Unholy Magic

So, I originally gave this series a shot because Michelle raved about it, AND it was within my rule of
And I liked the first one a lot, but it seemed a little gimmicky, so I wasn't sure I would continue. Except that the second book was cheap. And Stacia Kane popped up on the blogosphere as a bad-ass. I love supporting bad-asses.

And then this book became my imperfect crack, my guilty pleasure.

I have issues with this book, but they're not enough to make me give up on the series (though I'll have to wait for books 4 to go on sale, because of my moral need to not spend more than 6$/ebook).

Chess is still our main character, our churchwitch. The world is still dark and ugly and gritty. And I admittedly have a huge hard-on for dark and gritty. show more

She's a fundamentally flawed character, still almost too stereotypically fundamentally flawed, but I'm giving her a pass. She makes really, really stupid mistakes, but mistakes that make sense, and are a bit painful to people like me who have made epically stupid mistakes.

The world building is good, but not great. There is still a lot of the world to be filled in, a lot to be explained. I like that Kane has not gotten overly finicky and exposition-y about it, but a wee bit more explanation would be great (Yeah, ghost-apocalypse, yeah, Church, but, more please?).

The prose is solid and consistent, I think it's much better than the first book, which shows nice growth on the part of the author. I still like the use of Downside-slang with the characters that speak, while the more privileged and educated characters speak much more "correctly" (at least what we privileged Americans would expect).

I still want meaningful female characters that are not the main character (so far, except for Junkie Chess, we just have bitches, goody-bitches and whores).

Anyway, on to the story. It's another mystery. Another classic detective story, with an A and B plot that you know are somehow going to come together, it's just a matter of time. Chess is still playing the field between two opposing drug lords, and has to work between them to get her B plot to come out.

The actual B (as I refer to the non-officially-sanctioned-by-the-Church plot) plot is actually horrible. And kudos to Kane for making a truly horrific and awful scene involving that one. I mean, really. Ew. And Ugh. Everything wraps up nice and episodic, with just a few trailing ends to keep us going into the next book.

It reminds me a lot of the early Dresden books (only with a whole lot more graphic violence, sex and drug use), where Harry could solve some mystery stuff and go along his merry way, before there were huge overwhelming power-story arcs.

I got much more into this story, it was like watching an epic battle or car accident, only while Chess is an interesting main character, I she's not a good character, I can't root for her, so I'm watching this battle and I don't know that I want anyone to win. Except Terrible and damn you Kane for leaving that hanging, because now I have to dive straight on into the next book... you'd better be answering some questions.

High literature with lots of thinky premise? Not really, though if pushed I could tease out some good discussion points. This is popcorn for me. Pure and unadulterated (except for the extra butter) popcorn. show less

Reread, July 5, 2015:

Yeah, pretty much what I said below, on my first read, and about my rereads of the earlier books of this series. Fucking amazing. Addicting like nothing else. Exciting like the best adventure imaginable. Perfect.

Original Review, March 24, 2014:

Sleep=not important.
Eating=not important.
College=not important.
Life outside this series=totally blocking it out.

Oh God (ha my use of "God" is kind of funny in reviewing this book)...but this book was gut wrenching. In that terrible (ehm, synonym of horrible I mean) scene in the middle of the book, I was screaming no, no, noooooo in my head. Ahhh this is killing me. It was painful to read the last half or so, but in the best way possible. And it is a testament to how wonderful show more this book is that it was able to affect me so. My stomach was twisting (still is), my heart was racing, and my thoughts rebelling, understanding, sympathizing, and getting angry. And none of that will settle until I find out what happens next for my hero and heroine.

But boy, when one wall falls, the whole house collapses, huh? Pretty much everything seemed to fall apart for Chess in this book. And she is written so goddamn beautifully that even though it is all her fault and she makes stupid, stupid decisions, I sympathize with her and want her happy because I understand why she's stuck in her loop of addiction and self destructive behavior. And I still like her regardless. She is 100% flawed human being. When you grow up like she did and believe yourself to be worthless, you tend to act just like Chess does. Stacia Kane hit the psychology right on the head (ha, wow I'm making all sorts of bad jokes in this review) with these characters and this world. I was already fully in love with this story after book one, and (how is it possible?) I've only fallen in love more. And I love the tragic sense in this book, all the pain the more twisted and worse the situation became. (This book isn't as horrifying as I make it sound though, it isn't that graphic or shocking in content to be in a different category from the first book.)

