I originally gave this book 5 stars, then decided that I wasn't being true to myself.
I love the story, the world, the Downside slang, the characters and especially Ms. Kane's style of writing.

What I don't like is the drug use and not that the character uses drugs. Its just not very plausible or realistic to me. Chess does so many drugs in both amount and variety that there is no way (realistically) that she'd be able to go undetected. Nor do I think that she'd be able to appear coherent to anyone she encounters.

I'm hoping that the drug use decreases in subsequent books. It has become a distraction to me;not in that it exists, but how much is being portrayed.

That being said - this is a damn good book with top-notch writing. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. The narrator did a great job of voicing the characters and really made them come to life. Chess is a troubled soul. It's rare to find a drug addict as the main character that you can root for, but Chess is that character. You just want to see things work out for her. Plus I love Terrible. He is such a wonderful person under his thug exterior. I can't wait to continue on with the series. ( )

On another blog I saw a poll up asking if having a main character who is addicted to a substance (drugs, alcohol, some weird supernatural thing) is a turn off for the reader. Other than minor alcoholic abuse in young adult novels and one instance of a supernatural drug abuse problem, none of the books I've read have had main characters who were addicted to anything (unless you count life-threatening situations). Chess, Unholy Ghosts' main character, is addicted to more drugs than I can name. Some of which seem to be like the drugs you can get in the real world and some of which are completely foreign to me.

And I would be lying if I said it didn't make me uncomfortable. Every time she agonized over needing another 'Cept' or accepting a line of powder (or three), I squirmed a little in my seat. Did it ruin my enjoyment of the book however? No. Not in the least. This isn't to say I didn't judge her pretty harshly whenever she let the need for drugs interfere with her job (her legal or illegal one), but I didn't let it cloud how I felt about the book as a whole.

Chess is a different kind of tough as nails heroine running around so blithely in urban fantasy and paranormal romances today. Her issues only get worse as the novel continues. In fact for every issue she seemingly conquers, the resulting resolution is ten times worse. Do a little job for Bump (her local drug lord), her debt erased, ease of conscience...except that job then becomes a living nightmare. Take on a cake walk assignment to get a little cashflow from the Church (the legal magick-users and frontline defense against the ghosts who have risen)...and her living nightmare just had quintuplets. So very little goes right for Chess in this book that I wasn't surprised when the opportunity to just let go of this mortal coil presented itself, and she was sorely tempted.

This a certain cadence to the speech patterns of the recurring characters. The higher-ups in the Church liked their 'thees' and 'thous', Debunkers like Chess and Doyle spoke normally,and street folk like Bump and Terrible spoke in a slow, drop half the syllables and add new ones kind of way. Since the Downside, where Chess lived and spent a fair chunk of the book in, was meant to be the slums it made sense that the folk who grew up and operated within its boundaries would develop their own way of talking. It fascinated me, new speech patterns and slang always fascinates me and authors who weave it into their novels so effortlessly impress me.

The relationships between the characters were mostly of the 'scratch my back, I got yours' variety. Its fair to say no one trusted anyone with so much as a sheet of paper out of their sight. Though as the novel progresses Chess finds herself relying on Terrible (Bump's enforcer) and Lex (rival gang leader) more and more. Terrible is looking out for Bump's in interests, but there was definitely more there. Lex was looking to scoop Chess up for his own gang's purposes; Chess was a rare commodity, a Churchwitch with a heavy drug addiction and heavy power to boot. Those who don't want her dead want her to be indebted to them so she'll help them out.

I liked Terrible. He warmed up considerably as the book progressed and I felt so bad for him about two-thirds of the way in. In his world he isn't a bad guy; he's doing a job he can do well, but that doesn't mean he goes off the hook for no reason. Lex was a different story. He was all suave and 'I know what you want baby' towards Chess. Smug is a good word for Lex. I wanted to punch him half the time, but there's no denying he was an intriguing character.

I can't wait to read the second book Unholy Magic and the third City of Ghosts. Chess' problems seemed to be resolved for the moment, but even as she said that she was cooking up a plan likely to land her in the stews. I can't wait. ( )

I dunno. I've gotten kind of overdone with urban fantasy recently, to the point where I end up listening to it in the car because it's got funny moments and it's easy to tune out to, and the plot's basically the same the genre over. Gritty, broke detective-type chases supernatural thingamabobber-that's-doing-bad-stuff all over creation until in the end she defeats it by the skin of her teeth.

However. I ended up being really impressed with this book. The world building was unique -- the idea of the Church and the ghosts made me yearn for more explanation of the history and the functionality of the system. And our heroine was almost an anti-heroine; the things she does are certainly not for her own good, nor for most anyone else's, and she's the very picture of ambivalent corruption.

I also listened to this as an audio book, and I really do need to mention the linguistics. I really enjoyed the slang. I don't normally enjoy slang in books because it takes away from my understanding and makes me think about what's being said as a function of understanding rather than enjoyment. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the slang if I had read this rather than listened to it. But as it stood, the slang absolutely added to the atmosphere of the book, which is rare indeed. Kudos. ( )

I like urban fantasy, i really do. I like strong characters and well build worlds. I can overlook things that bother me. I have read some reviews of this book before reading it and therefore was prepared of the drug use issue. However, after reading about 1/4 of the book , i had to put it down. The book did not capture me, the drug use was too frequent( character is a true addict in my opinion) and the world that the author created did not appeal to me. some other readers might be heads over heels on this series, but this reader will not be picking up the book again or the series. I might try other books of Stacia Kane, but lets face it, there are better Urban fantasy books/series out there than that. books that don't portrait addiction to drugs like that. Working in the health care field, i see first hand what addiction to drugs can do and i am opposed to it and therefore, can't continue reading the book. ( )