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Dark Storm #1
The Dark Storm
Gabriel is a New York City college kid who loves to bury his nose in books, looking up stories of long-dead cultures, lost languages, and forgotten legends. He never imagined one of those legends would come looking for him —until a tough-talking girl named De Mona Sanchez thrusts an ancient weapon into his hands...and recruits Gabriel in a dark epic war he was born to fight. Banished centuries ago by warrior knights, a demonic army is storming through a dimensional rift into our world. Stalkers are prowling the streets. Corpses are rising up to fight. And Gabriel—a descendant of one of the original warriors—has no choice but to drop his textbooks and start kicking demon butt alongside his new friend De Mona…who has a few secrets of her own. If Gabriel fails, humanity loses. If war is hell, this is hell on earth…
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 28, 2010
12 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Kris Greene
15 books12 followersIn the 3rd grade a teacher once asked Kris what she wanted to be when she grew up, to which she responded ‘A witch.’ Growing up under not so pleasant conditions she often depended on her imagination to escape her day to day hardships and dreamt of a way to make her fictional escapes real and when she stumbled across a tattered copy of Interview with the Vampire she knew just how she would go about it, which led her to start keeping journals full of short stories which would eventually grow into action packed tales of sex, power and magic set in the New York City underworld.
Kris is the award winning author of several urban-fantasy novels, with The Dark Storm series being her first major releases. Kris resides in New York City where she spends her time writing and working in her herb garden.
Kris is the award winning author of several urban-fantasy novels, with The Dark Storm series being her first major releases. Kris resides in New York City where she spends her time writing and working in her herb garden.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
June 10, 2011
I rarely flat out don't finish books. I will usually struggle or at least work my way through them to get to the end. This is one that I felt didn't deserve to be finished, and it promptly got posted on Paperback Swap for someone else to give a try.
What drew me to the book was the (of course) urban setting and hello, the chick is holding a freakin' trident on the cover! It's gotta be good right? Wrong. If you read the reviews on Amazon you will see that I'm not the only one who thought so. Except, I only got to page 23 and I quit. You're probably thinking that I didn't give the book a fair shot, but I have my reasons.
A new character by the name of Carter is introduced on page 21. He's described as being a "six-two junior," he's on the basketball team for the college, and has "a kind heart but was deadly in a fight." I know I shouldn't assume, but I'm going to and say that Carter is about 20 years old an African American. Now, Carter says stuff like "Mom Dukes is gone, so we got somewhere to slide if we get lucky, you wit' it?", "That's my dawg.", and "Whatever, man. Just make sure you're at the spot".
Where the introduction of Carter gets messed up (for me) is this sentence, "For a minute you were beginning to scare me. You keep poking around with these dead guys and you're gonna find yourself in a Kelly Armstrong novel."
Now, I know that Kelley Armstrong is well known throughout reading circles and readers of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, but I find it hard to believe that this 20 year-old male, would know about Kelley Armstrong much less enough about her to know she writes novels about "dead guys." It seemed like this name was tossed in here so the reader would know that the author likes Kelley Armstrong or wanted to be compared to her. If Carter had said Stephen King, I wouldn't have thought twice.
What else totally irked me was that Kelley Armstrong's name was spelled incorrectly (Kelly). Seriously, you're going to write and Urban Fantasy book and put in a popular Urban Fantasy author and then spell her name wrong? It was kind of a slap in the face to me. At this moment in the book I put it down and never picked it up again. This wasn't the main reason, but up until that point the plot was already choppy and the dialogue was static.
What drew me to the book was the (of course) urban setting and hello, the chick is holding a freakin' trident on the cover! It's gotta be good right? Wrong. If you read the reviews on Amazon you will see that I'm not the only one who thought so. Except, I only got to page 23 and I quit. You're probably thinking that I didn't give the book a fair shot, but I have my reasons.
A new character by the name of Carter is introduced on page 21. He's described as being a "six-two junior," he's on the basketball team for the college, and has "a kind heart but was deadly in a fight." I know I shouldn't assume, but I'm going to and say that Carter is about 20 years old an African American. Now, Carter says stuff like "Mom Dukes is gone, so we got somewhere to slide if we get lucky, you wit' it?", "That's my dawg.", and "Whatever, man. Just make sure you're at the spot".
