URBAN FANTASY AUTHOR - STACIA KANE - SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY # 3 - DOWNSIDE GHOSTS & MEGAN CHASE SERIES

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY # 3

STACIA KANE

I started reading the Downside Ghosts series in 2010, when I first spotted them at my local library. I had heard nothing about them . I just saw the covers and picked them up. 

They were the older covers, and they just caught my attention .

Not long after I found them in my local independent grocer store and picked these three up for a bargain.

Here is an interview I managed to snag with Stacia, it is one of my faves. I did this back in 2011 with Stacia.

The Downside Ghosts is a very gritty , dangerous series. Visually I see it playing out very dark and yet colorful in my mind. 

Chess Putnam would be , I think, my all time # 1 female kickass lead in an urban fantasy series.

She is different. She is an addict, she cares for her friends and she seems to get herself into a lot of trouble. I loved reading the first three books in the series. I now have some catching up to do. I keep getting them from the library but keep having to return Sacrificial Magic and Chasing Magic, cause I run out of time to read them. Plus there are also a few novellas I need to catch up on.

Terrible, yes that is his name, is quite a brilliant character. He is not your normal male hero. He isn't even particularly attractive, but the more you read him, the more you love him.

When a character can do that. The author is good!

Terrible has his own local tongue when he talks. So you really feel Terrible when you read him. In your head you are talking like him. I really like this about him, even if it did slow my reading a touch when he spoke, sometimes. It made him more the character he is.

Terrible even has his own group on Goodreads.

I Gots Terrible Fever

You can join Stacia's Downside Army and get information when she releases it . HERE

Lots of great things on her page.

This is a series I highly recommend sinking your teeth into. It is adult so comes with adult maturity in smexiness. 

Giddy Up!

You can find my reviews for the first three books and the novella plus other postings HERE Just scroll down to you get to them.

Stacia also has another series, Megan Chase. I have not yet read this series.

GOODREADS

If you are looking for a good gritty time in an urban fantasy world, then pick up Downside Ghosts if you haven't already.

Michelle

BOOK COVER REVEAL & EXCERPT - WRONG WAYS DOWN by STACIA KANE - DOWNSIDE GHOSTS # 1.5

I am so excited for this series it is one of my fave. Stacia Kane brings it with the Downside Ghost series and here is the cover reveal for Wrong Ways Down # 1.5.

I have me some catching up to do with her series with Sacrificial Magic #5 and Chasing Magic #6.

I keep getting them from the library and running out of time to read them. So I MUST !!

Chess is one of my top three chick leads of all my reading in any genre. She is awesome and Terrible ( yes that is his name) is your most unlikely male lead. He is brilliantly written.

LOVE this cover! 

This is Urban Fantasy I think at its best. If you haven't cottoned on to this series, well, I HIGHLY recommend it.

You can check my reviews and even an interview I have with Stacia out from the left side bar. Just click on her author name and scroll down and read.

Michelle

This cover is a commissioned painting by artist Alessandra Kelley. (Sometime soon I'm planning to have Alessandra here to discuss the process and how the image went from concept to final cover). Seriously, guys, she drew this. And painted it. By hand. From scratch, as it were. Isn't that amazing?

The font is called "Dirty Ego" and was designed by Eduardo Recife at Misprinted Type.

Release date to announce SOON!

EXCERPT

His phone beeped. A text.

From Sela. “Home alone. Bored and lonely.”

He knew what that meant. She probably already had her clothes off; she usually did, when she sent texts like that. Specially when she’d been drinking some, which he guessed she had been with them shrieky dames she hung around.

“Something wrong?” Chess asked.

He glanced at her, glanced at the phone, and set it back down. He could tell Sela he was busy when he got it, be why he ain’t answered. “Naw, naw, just sayin no problems this night.”

“So what’s happening with that?”

He hesitated. He had to be careful what he told her, causen of what Bump might say, and causen he ain’t wanted to give her anything might upset her, when she already weren’t in a great mood.

She mistook his hesitation, and said real fast, “I mean, if you can talk about it. I know—”

“Naw, naw, ain’t that. Just ain’t got more to say on, dig. Almost done up. More worried on Slobag, him sneakin over here make trouble, dig.”