And this book, more so than the last, left off on a cliffhanger. All the uncertainties with what's going to happen with the sigil, the relationship, and everything else; it's driving me crazy. This review just shows my state of mind because it is more of a rant than anything else, but the bottom line that I want to convey is definitely read this book. It goes much further into the harsh world and troubles of Chess and the other characters, definitely marks a low in our heroine's life, but is so captivating nonetheless that you will not be able to wait to get your hands on the next book. I have to now force myself to go back and read book 1.5, Terrible's book (and knowing what I know now--eek this will be hard) but I'm going to put this book out of mind for a bit and enjoy that, then immediately move on to book 3 and get my answers! show less

I haven't seen anything quite like the world Stacia Kane has created with Downside Ghosts, and I like what she's done. I appreciate the irony of an anti-religion organization/government that calls itself The Church and runs itself like hyper-organized religion, and I'm curious where she'll take that. I'm also wondering what is going on in the rest of the world. Is The Church everywhere? Did Haunted Week happen everywhere in the world? She might have said in the first book, but I can't remember. I hope that's information that's still to unfold.

Talk about your flawed protagonists. Just about every decision Chess makes is the wrong one, but I still like the character so much and wish for better things for her. I love Terrible and hope the show more tension between him and Chess isn't dragged out for too much longer. If she doesn't break it off with Lex in the next book, after all that happened in this one, I'm going to be really sad.

I also hope to see Oliver Fletcher in future installments. He could be a powerful ally for Chess, and I think they made a good team. Despite the blackmail and the creepy relationship he has with his client's wife, I still ended up liking the guy. I liked that some of Chess's first impressions of him were colored by her own past and the reader got to discover, along with Chess, that she was wrong.

This second book in the Downside Ghosts series was a strong follow-up to Unholy Ghosts. Recommended for people looking for something different in their urban fantasy. show less

There are few books out there that I feel like really earn the title of urban fantasy. They're gritty and dark and make bad look good. The world building is superior, the characters deep and the problems chaotic. This happens to be one of those series and I'm madly in love!

In the Downside world the dead have come back from the otherside, and the only unfinished business they have is killing you and everyone else they can get their hands on. The Church has managed, through magic, power and strict control of the populace to rein the dead in and make the world a safe place. Religion as you and I would recognize it is gone and so is faith and hope. In it's place is law and punishment for anyone who manages to set a foot out of line.

Chess is show more a Church witch, charged with debunking those who fake hauntings to collect money from the Church. She has a little problem though, or rather several problems: Cepts, Pandas, Oozers. They're all illegal drugs and they're the only things that keep Chess on an even keel. Thanks to her addictions Chess finds herself in bed with one drug dealer, Lex, all while working to keep out of trouble with an opposing drug lord, Bump. To add to all the trouble she's developing feeling for Bump's lead bruiser, Terrible.

Terrible comes to Chess looking for help. People are dying in vicious ways on Bumps territory and its being blamed on a ghost. Chess goes looking and discovers there may indeed be a ghost at work. In the mean time the Church gives her a high probile case that could make or break her career. Chess goes to work balancing it all, while self medicating every chance she gets. Bump wants her to spy on Lex and learn his dirty little secrets. As Chess works to debunk her case more bodies pile up and the killer starts hunting her. She identifies the killer, but she can't seem to catch up with them, rather they play cat and mouse and the killer lands a wounding blow that destroys something she holds dear. In the end Chess manages to put it all to rest, but at a terrible cost.

Throughout the book we learn more about Terrible, who may kill people for a living but I'm madly in love with him. Lex in the mean time is keeping Chess busy in bed as well as feeding her addictions. This book finds Chess's worlds colliding as her addictions threaten her life and livelihood and Terrible and Lex get too close for comfort.