Where the introduction of Carter gets messed up (for me) is this sentence, "For a minute you were beginning to scare me. You keep poking around with these dead guys and you're gonna find yourself in a Kelly Armstrong novel."
Now, I know that Kelley Armstrong is well known throughout reading circles and readers of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, but I find it hard to believe that this 20 year-old male, would know about Kelley Armstrong much less enough about her to know she writes novels about "dead guys." It seemed like this name was tossed in here so the reader would know that the author likes Kelley Armstrong or wanted to be compared to her. If Carter had said Stephen King, I wouldn't have thought twice.
What else totally irked me was that Kelley Armstrong's name was spelled incorrectly (Kelly). Seriously, you're going to write and Urban Fantasy book and put in a popular Urban Fantasy author and then spell her name wrong? It was kind of a slap in the face to me. At this moment in the book I put it down and never picked it up again. This wasn't the main reason, but up until that point the plot was already choppy and the dialogue was static.
April 20, 2010
Why did I pick up this book? - because the cover caught my eye and I'm always interested in urban-fantasy novels where the main protagonist is male (since that's very rare), especially one from a female author. So that really peaked my interest.
The Dark Storm is the first book in a new urban-fantasy series from author Kris Greene and while it does have some decent writing, it is amazingly generic. It's almost like what if you took a bunch of stuff from other books- a world of demons, agents of light, vampires, goblins, knights, werewolves and mystical weapons of power, blended them all together and weaved the story around the template on "how-to" write an urban-fantasy novel. If this was any more by-the-numbers I would have sworn I'd read it already.
The main problem I had with this book is it's characterization, or lack there of. There's just way to many characters crammed into this slim work (the story constantly shifts through multiple POV's), that I felt like I was missing half the novel, like it was incomplete. There's a sequel to The Dark Storm as there generally is with this sub-genre, but that's no excuse to have such a flimsy table setter. I mean you want readers to come back for the rest of the series right? Also, the two "main" characters of the book, Gabriel Redfeather and De Mona Sanchez (and yes that's her real name!!) are so poorly formed as characters that they feel like they're cursory characters in the background, rather then the one's the whole series is based around. And they both whined and whined so much, especially Gabriel, that I had to re-read the earlier pages and remind myself that he wasn't a freshman in highschool, but already in college!!!
However, I did like the magic system with the witches, warlocks and mages all having different functions in the world, and how there are numerous classes and castes within each magical house. I also liked the back story of how there was a holy war centuries ago between the forces of light and the denizens of hell, and how the ancestors of both sides are fighting over the souls again years later. But man, the most important aspect of the story, the very foundation the world is based around, the magical weapons, felt the weakest in the entire story. Their characteristics and attributes are never fully thought out and explained, their powers appearing more as poor imagination rather than weapons that can control the very fabric of the world.
It's all just so generic that in 2 weeks I probably won't remember the story anymore and sadly I won't be coming back for the upcoming sequel Demon Hunt.
The Dark Storm is the first book in a new urban-fantasy series from author Kris Greene and while it does have some decent writing, it is amazingly generic. It's almost like what if you took a bunch of stuff from other books- a world of demons, agents of light, vampires, goblins, knights, werewolves and mystical weapons of power, blended them all together and weaved the story around the template on "how-to" write an urban-fantasy novel. If this was any more by-the-numbers I would have sworn I'd read it already.
The main problem I had with this book is it's characterization, or lack there of. There's just way to many characters crammed into this slim work (the story constantly shifts through multiple POV's), that I felt like I was missing half the novel, like it was incomplete. There's a sequel to The Dark Storm as there generally is with this sub-genre, but that's no excuse to have such a flimsy table setter. I mean you want readers to come back for the rest of the series right? Also, the two "main" characters of the book, Gabriel Redfeather and De Mona Sanchez (and yes that's her real name!!) are so poorly formed as characters that they feel like they're cursory characters in the background, rather then the one's the whole series is based around. And they both whined and whined so much, especially Gabriel, that I had to re-read the earlier pages and remind myself that he wasn't a freshman in highschool, but already in college!!!