“He’s getting past the border streets? I thought you guys had people watching for that.”

A second’s calculation, before he made the decision. Ain’t like it mattered. Chess kept she mouth shut. And she weren’t gonna try going down there sheself; witches ain’t liked the downs. Ghosts were more powerful underground, she said. “Using them tunnels. Run all under everywhere.”

She hesitated with the water bottle right in front of her lips. The way she held it made her shirt gap at the neck; he ain’t could see the bite-mark anymore. Make-up, maybe, or maybe she did some spell or something to hide it. She could do shit like that. She could do anything. “I thought those were a myth.”

“Naw. Them real. Only no point starting fighting over em, aye? Just keepin eyes out. Figure one day we use em. Til then letting Slobag an they think them got one over, dig.”

She smiled. Aye, whatever she took were hitting her. “Are you ever not having to think about every little thing you do, and have strategies in place and shit like that?”

He cocked his eyebrow. “Like you ain’t do the same.”

“Yeah, but only when I’m working.” She looked at him, caught the raised brow, smiled bigger. “Or, well, okay, maybe not only then. But at least sometimes I’m not working. You always are.”

“Not here.” He glanced around, wished again his place were nicer. It suited him fine, and part of the reason he’d picked it was the lack of walls, the lack of places people could hide, but still. And it was cold, he thought; the back of his neck felt cold, and he reached up to cover it. “Only place I ain’t gotta do shit, aye? An ain’t gotta look over my shoulder, see who’s comin up behind, who’s giving me the try. Only place I’m relaxing, dig.”

“Yeah,” she said. Softly. All of the sudden they ain’t were teasing anymore. “I guess you have to be really careful, huh. The second you let your guard down… You never know what people are planning to do.”

He nodded. His turn to feel all awkward, he guessed. Never could decide if it made him feel good or embarrassed when she knew what he meant so fast on shit like that. When she understood what he meant. Like she knew him. She knew him better than anybody else, he figured, cepting Bump. Maybe even better than Bump.

http://www.staciakane.com 

"Stacia Kane has upped the stakes for all those writing in the urban fantasy genre — UNHOLY GHOSTS is gripping and brilliant." --FantasyLiterature.com

"taking paranormal fantasy to another level right before our eyes." --Barnes & Noble Explorations

"UNHOLY MAGIC spits on gritty and calls its mother names." --Fiction Vixen

"The ultimate Bible of badassery." --Ann Aguirre, National Bestselling Author of SKIN DEEP

BOOK COVER REVEAL - SACRIFICIAL MAGIC by STACIA KANE - DOWNSIDE GHOSTS # 4

For all the fans of Stacia Kanes , Downside Ghosts series, here is the cover reveal for Sacrificial Magic and a chance to have a read of chapter 2 excerpt. click HERE.

You can have a read of my interview with Stacia HERE and if you are a newbie to the series , still deciding whether to have a read, check out my reviews for this series in the sidebar, Unholy Ghosts, Unholy Magic, City of Ghosts. If you like urban fantasy, well this is it at its best!!

I am so looking forward to this book, more Terrible, more Chess, more gritty, smexi reading.

I love the cover , book due out March 2012.

Michelle

INTERVIEW - STACIA KANE AUTHOR OF 'DOWNSIDE GHOSTS' SERIES

I would like to welcome STACIA KANE author of 'DOWNSIDE GHOSTS' series and 'MEGAN CHASE' series , to Novels On The Run and thank her for taking the time to answer some questions for my interview.

Michelle: Firstly I want to congratulate you on the ‘Downside Ghosts’, series. I stumbled across your books at my local library last year. I knew nothing about you as an author, or the books. I picked them up as I could actually get the whole 3 books at once and thought I would give them a read.......WOW!!! I know I’m not the first to say it but this is truly a different, awesome, gritty, dangerous, tough series of books. I congratulate you on your totally flawed characters that are soooo impressive to read, it’s refreshing to ‘feel’, such love and emotion as you are reading the series for Chess and Terrible. You did not give these characters a pity party, they are damaged, use drugs, take a beating, not handsome but at the same time utterly gorgeous and memorable. I have wanted to interview you since I read them, I was truly in awe of your complex characters. I highly recommend this series, but they are not YA genre. So young chickens , eyes off until you are old enough, when you are old enough, come a knocking .