The world building is great, the characterization awesome. There's a lot of complaints out their about Chess's drug addiction, but I think it makes her one of the most self realized characters out there. Chess literally can't get by without her drugs. They keep the terror and loneliness at bay. She's not seeking release from them any time soon, so I don't expect any deep self discovery and rising from the ashes for Chess. If she lives another 5 years at this rate it will be a miracle. It's that darkness, sparked through with hope that makes her so appealing to me. She sees angels, Buddha's and other symbols of faith and wonders about the relief that belief in something bigger and greater must bring. She's afraid of death, afraid of being found out, afraid of finding out she literally can't fall any farther down.

The book wraps up, but it leaves huge problems for Chess. Needless to say I'm diving right into book 3! show less

The Good: Chess drove me absolutely insane in this book. I had a strong desire to scream at her, shake some sense into her, something. I was so completely involved in the situations Chess got herself into that I don't think I moved at all the entire time I read this book. Glued to the page is an understatement. I could not put this book down. Things get very real for Chess on a personal level and I just could not get enough.

The Bad: Nothing at all.

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

My second trip into the world of Downside was a lot more satisfying than my first; this story focuses on Chess’ investigations rather than on her drug addiction which was my main beef with Unholy Ghosts. My frustrations over the heroine’s inability to think straight due to her addled state were somewhat alleviated in this installment so I was able to better appreciate the unique elements that this series has to offer. Unholy Magic still wasn’t a home run for me but I did enjoy it more than book one and expect this trend to continue as the story progresses which is all the incentive I need to see Chess’ tale through to the end.

After listening to two installments, I do believe that I am finally catching on show more to the DS lingo. It definitely took some getting used to at first but after spending hours immersed in Bahni Turpin’s narration I couldn’t help but notice that some of Kane’s slang words had found their way into my daily vocabulary, dig? I also think that this is one of those series’ that’s just better in audio; I have a sneaky suspicion that had I read the first book, I probably wouldn’t have made it to this one. The narrator does an outstanding job at bringing this tale to life; Chess can’t be an easy character to read, with her constant highs and lows, but Turpin successfully keeps pace with the heroine without even breaking a sweat.

The main plot revolves around sex magic, so, needless to say, there’s a lot of humping going on in this novel. By now you’re probably thinking sex = awesome, right? Sorry to disappoint, this is Urban Fantasy after all and there’s always a catch. Chess has a messed up past and an even more complicated present which makes her especially susceptible to this particular brand of magic. I really felt for her because Kane makes her reluctance believable and that’s a hard feat to accomplish in this type of situation. There are also a couple of very heart wrenching moments in Unholy Magic that added new levels of depth to the characters. I’m beginning to view many of them in a different light and my opinions of the DS crew are beginning to change for the better.

I like that for once it’s the heroine that’s undeserving; Chess has to prove herself worthy of Terrible instead of the other way around. It’s an interesting variation on the typical romantic relationship development and I look forward to having Putnam convince both Terrible and myself of her merit. Speaking of which, at first I didn’t really see the appeal of Bump’s right-hand man; undoubtedly he’s an alpha male and pretty darned smexy but he’s still a thug! I love a bad boy just as much as the next girl but I’m not that shallow; my men need to have a bit more substance to them! For me, Terrible came out of the woodwork in this installment with a few interesting revelations and by demonstrating some real moxie. I’m not sure how I feel about these two as a couple yet but they are definitely growing on me as individuals.

There’s no shortage of action or emotional drama in Unholy Magic and the character development was superb. So far, Stacia Kane’s Downside series has received a 3-star, followed by this 4 from me; let’s see if City of Ghosts can earn a 5. I think it will. show less

I stayed up past my bedtime to finish this! It was so intense, I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Terrible, and Chess. I was only disappointed that I have to read the next book to know the consequences of Chess' actions to keep Terrible alive. Like many other readers, I'm not sure who to root for. If viewed from a "real world" perspective, these people are despicable. But Kane handles them so well that, despite ourselves, we find ourselves understanding and, eventually, cheering for them. Especially Chess Putnam, who is one of the most messed up characters I have ever had the privilege of reading. That's one of the things I love best about this series, that Chess is so broken and yet still manages to save those she loves and show more does her job and continues to walk the tightrope that is her personal life. That, and the supernatural themes. show less