Review: Downside Ghosts Series {Books 1-3} by Stacia Kane

 

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.

From Goodreads {Blurb from Book 1 in the series, Unholy Ghosts}.

• Publisher: Del Rey

• Unholy Ghosts Release Date: May 25th, 2010

• Unholy Magic Release Date: June 22nd, 2010

• City of Ghosts Release Date: July 27th, 2010

• My Copies: Kindle Edition, Privately bought.

• Series: Downside Ghosts

• Genre: Urban Fantasy

• Author's Website

• Buy The Books:

Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 1)

Unholy Magic (Downside Ghosts, Book 2)

City of Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 3)

24 years ago the world got a wake up call. Ghosts attacked the whole world and killed billions of people. A small Church, called simply The Church, stepped in and by using magic, was able to bring the ghosts to heel and keep the peace. From then on, organized religion as we know it was dead and the world started being controlled by The Church. Chess Putnam is a Debunker for The Church. She is a witch and her job is to prove if there is an actual haunting going on or if people are faking it.

I had seen so many people going gaga over these books online that I went ahead and bought all three at once. I then read Unholy Ghosts as soon as I could and to be quite honest I wasn’t blown away.

I found it hard to get behind Chess, a protagonist that is not only a Junkie, but a junkie that has no will to leave her addiction. It was really hard to get used to the Downside speak that the people of the Downside, a neighborhood in Triumph City, talk.

For those reasons I actually delayed reading Unholy Magic and City of Ghosts. I had to give in because of one character, Terrible. He is the right-hand man for Bump, Chess’ drug dealer. What attracted me to him was that even though he is described as ugly and ruthless, he has an amazing heart and he genuinely cares about Chess.

I have to say that after reading all three books, I am sold with this series. I am absolutely in love with it and I want more! Yes, Chess is still an addict, but we find so much more about her and her past, that I actually can’t blame het for needing to be numb. Getting to know her better actually brought me to tears and even though I did feel like beating her silly at times, I do love her as the heroine, a unconventional heroine, but a heroine nonetheless.

Now, what makes this series so amazing besides the richness and depth that Stacia Kane has dedicated to her world building, is the relationship between Terrible and Chess. A relationship that is doomed from the beginning, between two very damaged and broken people, that is nothing less than perfect in my opinion.

The Downside series is not like anything that is out there right now and I loved the originality of it. An action packed series, full of deep and emotional moments without taking anything away from its grittiness.

If you are an Urban Fantasy lover and has been on the hunt for something new, this is absolutely the series for you!  

Least Favorite Book in The Series So Far: Unholy Ghosts, anything that doesn’t give me an overdose of Terrible is not gonna cut it LOL

Favorite Book in The Series So Far: City of Ghosts, Has the highest stakes and the best Chess & Terrible moments!

 

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