Stacia: Oh, thank you so much, I really appreciate that! And lol, no, it's not necessarily appropriate for younger readers. I was always a very advanced reader, and I hesitate to say anyone shouldn't be reading it, of course--it's not that I think teens couldn't "handle" it at all--but I definitely want people to be aware that it deals with some very adult subject matter. (I actually had a friend tell me that she found it in the YA section at her local library; I almost had a heart attack and begged her to go tell the librarians that it is NOT written for a teen audience and to please reshelve it!)

Michelle:  I did a lot of research before I even wrote my interview questions to see what you had already answered. I learnt a lot about you which helped me prepare. Hello , December Quinn, erotic writer.
 I would think writing erotica and doing it well would be quite difficult, but your urban fantasy just has so much grit and depth. What do you find easier to write, erotica or gritty , urban fantasy? I need to get my hands on a book by your pen name ,December Quinn and have a read.

Stacia: Oh, hmm. I wouldn't say one is easier than the other, really; they both have their challenges. I do think I enjoy the UF more, or rather, I put more of myself into them and I really enjoy the freedom that comes with UF.


I did have a lot of fun writing the erotic romances, though.

Michelle:  Your series , the ‘Downside Ghosts’, has a gritty, dangerous, very dark, challenging world for your characters. Chess Putnam, your female lead in this series would have to be my all time favourite female lead from any genre I have read. Purely because she is so flawed, not whingey, quite selfless in many ways ,tough and even though she is an addict she gets on with her job, doesn’t slack off. I have such emotion for her when I read and feel the pain that is below the surface of her upbringing which you haven’t delved too deeply into. In book # 4 ‘Sacrificial Magic’, is the reader going to find out more about the personal demons Chess struggles with daily as an explanation for her need for her drug use, her need to keep herself in nips and cepts?

Stacia:  Well, I think--I like to think--that in every book we get a more complete picture of what Chess's life was like before she entered training at the Church, but I also try to be very careful with how much is revealed, if you know what I mean. Because I think it's very clear that she had a pretty horrific childhood, and I think there's a fine line between mentioning it and exploiting it, or mentioning it and dwelling on it.



I do think that SACRIFICIAL MAGIC--and book 5, CHASING MAGIC--show us more not necessarily about what happened to her, but about what the consequences have been beyond her addiction. It's very difficult after a childhood of abuse--it's difficult for someone left with the feelings of guilt and self-hatred and fear and all of those emotions childhoods like that engender--to trust people even when they claim to love you; it's very difficult to let them in, to accept them, to allow yourself to feel worthy of that. You know, we're aware of what Chess does to try to cover up her pain and keep herself from dealing with her past, but there are some aspects of that--aspects of herself--that she can't hide from, not when there's another person in the picture and she's having to make herself vulnerable in ways she never has before.



So I think readers are going to see more of the effect that had on her, and more about how she sees herself and what damage has been done to her, absolutely--at least I hope so, because otherwise I won't have done a very good job. And yes, there are a few other memories or flashbacks or whatever that expand on what we already know. But in the main we're just seeing her trying very hard to somehow reconcile how she sees herself with how others see her, and how she struggles with accepting even the smallest bit of happiness.

Megan Chase # 1

Michelle:  Terrible, you write him totally against the way most lead guys are written. He is the guy your mother would have you running from, but you write Terrible in such a way that the reader ‘feels’, for him on so many levels. He has his own fan club on Goodreads, ‘Terrible Fever’. For you as the writer to give us this character who is not good looking in anyway, essentially a thug, right hand man to Bump, the drug lord and have us women just falling over ourselves for him, is a huge kudo’s to your writing power. I read in a past interview you were actually going to kill him off at the end of book # 1..OMG!! I bet you are glad you rethought that one.


