Liviania’s review of Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 1) by Stacia Kane
Urban fantasy released by Del Rey 25 May 2010
Sybil was offering me a variety of books to review and quickly realizing I’ll say yes to almost anything. The hook for Unholy Ghosts was the controversy over the main character’s drug use. There’s nothing I love more than being able to take a specific side in an argument.
I can see why the people who don’t like drug use are disturbed by the depiction in Unholy Ghosts. Chess Putnam credits the drugs for helping her cope and shows no desire to stop. There’s no angst about her drug use ruining her life. Despite that, I wouldn’t call it a positive portrayal. Chess acknowledges that the drugs dull her senses and that keeping her use a secret is a hassle, especially when her dealer is blackmailing her. All in all, it felt more realistic than a gimmick, so I felt the inclusion of drugs made sense within the story.
The blackmail? Ghosts have started showing up at the airfield dealer Bump wants to use to move product. He enlists Chess, a Debunker for the Church of Real Truth, to exorcise the ghosts. The world of Unholy Ghosts diverged from ours when homicidal ghosts showed up. The Church of Real Truth replaced other religions when they figured out how to get rid of ghosts. Many people fake haunting, causing a need for Debunkers, who rarely have to deal with actual ghosts. Stacia Kane does a good job of working out the logistics of her world, which includes gangs who refuse to obey the Church due to Confucian ideals. It’s much more exciting than reading a standard vampire mythology again.
One of the things I love about the Downside Ghosts series is the fact that Chess is just another Debunker. She’s competent, and a decent detective, but she doesn’t have super special awesome powers. She just gets involved with nasty cases due to her underworld connections. She can be hard to sympathize with sometimes, since her issues tend to rule her life, but her voice is absorbing. While she tries to be hard, her narration reveals how fragile she is.
I also enjoyed both of her love interests. Terrible starts out as a thoroughly unlikeable thug working as Bump’s enforcer. But as Chess gets to know him, she starts to appreciate his better qualities and finds him more attractive. At the same time Stacia Kane reveals Terrible’s ability to be nice, she maintains his characterization as a guy who beats up others for a dealer. He’s a complex character, which I love. Lex, conversely, remains a cipher during Unholy Ghosts. He’s a hot cipher though, and Terrible’s busy being complex, so it works.
After I finished Unholy Ghosts, I immediately passed it on to my dad and picked up Unholy Magic to read myself. (After finishing that, I begged Sybil for City of Ghosts.) I like the Downside Ghosts because it has a different feel to it. The mystery, world-building, and romance elements are well-balanced. As noted, Chess isn’t super special awesome. Plus, I’m intrigued by both love interests instead of instantly pulling for one and being bored during the other’s scenes.
Grade: A
Summary:
THE AFTERLIFE IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen and constantly attack the living. 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 and freewheeling Debunker and ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for nailing the human liars or 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 murderous drug lord named Bump a lot of money. 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 with 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.
Read an excerpt here.
Other books in this series:
