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Adult Review: Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane

3/19/2012

15 Comments

 
Unholy Ghosts cover
Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, #1)
Author: Stacia Kane
Publication Date: 5/25/10   
Publisher: Del Rey

Blurb (GR):
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. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully tattooed witch and freewheeling ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for banishing the wicked dead. But Chess is keeping a dark secret: She owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump, who wants immediate payback in the form of a dangerous job that involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and 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.

Review:

How do you decide which urban fantasy series you should read?

Let's be honest, there is like million and a half books in this genre, all with the same basic premise, assemblage of characters, mythology structure and story arcs. I, personally, do not even bother to read synopses of UF books any more, because, well, they are all the same anyway. Only some trusty reader-friend's recommendation will do the trick. And, apparently, mentioning some hottie can be enough to perk up my interest. In the case of Unholy Ghosts, Catie talked so poetically about this one Terrible, that I just had to check him out. ASAP, naturally.

So, Terrible. I am not terribly into Terrible yet, but, boy, do I see promise. You see, I do like when an author writes a man who is not particularly attractive, and then manages to make him sexy. If I strain my brain, I can think of only one guy in UF who is no Adonis, but whose personality and actions make him the hottest guy on the block. I kinda enjoy to be surprised and wooed like that. (Sadly, this other guy is a teenager, Derek in Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers trilogy).  Like Catie said in her review, Terrible is not handsome, at least not in a traditional way and not to the main character at first, the dialect he talks in makes him sound a tad... dumb, and yet, and yet, Stacia Kane manages to slowly make him VERY appealing, by writing things like this:

A couple made out against the gritty stucco wall on the side of the club. Chess watched them for a second, embarrassed to do so but unable to turn away, something quiet and small twisting in her chest.

The girl was a little thing, platinum blond, in a miniskirt and a pair of platform heels that looked like they weighed more than her entire body. Her thin legs crossed at the ankle behind the guy’s waist, while her tiny, pale hands dug into his back. Chess couldn’t see her face; it was almost entirely hidden by the guy’s hands, cupping her cheeks like he thought the bones might break. Chess didn’t think she’d ever been touched like that. A pang of pure envy ran through her.

The girl caressed the back of his neck and lifted her hands to twine her fingers in his hair. His hips pressed forward, pinning her against the wall, and he dipped his head to kiss her throat. The light caught the prominent ridge of his brow and the crooked bump of his nose.

It was Terrible.

Heat rushed to her face. Yes, definitely Terrible. No wonder he’d blushed when she teased him about his sideburns. She’d never even thought of him as actually being interested in women. He seemed totally asexual to her, like instead of fucking he preferred beating people up. A silly assumption. He was a man, after all.

I know exactly what you are doing here, Ms. Kane, and it's working.

What did not work as well for me is Chess' characterization. Would it be too awful to say that I didn't feel like she was junky enough? Hear me out. Chess, the ghost banisher, is an addict, she takes pills, she snorts speed, always waiting for her next fix, etc, etc. But, reading Unholy Ghosts, I never felt that this addiction was a vital part of her, her driving force, rather, it was something that she did, that she could easily put away, something that did not affect her work or her mental abilities much. I did not feel like I was in a head of a serious addict. Maybe my impression has something to do with the fact that the book is written in 3rd person and therefore there is a bit of a distance between the reader and the narrator. Or maybe reading Trainspotting left me with a skewed view of what severe addiction is like for an addict. Trainspotting, I felt, put me at the center of an addict's mind, but Unholy Ghosts did not.

I will not be wasting time on summarizing the details of this story or its mythology. This post-ghostapocalyptic setting worked for me, so did the mystery and the characters. Whatever I say I liked about Unholy Ghosts will not work for everyone, like it happens with most genre fiction. I also think that the two main points of contention in this series will be the main character's addiction and the local dialect.

The book was a good fit for me though. I look forward to reading more about Chess and Terrible. Terrible has more of his 6 ft 4 in (everything in proportion) glory and prowess to demonstrate. I am along for that ride.