Stacia: I definitely am, heh. But I realized about halfway into the book that I just loved him too much to be able to do that, really; when I started inventing plots in my head like "He comes back as a ghost and lives in her apartment with her" I knew I just couldn't let him go.

He was a big challenge for me, actually. I specifically wanted to play with the idea of a hero and what a hero was supposed to be, and wanted to write one who wasn't rich and handsome. I mean, I like rich handsome heroes as much as the next girl, but I wanted to do something different; I wanted the hero not to be the handsome guy everyone instantly assumes is the hero. I wanted him to have to work for it.


Then, too, I wanted to make the point that everyone deserves love and happiness, not just handsome/beautiful people or whatever, and that there's someone out there for everyone. And that sometimes who a person is can make us see them differently.



Like I said, it was a challenge for me to see if I could make him a character readers would love and root for despite his flaws, despite the fact that he's not handsome or educated. And seeing if I could show what kind of person he really is, and that while he may not be perfect--of course, who is--he's perfect for Chess.

Megan Chase # 2

Michelle:  Terrible has his own dialect, ‘downspeak’. How hard was it writing his dialogue with his ‘downspeak’ , did you have to read it aloud to yourself to make sure you were getting it sounding right ? Was it overwhelming to find how much love Terrible was receiving from your readers?





Stacia:  Hmm. I don't usually read anything out loud, no. It was a bit difficult--or it can be--keeping everyone's specific verbal tics and dialects straight, since everyone talks a little differently. But in general it was a blast, coming up with Downspeech. I find it very hard these days to write characters who don't speak some kind of dialect, actually, I'm so used to it now!



And yeah, it's completely overwhelming! I worry about it a lot in the next books, whether or not I'm handling the relationship the right way and keeping true to his character; it's a different side of him and Chess both, and really neither of them have a lot of experience with it, so... I can only hope, really.

Megan Chase # 3

Michelle:  I have been wondering how many books would be in this series. I hoped for around 6 but read that if possible you would be happy to go to 9 or even 12, story permitting. Have you already mapped out in your incredible creative mind up to 12 just to see where it could all end up if you were to go that far ?

Stacia:  Lol, I don't know about "incredible creative," but thank you! I have, yeah. I originally had a nine-book arc but I also have plans for how to take it to twelve if that happens. I'm not counting on it, though. I hope, but I'm not counting on it.

I GOT TERRIBLE FEVER - Goodreads Group

Michelle:  Would you ever consider writing a book from Terribles POV? I think being in Terrible’s head even for part of a book would be incredible, looking at Chess through his eyes, getting to know him inside his head. I know we saw Terrible with his daughter and I found that to be a wonderful insight into there being another life Terrible had.



Stacia:  Actually, that's something I'm working on, yeah. Not a whole novel but a novella, from his POV. I'm not sure yet if it will be basically the events of UNHOLY GHOSTS told from his perspective or a different story, one that happens between UG and UM.



Michelle:  Are you able to give me 2 quotes from ‘Sacrificial Magic’, from Chess and Terrible that don’t give anything away?

Stacia: Hmm, let's see. You mean like two quotes from a scene with them together? Okay. Here's one:



His eyes fastened on her, waiting for her to continue. When she didn’t, he said, “Ain’t needing the lashers, aye? Causen I got—”


“No, no, I’m fine, I have money, I just…it’s depressing to lose, you know? I don’t like it.”



He smiled, and even in the middle of her misery, in the furious tangle of her mind, she was able to see it, feel it all the way down her body. “Oh, aye? Never would guess that one.”



Her own smile couldn’t compete with his, but hey, at least she was able to make the attempt. “Yeah, I guess that’s not really a secret, is it?”



“Ain’t to me.”


And two:



Chess handed Terrible her keys. If it made him trust her less, fine. At least he’d be alive to do it. “Have fun driving my car.”

That earned her a sort of half-smile, a semi-laugh. “Aye. Be all cool in it, maybe get myself one.”



It's really hard to find scenes that give *nothing* away!


Michelle:  Can you give me 5 words that describe Lex in ‘Sacrificial Magic’, where he is at now?


