Downside
Ghosts, Book 2
Del
Ray/Ballantine Books
July
6th, 2010
978-0-345-51558-2
Paranormal
Romance/Urban Fantasy
Mass
Market Paperback
Reviewed
by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)
Obtained
by Publisher
For
Chess Putnam, stopping a ghost and having a near-fatal poison attack on her is
just another day in her life. She works as an agent for the Church of Real Time
by showing that most of the hauntings are nothing more than hoaxes. But when
she is drawn into the case of dead prostitutes, well, Chess finds herself in
the cross-hairs of this murderous madman. Because to catch this vicious killer,
she needs to put a bull’s-eye on her chest and hope she isn’t the next victim.
On top of it all, the two men in her life along with their respective employers
are close to a showdown which could be catastrophic if they can’t play nice
together.
I
really wanted to like Chess but there is just something about her that rubs me
the wrong way. In this second book, UNHOLY MAGIC, we find Chess torn
between two men who want her, her job as an agent to the Church of Real Time
and trying to stop this madman that is killing prostitutes. But her drug
addiction, her chaos in her life that she causes and more just had me shaking
my head. I do like how we got to see a more personal side to her than the drug
addiction, etc but she just comes off as a bit whiny instead of snarky. The
world of the Downside series is phenomenal. It’s dark, gritty and very
interesting to me. I loved how this author makes the ghosts not sweet and at
peace but evil and vindictive and that the church had debunkers to make sure
people who say there are haunted are truly haunted and not trying to scam a few
bucks from the church.
Chess
in book two comes across as a person who refuses to own up to her mistakes and
consequences. She blames everyone else but herself for the things that go wrong
in her life. Terrible is one character I could adore. He laid it all out, in
black and white, to Chess, how he feels and what he would like from her but
Chess made me see red in her response to this man. Yes he is a drug dealer but
there is just something about him that is also quite enjoyable. He is a man
with a good and bad side but he knows when to bring either side out in a
situation. That to me is one of his key appeals as a reader. The characters
either come across as intriguing to me or downright annoying. It was a toss up
in this book. The characters are flawed, vulnerable and at times, very
life-like. The author does a great job in capturing all those aspects in each
of her characters and they are quite compelling. The author does a great job in
keeping the action moving and once I was able to ignore the whiny aspect of
Chess, I was able to enjoy the gripping storyline a bit better.
UNHOLY
GHOSTS
is a hit or miss to me though the author tries her best to get Chess to be a
sympathetic character. It just doesn’t come across that way for me. I may try
future books in hopes to see more of the character Terrible though I am hoping
that if Chess hits rock bottom, she might redeem herself to me. The ending had
me gasping for breath as I was shocked by what happens then. Needless to say, I
sure wasn’t expecting that twist.
If
you like your paranormal books with a bit more of a dark side, then you might
enjoy the Downside Ghosts series by Stacia Kane.
This
is an objective review and not an endorsement
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