Review – Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane

Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane
Narrator: Bahni Turpin
Series: Downside Ghosts #1
Published by Blackstone Audio Inc. on May 25, 2010
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Urban
Length: 11 hours 11 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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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.

I first read this book about a decade ago. That was before the time that I wrote reviews or even kept good records regarding what I was reading. I remember really enjoying the series so much that I picked up a copy of the audiobook nine years ago so that I would be ready for a re-read when I wanted to experience the series again. I decided it was time to go ahead with that re-read when I was going through my audiobook library recently. I am glad to say that this book is just as good as I remembered.

This book is set in a very different world. The Church has all of the power. There are no gods, only truth. They are keeping things under control since the dead have risen. Now if you have a haunting, the Church will send out one of their witches and if the haunting is confirmed they will take care of it and give you a nice check. If you are faking it, things will not work out well quite as well. Chess works as a church witch. She is good at her job but has a few flaws including a little drug habit, and the fact that she owes her dealer a hefty sum. She is going to work on a little side project for her dealer to even the score.

I thought that the world that this book was set in was very creative and unique. Chess is a great character. She is obviously flawed with her drug usage but she is still quite capable. As much as I liked Chess, Terrible really stole the show. He is just a fantastic character. I remember loving him the first time I read this book and nothing has changed. I love how he quickly becomes part of a team with Chess. The mystery kept me guessing until the very end. In most cases, I don’t love books with a lot of slang-filled dialogue but it just works in this series.

It is hard to believe but I think that this is the first time that I have listened to Bahni Turpin’s narration. She did a fantastic job with the story. She made all of the dialogue feel very natural and the book flowed very nicely. I thought that she handled the voices of a wide variety of characters very well. I believe that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. This was a rather exciting story that kept me guessing and was filled with wonderful characters. I cannot wait to continue my re-read of this amazing series.

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