4/5 stars

Tatiana Signature
15 Comments
Catie (The Readventurer) link
3/19/2012 12:29:38 am

Does it surprise you that Derek is one of my FAVORITE YA love interests? :) I'm so glad you're going to continue this series - even if it is just for my beloved Terrible. Great review!

Reply
Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
3/19/2012 01:34:04 am

Oh, I am totally on board with this series. I was hooked from the get-go, which almost never happen to me with UF any more.

Reply
Sam @ Realm of Fiction link
3/19/2012 01:50:52 am

Wait... His NAME is Terrible? Interesting... ;)

I've heard good things about this book from the many people who keep telling me to read more Adult and less YA. ;) It sounds really great and your review has convinced me I need to get round to it soon.

Reply
Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
3/19/2012 03:17:20 am

Sam, I find that UF is the easiest adult genre to read after devouring too many short/light YA novels.

Reply
Lisa O. link
3/19/2012 03:08:38 am

Your last sentence made me snort my coffee all over the keyboard... ahem. Sounds interesting, even though that name *shudders*

Lisa O. @ <a href="http://thenocturnallibrary.blogspot.com">The Nocturnal Library</a>

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Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
3/19/2012 03:16:01 am

Lisa, I am positive you want to know MORE about those inches:)

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Sarah link
3/19/2012 03:38:08 am

I really liked the first installment of this series (and, I agree, Terrible is great), but nevertheless, I had a hard time reading Unholy Ghosts. Chess kind of exhausted me, and I've not been able to put my finger on why or what it was specifically. I've got to get around to revisiting this series, as it's really different and compelling.

Reply
Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
3/19/2012 04:19:12 am

The enjoyment of such book depends so much on relatability of the MCs, that I am not surprised that because you found Chess so exhausting the reading of her book was daunting too.

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Angie link
3/19/2012 05:26:52 am

Great review, Tatiana. Even though this one didn't float my boat, I saw Terrible's appeal right away. I actually just finished an UF with an ugly-yet-sexy love interest, and it struck me as incredibly refreshing as well.

Reply
Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
3/19/2012 05:41:59 am

Oh, Angie, I need to know the name of this UF. There is just not enough physically unattractive, but with hearts of gold people in genre fiction!:)

Reply
Angie link
3/19/2012 06:15:36 am

I'll drink to that.

It's NIGHTSHIFTED by Cassie Alexander.

Heidi link
3/19/2012 09:00:26 am

I was confused at first by all the Terrible's then it hit me..oh duh, it's a name. Interesting name for sure. I hear you on the UF thing. I love the genre but it is lacking orginality sometimes. I am interested to read about a character who is an addict. Even if you didn't feel she was junky enough, that is funny btw...Well, I will add it to the ever growing list, perhaps someday I can find time to read all these goodies!

Reply
VeganYANerds link
3/19/2012 10:38:42 am

I remember Catie's review because how could I forget a character called Terrible but this is a great reminder because I still haven't purchased/borrowed these books and I really want to.

Great review, Tatiana!

Reply
Maja
3/19/2012 10:59:09 pm

Hah, you girls need to get your minds out of the gutter. (I'm looking at Lisa here!) :D
Really, Tatiana, I have a simple solution for those unable to decide which UF series to start - simply do what I do and read them all! :)
Well, not all. I never really got into this one. I keeo hearing great things about it, but I have issues with characters with addictive personalities so I chose to leave this one alone.
I still love it when people enjoy Urban Fantasy, though. :)

Reply
Rachel
3/21/2012 12:19:36 pm

I love Derek in The Darkest Powers series. This guy Terrible sounds hot (not just because of the correct proportions, haha). That scene you quoted got my heart pumping! I don't really like MC that have additions though and she doesn't really sound appealing to me. So I don't know if I'd start with this for my first urban fantasy (yes, never read one before). Great review Tatiana.

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