However, I did like the magic system with the witches, warlocks and mages all having different functions in the world, and how there are numerous classes and castes within each magical house. I also liked the back story of how there was a holy war centuries ago between the forces of light and the denizens of hell, and how the ancestors of both sides are fighting over the souls again years later. But man, the most important aspect of the story, the very foundation the world is based around, the magical weapons, felt the weakest in the entire story. Their characteristics and attributes are never fully thought out and explained, their powers appearing more as poor imagination rather than weapons that can control the very fabric of the world.
It's all just so generic that in 2 weeks I probably won't remember the story anymore and sadly I won't be coming back for the upcoming sequel Demon Hunt.
February 28, 2012
While the premise of the book was good, the writing was a train-wreck. There are way too many points of view that are introduced and re-introduced in a very jumpy manner. The metaphors that are used often don't make sense, and some descriptions are odd (such as "hair the color of cornstarch"). I am a very fast reader - usually a book this size only takes me two days to read - and this one took me four days to muscle through. There are way too many characters, and they are introduced in such a disjointed fashion that it's hard to keep track of who's on what side.
The cliffhanger ending wasn't enough for me to want to read the second book. This book really needed the critical eye of a really good editor. If anyone is still interested in reading this book I would recommend either going to the library or picking up an inexpensive used copy. It is rare for me not to keep books, but this one will either get donated or sold.
The cliffhanger ending wasn't enough for me to want to read the second book. This book really needed the critical eye of a really good editor. If anyone is still interested in reading this book I would recommend either going to the library or picking up an inexpensive used copy. It is rare for me not to keep books, but this one will either get donated or sold.
January 8, 2011
Buyer's remorse: The cover is pretty cool for this book and the next one in the series. I saw the back of the book and thought it would be a good read with a new idea. It was a good idea, but not a good read. There were too many characters for a 316 page book. The characters were memorable, but it was confusing. Don't read this digitally because you do have to go back and research stuff, as I call it. The plot reminded me of the Lightning Thief series. I'm giving it two stars because it is finish-able, but I am not recommending it and I will not be doing book two.
March 15, 2010
I was excited to read this one as I had hit a bunch of duds and this book looked to break that streak unfortunately this one turned into a dud as well. The premise is a good one, however with all the background and mythology the first 125 pages tend to be a lot of info dump and just couldn't keep my attention and I gave it up. Not the book for me.
January 12, 2011
This book started out great. The point of view changes were unique, the characters were interesting, and the plot caught my attention. About three fourths of the way in I started to get bored. Some of the points of view seemed unnecessary, and the characters started to overrun the story. There was also a hefty amount of background information that wasn't presented in the best way. The details about the different creatures, agencies, and paranormals just got to be too much. I didn't mind the lack of substantial plot when I was getting to know the characters, but when it didn't improve by the 3/4s mark I started to get worried. The action didn't interest me and I found that I was unable to side with any character in particular. Multiple points of view can be a blessing, but it can also be a curse. If I care about all of the characters and they are substantial then it is a good thing. When half of the characters are unimportant and flat, it's not as good, and that turned out to be the case here. There is potential for greatness because this story really did entertain me fully for the first part, but there could be some editing of details, some of the sentences didn't flow well, and the point of view changes could be decreased. I also felt there was a bit of overlap at times between sections, and that was problematic. Overall it was enjoyable, but I had a very hard time getting through the last section of the novel and I don't think I will continue the series. 3.5 stars because of the uniqueness and enjoyable opening section
May 14, 2012
This book had one of the elements that I hate when reading a book. Everything seem so completely unreal, even for fantasy. People are all powerful and walk away from battles completely unscathed. However, if a book is at least interesting I can tolerate this factor but this book just couldn't hold my attention. It seemed to have a juvenile sense about it. I do give this 2-stars for the effort of being different. The demon realm, the church, the stalkers, the human realm guardians and even Jesus and his disciples were of a completely different origin then the usual fantasy.