Stacia:  Hmm. Where he is in the beginning of that book and where he is at the end are very different, so some of these may only apply to the beginning or the end, but... Frustrated. Planning. Waiting. Amused and unamused.

Michelle:  Will you be bringing any new major long lasting characters to ‘Sacrificial Magic’?



Stacia:  I will, yes! And I'm really excited about it. But it would be kind of a big spoiler to give any more info. So I'll just say I hope readers like the new character.

Downside Army

Michelle:  If readers reading this interview haven’t yet started reading the ‘Downside Ghosts’ series, and 5 words or less were used to encourage them to read this series, which I for one highly recommend , would you be able to give me upto 5 words that describe each of the following about your series?



Stacia:  Oh, man, this is hard! I really think readers would be better at this than me. So I'd love to see your/their suggestions!


Chess Putnam
Stacia:  Determined. Scarred. Lost. Addicted. Smart.
Michelle: Selfless, Hurting, Lonely, Tough

Terrible
Stacia:  Also determined, also scarred, also smart. Tough. Loyal.
Michelle:  Lonely, Hurting, Forgiving, Protective, Dangerous

Lex

Stacia: Arrogant. Clever. Sneaky. Careless. Troublemaker.
Michelle: Sex, Addictive, Ego, Games, Trouble, Seducer


Bump
Stacia:  Horrendously dressed. Arrogant. Powerful. Sly. Sleazy.
Michelle:  Dangerous 


The Church of Real Truth
Stacia: Scary. Omnipotent. Cruel. Protective. Harsh.


Downside
Stacia: Poor. Dirty. Rough. Dangerous. Creepy.


Black Magic
Stacia: All over the books!



Michelle:  I am a mum of 3 kiddies and you have 2 . Do you keep any sort of keepsake, scrapbook of your author life to show your children when they are older. Or anything that you can show to the ones you love?



Stacia:  No, I never thought of that, actually. Hopefully it'll all still be around when they're older, so...


Michelle:  Do you do anything special on the day your books are released to the public?


Stacia:  I generally have a really nice little routine of puking and panicking, yes, with some hysterical crying and the absolute certainty that everyone will either hate or ignore the books thrown in. Release days are not fun for me. 

 Michelle:  How does it feel knowing bloggers are spreading the word of your books and really loving what you are writing? Has there been a particularly memorable instant of a passionate reader?



Stacia: Oh, there aren't even words to describe it, really, it's amazing. To see how much people love them and how much they understand them is just incredible. I never even dreamed people would like them half as much as they do.



But they're all memorable, honestly. Every single one who emails me or send me a message through Facebook or Twitter or comments on the blog or seeks me out at a con...it's always amazing and unbelievable.

Michelle: Thank you Stacia  for taking the time to answer my questions.

Stacia: They're great, thank you so much!




I hope you all enjoyed this interview as much as I enjoyed doing it.
Check the left side bar for my reviews on the Downside Ghosts series.

Michelle

http://www.staciakane.com/


"Stacia Kane has upped the stakes for all those writing in the urban fantasy genre — UNHOLY GHOSTS is gripping and brilliant." --FantasyLiterature.com



"taking paranormal fantasy to another level right before our eyes." --Barnes & Noble Explorations



"UNHOLY MAGIC spits on gritty and calls its mother names." --Fiction Vixen



"The ultimate Bible of badassery." --
Ann Aguirre, National Bestselling Author of SKIN DEEP

THE BRAVE TALE OF MADDIE CARVER by STACIA KANE - NOVELLA - DOWNSIDE GHOSTS

As I am a HUGE!!  fan of Stacia Kanes writing. If you haven't read any of her books, well you darn well should. Not YA !! Might I add . My reviews are listed here on our blog. Stacia has been very kind and given us all a gift of a free little read. Thanks Stacia!!!!

I have just read the little companion and I want to know more........poor Maddie........What a great little companion . I can't wait for book # 4 in the series . Dont forget to vote by clicking on  the link for Goodreads down below in blue. Voting finishes tonight:D




UNHOLY GHOSTS


UNHOLY MAGIC


CITY OF GHOSTS


All information taken from link below on Goodreads. I just wanted to spread the word for those not associated with Goodreads:

http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/847867-a-giftie-for-you

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - CITY OF GHOSTS by STACIA KANE - DOWNSIDE GHOSTS # 3

By : Stacia Kane
Published By : Harper Voyager
Released : Available Now
Details:  Paperback, 408 pages

RATING 5 STARS GRITTY!! DANGEROUS!!!

