Review: Unholy Ghosts

Unholy Ghosts

By:  Stacia Kane

Publisher:  Del Rey Books

Publish Date:  May 2010

Genre:  Fantasy

Format:  Paperback, 339 pgs

Series:  1st book in the series featuring Chess Putnam

Recommendation:  Yes, if you like a world of ghosts and magic with mystery and don't mind just a little bit of drugs.

Book Synopsis:
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.

First Sentence:
Had the man in front of her not already been dead, Chess probably would have tried to kill him.

My Review and Summary:
Chess is a drug addicted witch working for the Church.  (Please don't let the thought of drugs stop you from this read.) The Church is the only organization allowed to have witches by their law.  The Church pays home owners to perform exorcisms of the ghosts from their house,  pushing the dead to the City of the Dead.  Chess knows she owes her dealer some money, hoping for a bonus in the case she just finished up - that didn't happen.  After the job Chess went into town and is approached by Bump's, her dealer, enforcer.  The enforcer is one everyone cringes at sight of, Terrible.  Terrible takes Chess to Bump to find out she is in debt three times the amount she thought, all thanks to Bump's new interest charges.  But Bump has an idea on how Chess can work off the debt.  If she does it and catches the "ghost," her debt will be square with Bump.  But, maybe its worse than she and even Bump thought...

I devoured this book in two days time.  I was surprised with myself.  I love when I have the time and the book to just keep going.  I'm still digesting this book after reading it so quickly.  I'm not sure what the attraction was, but I had to keep going with it.  So I am going to touch on what I liked and kept me going in the book.

I didn't realize it until I was done how this book kept me going.  There was constantly something happening, some trouble or problem Chess and Terrible came across.  The mystery of who was responsible and why had me wondering and turning the pages.  I just wanted to know who, why, what was going to happen next.  The pages just kept turning and I was along for the ride.

One of my favorite characters was Terrible.  As the story starts you meet him as the large bully or drug lords law enforcer but he is a lot more.  It seemed to me he may even have a soft spot in his heart for Chess.  Chess was a great character as well.  She is a strong female character that works through all the troubles with some worry.  Just get past the drug addiction and you will see it too. 

What really caught my attention was the Church.  I really liked reading the believes of the people NOW; in magic, ghosts, and the City of the Dead.  This seemed to hold my attention.  The religion that exists at the current time of the book and compared to the religious beliefs we have now interested me.
In mentioning the Church and beliefs,  I have to comment on the chapter headings.  I loved them!  They gave me more of an idea of what the Church is for, about, and how they ruled.  Then I realized they where hints to what would happen in the chapter.  Many times I had to think back to the chapter heading after reading the chapter, and it did relate .  And I would have never guessed what would happen to get there or what the there would have been.

I really did enjoy this read.

I purchased this book for my own reading.

This book qualifies for the Speculative Fiction Challenge sponsored by Book Chick City.