Too bad though, I was looking forward to dark and gritty demonic read. Needless to say I won't be reading the next book in the series Demon Hunt due out 8/3/10. I suppose I should give this series a chance to grow but with the abundance of urban fantasy on the market, I just don't have the patience these days.
Too bad though, I was looking forward to dark and gritty demonic read. Needless to say I won't be reading the next book in the series Demon Hunt due out 8/3/10. I suppose I should give this series a chance to grow but with the abundance of urban fantasy on the market, I just don't have the patience these days.
May 1, 2011
A multiple kaleidoscope of characters,The Dark Storm was a fanatic read. The world spun from Kris Greene's imagination is unique and exciting. Gabriel, De Mona and Rogue different personality and backgrounds adding substance to the funky world of Dark Storm.
I cant wait to read the next book.
I cant wait to read the next book.
May 24, 2024
this book was not good. i had high hopes for it because its plot seemed promising and extremely interesting, and i love urban fantasy settings. i was excited to get into it, and it actually started off fine. i thought for sure i'd come out giving this book at least a 4 star rating, but the glaring issues hit you like a train.
there were a few major editing issues in terms of punctuation, lack of spacing between words, etc. but overall, i just want to know how an editor though this book was okay. i just have to know, is the author a white woman? because this book reads like an edgy white woman wrote it.
the writing was not so bad, except for the parts where she decided to describe characters of color in the most racist ways possible. she referred to an asian woman as being doe-eyed and petite and having skin the color of a "freshly ripened banana" like are you fucking kidding me? lmfao. she had a white woman named lucy, who was described as having perfect pale skin, refer to a black woman, asha, as a "mongrel bitch" like???? multiple times, mind you. and she described these black twins, lane and lisa, as having "milk chocolate skin" like. do we have to have a discussion about the racist microaggressions. lol.
and not to mention the random homophobia (AND racism) with these "street thugs," who were probably black kids (because kris greene has a nasty habit of writing black characters into low-life positions and demonizing them), referring to gabriel as the f-slur, multiple times.
there was too much going on in this book with so many unnecessary povs of a convoluted amount of characters. i understand where she was trying to provide context for settings or relevant characters or whatever, but it was way too much. there was like a 40+ page gap at one point between where gabriel was mentioned searching for triple six to when he next finally appeared, and it was so much going on that i completely forgot why gabriel was even going to the club. there was so much random unnecessary death for shock value. the pacing of the book was terrible. the random povs mid-chapters were annoying. this book had a good concept and it was wasted on an author who was trying to achieve too much, and tanked her own book with the random racism and homophobia like. jesus christ.
i'll be back again to hate review the next two books because i unfortunately received the reckoning in a blind book date box, and i didn't know it was a 3rd book, so i went and bought the first two.
there were a few major editing issues in terms of punctuation, lack of spacing between words, etc. but overall, i just want to know how an editor though this book was okay. i just have to know, is the author a white woman? because this book reads like an edgy white woman wrote it.
the writing was not so bad, except for the parts where she decided to describe characters of color in the most racist ways possible. she referred to an asian woman as being doe-eyed and petite and having skin the color of a "freshly ripened banana" like are you fucking kidding me? lmfao. she had a white woman named lucy, who was described as having perfect pale skin, refer to a black woman, asha, as a "mongrel bitch" like???? multiple times, mind you. and she described these black twins, lane and lisa, as having "milk chocolate skin" like. do we have to have a discussion about the racist microaggressions. lol.
and not to mention the random homophobia (AND racism) with these "street thugs," who were probably black kids (because kris greene has a nasty habit of writing black characters into low-life positions and demonizing them), referring to gabriel as the f-slur, multiple times.
there was too much going on in this book with so many unnecessary povs of a convoluted amount of characters. i understand where she was trying to provide context for settings or relevant characters or whatever, but it was way too much. there was like a 40+ page gap at one point between where gabriel was mentioned searching for triple six to when he next finally appeared, and it was so much going on that i completely forgot why gabriel was even going to the club. there was so much random unnecessary death for shock value. the pacing of the book was terrible. the random povs mid-chapters were annoying. this book had a good concept and it was wasted on an author who was trying to achieve too much, and tanked her own book with the random racism and homophobia like. jesus christ.
i'll be back again to hate review the next two books because i unfortunately received the reckoning in a blind book date box, and i didn't know it was a 3rd book, so i went and bought the first two.