Book Blurb : Taken From Goodreads

The third book in this gritty, sexy, urban fantasy trilogy. Rogue spirits and psychopomps are terrorising people, and now someone is planning to open the gates to the City of Ghosts and unleash the dead on humanity. Faced with her greatest challenge yet, Chess has to travel to the spirit city to finally lay
all her ghosts to rest!


BOOK REVIEW:

"The parameters of the Binding are these: That you will not speak of your purpose to anyone but those authorized to know it. That you will not act with disloyalty against the Church. That what you hear of your purpose after the words of Binding are spoken , and until they are retracted, will not be repeated by you to anyone but those authorized. That you will repeat them to those authorized when told to do so. Do you accept those parameters?"

I liked this book the best out of the three to-date. Lots happens in this book, fast paced , smexi and tough with kick butt action scenes.

Chess is on a 'Black Squad' mission with Lauren Abrams , daughter of the Grand Elder.  A 'Binding Oath' is literally put under Chess's skin. Great pain inflicted if she gives information away to other than the Church, problem is Bump wants that information. A pay check of $80,000 seals the deal,  it will keep Chess in plenty of Cepts, Nips, Pandas, Speed...the list goes on . Far too tempting to knock back , but did she really have a choice?

Keeping her drug fuelled days a secret from the Church has taken on a whole new pain in the butt in the form of  Lauren,  her partner in the Church 'case' .

Terrible is still peeved as all with Chess , and his scathing remarks only show how hurt he really is. Bump wants Terrible coat tailing Chess to find the answers to the deaths and mayhem.  Black Magic is being used, ghosts are surfacing and fetish's are being found. Is the Lamaru behind all this evil?

Arthur Maguinness has decided to put down shop in the market selling his potions and what nots.  Who is Arthur Maguinness,  what does he represent?

Chess is in for a whole lot of pain , physical and mental . More is revealed of Chess's upbringing and it wasn't pretty.

Chess needs to get back down into the tunnels she needs Lex to show her . When Chess needs Terrible the most he changed his phone number. Ouch!! That hurt Chess big time. She is beginning to understand her feelings more. Just because she is used by everyone doesn't mean she has to do the same. A conscience is forming.

Terrible's loathing of Chess is starting to take its toll on her she is starting to crumble. Honesty is always the best policy .......and a hissy fit.

All sorts of  information starts to come forth and Chess must make sense of it all with Lauren.

 Then it all takes a turn for the worst.........

Keep an eye out for book # 4 in the series due 2012. I know I will be. I'm hoping for more of Chess's addiction history and more unearthing of her life that made her need to use to forget to keep the demons away.

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - UNHOLY MAGIC by STACIA KANE - DOWNSIDE GHOSTS # 2

By: Stacia Kane
Published By: Harper Voyager
Released: Available Now
Details: Paperback , 343 Pages

RATING 4.5 STARS!!! GRITTY, DARK, ADDICTIVE!!

Book Blurb : Taken From Goodreads

For Chess Putnam, finding herself near-fatally poisoned by a con psychic and then stopping a murderous ghost is just another day on the job. As an agent of the Church of Real Truth, Chess must expose those looking to profit from the world’s unpleasant little poltergeist problem—humans filing false claims of hauntings—all while staving off any undead who really are looking for a kill. But Chess has been extra busy these days, coping with a new “celebrity” assignment while trying on her own time to help some desperate prostitutes.

Someone’s taking out the hookers of Downside in the most gruesome way, and Chess is sure the rumors that it’s the work of a ghost are way off base. But proving herself right means walking in the path of a maniac, not to mention standing between the two men in her life just as they—along with their ruthless employers—are moving closer to a catastrophic showdown. Someone is dealing in murder, sex, and the supernatural, and once again Chess finds herself right in the crossfire.

BOOK REVIEW:

Chess is back with another case for the church in the form of Roger Pyle and his family. This one will pay well.  All is not what it seems. Secrets are found out.


Terrible is always there for Chess. Chess is lighting both ends of the match, the burning ends will eventually meet and then it will hurt. 
Lex is always there with a baggie and his zipper down. I feel like Chess has crossed the line and payment is Lex's pleasure.


Prostitutes are turning up dead on both sides of the line. Chess has to come up with the answers, Bump wants answers. The Church can't know. Everbody wants something from Chess.


More glimpses are revealed of  Chess's past life. Drugs are her answer. Her life is timed to not be without something in her system. She can not withdraw, somebody will find out, the Church can't know.
Stacia Kane wrote a very tough withdrawal chapter. You felt you were Chess , going through what she was going through.


Terrible lets Chess into his personal life , their odd relationship finally gets pushed too far. He becomes vulnerable for a split second...then she blows it..big time!!!!! Spiralling down fast , Chess must surface and get the answers everbody needs.


When Chess thought there was nothing else to lose in her life, nothing more could be done to hurt her......think again!!!!

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - UNHOLY GHOSTS by STACIA KANE - DOWNSIDE GHOSTS # 1

By: Stacia Kane
Published By : Harper Voyager
Released : Available Now
Details: Paperback , 346 Pages

RATING  4 STARS !! SEX , DRUGS AND GHOSTS!!!!

Book Blurb : Taken From Goodreads

THE DEPARTED HAVE ARRIVED

The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen, and the living are under attack. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased.

Consequently, there are many false claims of hauntings from those hoping to profit. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully-tattooed witch, freewheeling Debunker, and ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for nailing human liars and banishing the wicked dead. But she’s keeping a dark secret from the Church: a little drug problem that’s landed her in hot and dangerous water.

Chess owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump. And Bump wants immediate payback. All Chess has to do is dispatch a very nasty species of undead from an old airport. But the job involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and crossing swords with enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust for a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah.

BOOK REVIEW:

My first foray into Stacia Kane's writing. Wow!!! she writes a gritty , dangerous, dark, challenging world for her characters. Don't expect fluff and paradise and happy days......


From start to finish, Chess her female lead has it tough, lives it tough and her days are exposed to drugs and danger. Chess is a witch whose drug fuelled days give her what she needs to survive her upbringing , her current life. She hides behind it, smoking, snorting what she can afford . This book is not about bunny rabbits and sunny days. Chess has a job to do for the church and an odd assortment of characters who she doesn't  trust , but needs to associate with to get her job done. Drug Lords need her, the church needs her and Terrible likes her. Lex an opposing drug dealer Chess lusts for. I'm not sure if I like Lex. He is casual sex, drugs and ego.


It's natural as the reader to wish Chess didn't snort/take drugs , but her character is damaged and she is an addict whose friends are drug dealers . No girls nights , giggling eating chocolate, it's a harsh life that she lives and survives.


'Terrible' is not pretty but he looks out for Chess, he is her rock, does she know this??? I would choose Terrible over Lex. Some wouldn't.


Chess must solve a mystery, save a soul, send Ghosts back to the City and save her own soul , but she needs help. Somebody is releasing ghosts into the mortal world and that can only mean human deaths.


Stacia has chosen to write her Downside characters with an interesting dialect. I try to see Terrible clearer, his life , his badass beating ways. He doesn't hold back a punch if he feels its warranted. Ýou get glimpses of his fear for Chess and his pain , his feelings hurt.


Sleep deprived, addicted to drugs Chess has a lot on her plate. Trust doesn't really exist. Danger is everywhere for Chess and her companions need her to do a job behind the churches back.....can't wait for book 2 'Unholy Magic'.


I did have to reread a few areas as Stacia makes you keep up with her writing. I found this book very original and be prepared to keep up with Chess and the odd group of characters. I did have questions but there are 2 more books currently written in the series with a fourth to come out........walking off to read 'Unholy Magic'.


Quotes:

Always look up. Nobody ever looks up.


People were shit. The only difference between them and animals was people felt the need to hide it.

Michelle