I'm so excited about this book - I LOVED it! I haven't read an Urban Fantasy this good in quite a while. I've read the first in Kane's 'Megan Chase' series, but she's come on leaps and bounds since then, Unholy Ghosts is just so much better in every respect.
The writing is perfectly paced, I didn't get bored once and everything slots together at the right time. The plot is just brilliant and had me engrossed until the very last page - I didn't want to put this book down!
The characters are fantastic, very well rounded and completely believable. Chess is everything I want in my urban fantasy heroine: kick-arse but flawed, vulnerable and complex. I have a feeling she's going to be one of my favourites within this genre (with Anita Blake at no. 1 at the moment).
Chess is a witch and a ghost hunter, with a serious drug problem. She's constantly popping pills to get her through the day. In fact she has different pills for different situations and choses accordingly. Obviously I don't condone the use of drugs but sometimes life is too difficult for some people to handle and Chess is one of them - using drugs to get through life, and that's why I have so much sympathy for her. I loved the rawness of Chess, she's real and vulnerable with a past that gives me full understanding of why she pops so many pills - to forget. A past full of physical and mental abuse, shipped from one foster home to another. I liked her from the get-go. Kane has created one hell of a heroine.
So now I've talked a little about Chess, let's get on to the guys. I have not met a character like Terrible in any other urban fantasy book. He's not the typical dreamy looking, squared jawed hunk, but a rugged, built like a brick house, rough and ready dude with a crooked nose that's been broken too many times to count. Doesn't sound very attractive does he. But the way Kane reveals his personality through his actions and dialogue is just superb, and well, I just fell totally in love with him myself! He's as complex as Chess, with a dark past to match. In fact they have a lot in common. I really enjoyed their developing relationship and I can't wait to see where it's going in subsequent novels.
There's also another guy on the scene, Lex, a leader of a rival gang. He is described as a gorgeous male and Chess can't but not like the look of him. And I don't blame her, but for all his charm there is something untrustworthy about him and I have my doubts. But with Terrible, I feel he has Chess' back and her best interests at heart. He shows his loyalty many times throughout Unholy Ghosts and it has cemented his fate in becoming one of my favourite hero's in urban fantasy.
Terrible is Bump's top enforcer and doesn't flinch at the prospect of killing someone in cold blood. They are thrown together at the request of Bump, who Chess owes several thousands pounds, to find out what is haunting his airport and whatever it is, he wants Chess to fix it. The world building is spot on. I could smell and see everything described. The world is quite a sombre place and Chess lives where drugs are rife and life is hard. Her only real home is the Church. But the Church of Real Truth isn't like any religion we know today, but almost a dictator that holds the fear of ghosts over the heads of the living. If they do not follow them and do as they wish then they will release all ghosts upon them and they will die. I'm intrigued to find out if the Church of Real Truth are the good guys or the bad, but at the moment I don't trust them.
All supporting characters are also vivid and not one of them felt unrealistic or surplus to the plot, from the young boy looking for help to the terrifying Dreamthief. Unholy Ghosts is a gritty, fairly dark urban fantasy, but this is fine with me as it's my favourite kind!
Verdict:
I think I have squealed enough about this book, so let's just finish by saying that I cannot wait to read the rest of the series - I've heard it gets even better! Unholy Ghosts is a brilliant addition to the Urban Fantasy genre and I can't recommend it enough!
I gave this book 9/10 on my blog, but Amazon doesn't offer half stars
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![Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 1) by [Stacia Kane]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41epZ5q-TEL._SY346_.jpg)
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