May 20, 2024
3/5
This review is taken from my notes from when I finished the book years ago.
Gabriel studies dead cultures. De Mona is a half demon who is trying to keep demons from getting an ancient artifact, Poisiden's Trident. The trident answers to Gabriel's touch. The trident is inhabited by a priest who wants revenge. There is a wizard with demon eyes and an organization to fight the demons which may have some members who lost their way. It seems the holy relics are coming together for the next demon war.
Apparently I thought the book was fine but it wasn't really my type of book.
This review is taken from my notes from when I finished the book years ago.
Gabriel studies dead cultures. De Mona is a half demon who is trying to keep demons from getting an ancient artifact, Poisiden's Trident. The trident answers to Gabriel's touch. The trident is inhabited by a priest who wants revenge. There is a wizard with demon eyes and an organization to fight the demons which may have some members who lost their way. It seems the holy relics are coming together for the next demon war.
Apparently I thought the book was fine but it wasn't really my type of book.
March 4, 2021
There's a story here, deep deep deeep inside, but I can't be bothered. There was a lot of exposition, characters were mostly 2 dimensional, dialogue was a nightmare to get through and the mythology was just confusing. A lot of characters introduced that I could not give 2 shits about and when they die, I presumed that I should care but I really don't. There is some promise but, well, I dont plan to find out.
September 20, 2018
Great book
March 26, 2019
Couldn't get farther than the prologue
January 6, 2023
Okay.
September 8, 2024
Trite, paint by numbers, DNF at chapter 4.
January 12, 2025
The book was absolute garbage, but I am committed to see it through since I have book three in paperback. Hopefully this trash gets better.
June 25, 2013
DeMona Sanchez is on a mission. She wants to find the people who murdered her father and wreak vengeance. To do this, she needs to find Redfeather, the name upon her father’s dying lips.
Gabriel Redfeather is a normal college kid who likes to study languages, old legends, and long dead cultures. Imagine his surprise when DeMona crashes into him in the library with an object wrapped in hemp paper.
The twisted fork (the item in the hemp paper) has foreign letters on it that only the moonlight reveals and that only Gabriel can translate. But Gabriel isn't sure what it means and convinces DeMona to go with him to seek out his grandfather, one who may be able to help them.
But before they can get to their destination, they are attacked by seekers, demons, and the fork Gabriel uses to defend himself transforms itself into a trident. The trident speaks to him in his mind, and it fills him with power and confidence.
When the legend is revealed by Gabriel’s grandfather, he knows he must put his books aside and start to fight. If he fails, humanity loses. With DeMona by his side, Gabriel’s about to lose his geeky persona and take on a whole new super hero complex.
THE DARK STORM is the first in a new urban fantasy series. It has great potential, as the first book is usually the world-building. The legend behind THE DARK STORM plot is fascinating. The characters are gritty with many interesting conflicts. Paranormal and urban fantasy readers will enjoy this new take on an old legend.
Gabriel Redfeather is a normal college kid who likes to study languages, old legends, and long dead cultures. Imagine his surprise when DeMona crashes into him in the library with an object wrapped in hemp paper.
The twisted fork (the item in the hemp paper) has foreign letters on it that only the moonlight reveals and that only Gabriel can translate. But Gabriel isn't sure what it means and convinces DeMona to go with him to seek out his grandfather, one who may be able to help them.
But before they can get to their destination, they are attacked by seekers, demons, and the fork Gabriel uses to defend himself transforms itself into a trident. The trident speaks to him in his mind, and it fills him with power and confidence.
When the legend is revealed by Gabriel’s grandfather, he knows he must put his books aside and start to fight. If he fails, humanity loses. With DeMona by his side, Gabriel’s about to lose his geeky persona and take on a whole new super hero complex.
THE DARK STORM is the first in a new urban fantasy series. It has great potential, as the first book is usually the world-building. The legend behind THE DARK STORM plot is fascinating. The characters are gritty with many interesting conflicts. Paranormal and urban fantasy readers will enjoy this new take on an old legend.
