is rich, the characters three-dimensional, and the terror is real. The witch-burner’s flames were futile but the fire between the pages rages on.’ Geoff Nelder

‘[Lucrezia’s] shocking tale: from the obsessions of a brother; her fall as his prey; her longing for freedom and normality; the strength of will she develops through mere survival … [all] creates a power beyond the usual tale of vampire meets girl, vampire falls in love with girl, vampire loses girl … or whatever the formula is for such things. You become a part of Lucrezia’s discoveries, much as you learn with Gabriele of the life he was thrust into, yet with the fresh eyes of a female, seeing the world of the late 1500s and early 1600s male domination being twisted and used to such great advantage. With the revelations of her story, the whole book opens up into a new, greater dimension, leaving me in total awe of the new world created in my mind. Yes I want, no, NEED more!’ Trudy Messingham – The Art of Randomology

‘With all the style and charisma of Anne Rice, but less indulgence and crazy, Futile Flame is a sensual, deadly tale of immortals, sins and the unknown wrapped up in a vivid take on the past. Rich, enticing and utterly charming, Stone’s vampires are ambrosia to horror fans hungry for the good old monstrous vampires who look, walk and sound like us, but hold our deaths in their gaze.’ Michele Lee Booklove

‘Sheer delight from beginning to end. Inventive, evocative and sensual, Ms Stone’s intelligent, tight-paced writing is a complete contrast to the overblown, lurid prose that makes up so much dark fantasy and vampire genre writing today. Futile Flame is a class act.’ Demonica on Amazon.co.uk
 
PRAISE FOR ‘DEMON DANCE’:

‘Enticing, shocking and delightful … A fast-moving story that’s spell-binding, as thrilling as it is intelligent and thought-provoking … Sam Stone writes with stylish panache.’ Simon Clark

‘This book is gothic and macabre and once again I found myself being seduced by the darkness of Stone's vampires. Her characters are sometimes cruel, sometimes kind, but very compelling.’ Laura – Book Chick City

‘Sam Stone has done it again, her immersion into the vampire world is so extraordinarily well-crafted that I am wondering if she is really Lilly, the protagonist vampire with a heart. And Lilly is more than a vampire, she has learnt witchcraft and – rare in vampire literature – can manipulate ley lines, using them as a power. Unusual too in that this vampiric feast travels the corridors of time, quite literally and in both directions … If Futile Flame was a flambé of vampiric lust, Demon Dance is its force majeure.’ Geoff Nelder

‘Here are vampires with attitude, and a fluffy bunny in sight. These are monsters who kill without remorse though seldom without reason. And, despite their inhumanity, the reader cannot help being drawn into a surprising level of empathy with and for their plight.’ Jan Edwards – British Fantasy Society Reviews

‘Stone weaves a tale which both explains the events of the first two books, whilst at the same time completely changing their meaning … In the end this should either delight her audience or infuriate them as she takes what is known in the first two books, throws it into the air and lets it settle into a new and satisfying pattern.’ Charles Packer SciFi-Online

‘Demon Dance was a cracking third outing in the Vampire Gene series, which answered many unresolved plot points from the previous books whilst continuing to expand the background to the Vampire Gene. Those looking for a book to lose themselves in for a while could do far worse than exploring Sam Stone's vampires.’ Pete Allison – OneMetal.com

PRAISE FOR ‘HATEFUL HEART’

‘Sam Stone retains her grounded perspective on vampires, by refusing to gloss over their predatorial instincts. Whilst her vampires may avoid needlessly killing people in order to remain free, Sam highlights the inherent serial-killer nature of vampires by such wonderful lines as “It was nothing that a good kill wouldn’t cure”. Sam’s analogy of vampires as serial killers remains a distinctive core element of her series.’ Pete Allison – OneMetal.com

‘Many authors run out of creative steam after three novels into a series. Not Sam Stone. One of the UK's dark fantasy/horror writing treasures, she has produced her best book yet in the already excellent Vampire Gene series. Hateful Heart shows all the signs of a writer on top of her game, her lush, sensuous yet taut and intelligent writing is confident and bold as are her caste of regular vampiric characters, Gabriele, Lilly and my personal favourite, Caesare Borgia. No spoilers, but the book is full of shocks, twists and turns with her vampires up against an implacable foe and the perils of supernatural time travel. Enjoy!’ Demonica – Amazon.co.uk review

‘[Sam Stone] effortlessly weaves in the time-travel aspect in a credible way, gifting her vampires with more than the usual powers found in vampire fiction or role-playing.’ Emilia Etherheart – Amazon.co.uk Review

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Sam! Thanks so much for signing my book, i so can't wait to start it.

It was really lovely meeting you at EM-Con

Love Steff xxx

Anonymous said...

my dad has recently met Sam stone at comic con this weekend just gone and has brought home the vampire gene series and i think it is enthralling i love it some much as since i am a slow reader i have read the first quarter of the book on the first day i have started reading it, i cant wait for anymore vampire romance fiction that comes from Sam

Sam Stone said...

Lovely meeting you too Steff!

Sam Stone said...

Ellis - I'm thrilled that you like the book. Come and see me at the next one if you can xxx

Anonymous said...

I shall I would love to speak to you in person about your books :) xx