April 6, 2016
Mixed feelings about this book. The author introduced WAY TOO MANY characters and than its like she forgot about them for 100 pages only to reintroduce them and make the story even more confusing. The first 150/200 pages were honestly terrible and painful to read. The story was slow because the author felt like she had to keep adding pointless characters that took away from the story she introduced in the first 20 pages. The saving grace was the last 100 pages were Greene actually used character development and I started to like some of the characters she made. The last 100 pages made reading the first 200 worth it. I still don't know if I'll read the sequel or not, but I think the author did a good job in the end.
June 30, 2010
I enjoyed this book. Towards the end I was worried that it was going to just leave you hanging with a 'to be continued', but it delivered in the end. This good vs. evil paranormal sci-fi-ish book left you wondering who was playing who and who was really in the right or the wrong. This is the first book of a series, that I would definitely read the follow-up books to. In this book- the battle was won, but there is still a war to fight. It left the reader ready for the next one without disappointing you by not being a complete book in and of itself.
August 25, 2010
By the end of the five page prologue, the author had introduced Templars, an RC Bishop, a boat named Jihad, Egyptians, Neptune's trident Nimrod, demons, and a Knight/buffalo hunter named Redfeather. If that list makes you go huh? you know how I felt going into chapter one. Unfortunately, the story didn't really pick up from there-- not to my knowledge anyway, since I barely made it to the end of chapter one. I know the premise sounds interesting, but if you're still curious about this book I highly recommend seeking out a library copy or online excerpt if at all possible.
May 24, 2011
Where to start on the train wreck that was "The Dark Storm." While I "liked" the book, it was one big mess. Way too many POV's from Chapter to Chapter. It was difficult to remember who was who and what part they played in the story as well as who they were allied too. It jammed too much into one little novel for no discernible reason. The two "main characters" did not have much page time, IMO, and often, seemed like background characters. I think the premise was promising but the execution was extremely flawed.
Read
June 13, 2016What put me off? Well, I quit on page 46 (once again breaking my "give it 50 pages" rule) after a massive infodump concerning a character who had just arrived on scene -- his whole life up to that point and a world-building explanation of the difference between mages and sorcerers. But what really got me was the prose -- maybe workmanlike is a good adjective. Sometimes when I grade an essay, and I need to find that one good thing to include in the comment, I write, "your prose is clear and correct." Kris Greene, your prose is clear and correct.
July 2, 2011
I really tried to read this book to the end, but couldn't bring myself to finish it. I found it hard to follow characters and the changes with scenes. After 130 pages I finally closed the book for good. This isn't something I like to write about; however, not warning other readers of what they might be getting into wouldn't be fair.
Now, the story has a great concept going for it with blending a bunch of cultures into on massive story.
Now, the story has a great concept going for it with blending a bunch of cultures into on massive story.
September 25, 2012
I made it to page 12 I think. So cliche riddled!!! Every lame cliche you can think of. I really wanted to like it as the premise was admirable. nothing good materialized and I was not going to waste any more of my time. There are too many good books out there to spend time with one that does not grab me immediately.
Want to read
February 5, 2010Looks like an urban-fantasy-book I actually might like.
Short of a handlful like "Neverwhere" that's nothing that happans too often.
No glittery Vampires and beautiful demon-princes in love with modest supermodel-girlies. Hope I don't get dissappointed. Again.
Short of a handlful like "Neverwhere" that's nothing that happans too often.
No glittery Vampires and beautiful demon-princes in love with modest supermodel-girlies. Hope I don't get dissappointed. Again.
September 28, 2011
I give up. Amateur writing, awkward dialogue, cliches, bad editing (no editing?), infodump overload, characters that have no personality or sympathy, and a convoluted plot all add up to a rough draft that needed several revisions before being published.
April 12, 2016
Review is coming...LOL
March 29, 2014
I'm sure there are a lot of people who will enjoy this novel, unfortunately I'm not one of them. I did not like the story, the characters or the author's writing style.
April 10, 2016
Really good story, fun characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews