Downsider Ghosts / Stacia Kane

[Kindlelicious]

Book 1: Unholy Ghosts
Book 2: Unholy Magic
Book 3: City of Ghosts (comes out end of July)

OMG, I just finished Unholy Magic last night and I am officially obsessed with these books. Like about-to-go-print-t-shirts obsessed. Has anyone else read them? If so, what did you think?

These books are just so intriguing to me. I never thought I would be swooning over an unattractive hitman named Terrible, but I love him! And even though Chess, the female lead, is a drug-addicted, lying, cheating mess, I still want something good to happen to her so badly. Oh man, I could gush and gush about these books! Cannot wait for the 3rd!

[Chelsea]

I felt EXACTLY the same way. I was floored by how fresh and engaging Unholy Ghosts was (my review), then I started Unholy Magic and was blown the hell away.

The books are so intense and gritty, and Stacia Kane has a remarkable sense of pace and mystery with a seriously tense love triangle thrown in.

Already on my list of best novels of 2010.

I'm of the mind everyone should pick up all three. I even pre-ordered City of Ghosts just to know I would get to see what happens with Chess/Terrible ASAP on July 27. lol

[Laura Lulu]

Yeah! I bought both of them the last time I was at B&N, I'm excited to hear they're awesome. :)

[Kindlelicious]

They really are, all my book blogger friends have been raving all day on twitter! I think we are annoying at this point. ;)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Cool! I've got book 1 on a challenge list, so I'll definitely be reading it this year. :D

[Joanne]

My library has the first and second one available as audio books. These are the next ones I put on hold...can't wait!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Joanne wrote: "My library has the first and second one available as audio books. These are the next ones I put on hold...can't wait!"

Let us know what you think of the audio version, Joanne.

[Chelsea]

If you're still on the border about jumping on the Downside Ghosts train, I have the first two books -- Unholy Ghosts and Unholy Magic -- up for grabs on my blog.

Here's a direct link. Just scroll to the end of the Stacia Kane Q&A blog item. (Or click the "enter to win" image to go straight to the contest.)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Does this series take place in a real or "fantasy" location? I need a new book to swap out on a challenge for July PDQ. Thanks! :)

[Chelsea]

Steph -- It's almost an alternate reality. So, in the US after an alternate event reshapes society.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Hm, then I don't recon it would qualify for this category?? "Read a book that happens in a place that is completely created by the author's imagination or a place that cannot be found in a current world map. (fantasy)." DangIt!!

[Kindlelicious]

The city is not real, it's called Triumph City (I think?)so I think it would count, and the Downside (a part of the city) would definitely count.

[Regina]

I have this book waiting for me at the library .... I have heard mixed reviews. Some people have been bothered by the drug use -- what do others think about the drug use in the book? I do plan to read in in the next 10 days ......

[Chelsea]

Yep, I'm with Kindlelicious. While things might be familiar, it's a whole world created by Stacia Kane -- with it's own history and dialect.

[Chelsea]

Regina, the drug use is a part of the lead character, but not all of her. The books are FAR from advocating drug use, in fact, it's quite the opposite.

Some of it is shocking, sure, but I found it gave an added layer of depth. It helps us better understand the world she's in and understand Chess' view. Plus, it forces her to make hard choices as the novels progress.

In a word, I was fine with it.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Kindlelicious wrote: "The city is not real, it's called Triumph City (I think?)so I think it would count, and the Downside (a part of the city) would definitely count."

WooHoo! Thanks, Kindlelicious and Chelsea! I'm usin' it! :D

[Kindlelicious]

The drug use is part of who Chess is, the plot sort of revolves around it, as her involvement with drug dealers is what gets her into trouble. Honestly, the book would not have been the same without the drugs. To me, what made the book great is all the emotions it envokes. I wanted to KILL Chess for some of the awful drug-related decisions she made, but my heart also ached for her because of her reliance on the drugs to dull the pain of her past.

[Kindlelicious]

Also, the book is set in a world where an apocalypse of sorts was brought about by ghosts. If this happened in real life, there would be so many children who grew up without parents (or even witnessed their horrible deaths), like Chess, and would probably turn to drugs to dull the pain of whatever they experienced in the system. So for me, it made perfect sense.

[Lara]

Two books in and I am lovin this series already!!

And the not-so-good-looking, but still somehow oh so mmm mmm mmm lead.....Terrible??? I don't know how she did it, but Kane has created a not-so-hot hottie that has been closely rivaling my #1 spot for yummiest lead male - which has been held by a Mr. Jericho Barrons (Fever Fans) for quite some time now. The Scene in Unholy Magic (book 2), after their fallout, when she's drawing the protection sigilis on him....yeaaaaah, I think I came close to beating some sort of breath holding record.

Those that are concerned about the drug relevance in this series - the way I see it is when you read the books and find out what the world has become and how these people live and the way the kids grow up.......well, unfortunately the drug-use is pretty realistic - it is streetlife so to speak. Chess is a girl who has led a lonely and hard life and deals with it all in a way that can cause as much or more issues as it does to ease them. She's still an ars-kicking heroine, but one with a different kind of personal issue you route for her to overcome. I had more issues with the "Downside Speak" throughout the book. It took a bit getting used to, aye. :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I just finished book #1 and definitely agree with you both, Kindlelicious and Lara, re: Chess' drug use/abuse. You said it perfectly though Lara "Chess is a girl who has led a lonely and hard life and deals with it all in a way that can cause as much or more issues as it does to ease them."

And, Terrible. The not-so-hot hottie?! Yep! How'd that happen? LOL! As I haven't gotten to book #2 yet, I can't yet comment on the scene you mentioned. But, in #1 when she's on the V and they're in the alley. . . Ah, poor Terrible.

Anyway, thanks for the rec, I really enjoyed the book and look forward to continuing with the series. :)

[Lara]

Steph - start book 2 asap :)!!!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I will not fold under peer pressure! I will not fold under peer pressure! LOL! :)

[Kindlelicious]

It's City of Ghosts Release Day!!! Hooray!! Now I need to escape from work and get to reading!

[Laura Lulu]

I'm reading them all next month--5 more days. :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I have no doubt that I'll work #2+ into an upcoming challenge here shortly.

Let us know how good the newest release is, Kindlelicious! :)

[Kindlelicious]

I am only 80% right now, but my God these books are good. This one takes a turn into the horror realm with some pretty scary scenes, but what is SO great about Stacia Kane is one minute Chess is being attacked by...really scary creatures and the next minute you are back swooning over Terrible. They are just emotional roller coasters from start to finish!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Sounds great, K! I'm glad you're liking it. I love horror, so it'll be nice to have some of that mixed in.

[Regina]

I just finished and am about to pick up from the library.

The scene between Terrible and Cesaria (love that name) at the club when she is on the drugs (lol, okay the V -- cuz she is always on drugs), so passionate and then so sad. Kane wrote this scene so well. I read it several times. I may actually buy this series (have been reading from the library) b/c I want to reread parts.

I saw on her website that #4 won't be out until 2011 and #5 not until 2012. :( Anyone read #3 ? Does it end with a cliffhanger?

Terrible is very appealing. Kane really plays on our images and preconceptions. There is Lex and Doyle. Both physically attractive men -- but they are both users and want something from Chess. And contrary to the typical archetype in UF and PNR -- it isn't the goodlooking guy who she should end with. Then there is Terrible. He is violent, he is not attractive. And Chess, let's be honest, can be really ugly inside -- when she firsts talks to Terrible at the beginning of the novel she makes fun of his ability (or inability so she thinks) to get women. Not very nice. She only starts to think of him as sexual when she sees him with another woman. Chess can be hard to like, but in a way I can see some of all my bad choices mixed in to her. I was never a drug user or a junkie, but when I was younger and single I did not always make the right/best choices and sometimes I was not so nice to men who were interested in me ...... anyway, it is refreshing to read a book about with a protaganist that is real, she isn't perfect. Even characters that are not perfect -- are not perfect in predictable ways -- like Mac in the Fever series or Anita Blake -- they annoy people and have rude mouths. Chess is not perfect in a very human and realistic way.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Fantastic review, Regina! :) I haven't read 2 or 3, so I can't answer about the possibility of cliffhangers.

[Kindlelicious]

No, the ending of City of Ghosts is very satisfying. No cliffhangers, thank god.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

:D Good, that means I can read it without waiting for closer to the next book's rls.

[Regina]

I just read THE scene last night. I am about 80% finished with the book. I am impressed with how well Kane wrote that scene -- it was so painful, so realistic. I can see how Chess's bad choices (but not wanting to intentionally hurt anyone) led to the painful encounter. Poor Terrible and poor Chess. I am hoping from something positive to come between the two of them before the end of the book??? At least I have City of Magic to read when I am done. Kane is brilliant at writing this emotionally difficult and awkward scenes!

I am liking this series more and more. The drug use by Chess and Kane's description of Chess's constant need, constant thinking about her next fix and the withdrawal when she doesn't get what she "needs" -- well Kane is amazing.

[Mrs.]

I was one that was originally upset by the drug use. I had an ARC of Unholy ghosts back before it was released. It was a personal issue b/c I have family members addicted, and one no longer can walk or feed himself (overdose, coma etc) But after i thought about the book, I realized it was a fantastic read/world. I then read the second one and was blown away =) The third one, was so captivating and emotional. There were many times I teared up. Kane can write emotion that's for sure.

[Mrs.]

God Regina, THAT scene cuts right to the bone. I was pissed and sad and drained and distraught right along with Chess and Terrible.

You'll have to read City of Ghosts for more Chess and Terrible >.<

[Regina]

I wouldn't read it Erika b/c of the drug use. I don't think you are alone. But my opinion has changed. The drug use is an important part of Chess, it shapes the story. I really like how Kane writes it, the consequences of Chess's drug use are obviously very negative in her life and her reasons for self-medicating are so painful -- but understandable.

The scene in the cemetary between Lex, Terrible and Chess -- wow. I feel like I lived it, Kane wrote it so well.

[Regina]

I already downloaded City of Ghosts -- despite my long TBR list and already owned books -- as soon as I finish UG, I am moving on to City of Ghosts. :)

[Mrs.]

I did the same thing. I put down what I was reading when COG came out, downloaded it and immediately devoured it in one sitting

[Regina]

What an amazing ride. I love love loved City of Ghosts. So sorry it is over.

I was so impressed with Lex! What a shock. Fall 2011?!!! I can't wait that long. The last time I felt this hungry for a sequel was when I finished Dreamfever.

[Lara]

Loved how COG ended!! I hate this waiting for a year for your next installment to come out. I wonder what is in store for them next. Y'all think there is going to be something wrong with T and that sigil she carved in his chest to save his life???? I don't think I can handle another "Dimitiri and Rose-like" situation - lol.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

::don't look::don't look:: LOL!

[Regina]

I just saw that there are now 6 books in this series planned! http://www.staciakane.net/faq/

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Yay! Thanks for sharing the news.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Downside Market is now open!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Some deleted scenes from Downside Ghosts found on Stacia's site.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

She also shared a Sacrificial Magic with Dark Faerie Tales.
Rls: 27 Mar 2012

(view spoiler)[Red assaulted her eyes when she stepped into the building, like walking into a bordello in hell—if hell existed, which it didn’t. Or rather, no one else thought it did. For them the City of Eternity, where everyone’s souls lived on after death, was a peaceful loving place, a quiet rest several hundred feet below the surface of the earth. Only Chess thought of it as hell, as punishment, cold and unrelenting and miserable. Life sucked, yes, but the City was worse.

Then again, sometimes life could be okay. Terrible stood in his usual spot against the back wall, talking to a couple of guys whose names she could never really remember. They all looked the same to her, to be honest, or maybe it was simply that she never really bothered to look at them. Their faces didn’t interest her. Nothing they said interested her, not when she could be talking to Terrible instead.

Seeing him was like being hit in the chest. Like something exploded inside her, a quick ravenous fire that made her shiver. So bright and so hot it still amazed her that no one else seemed to notice it, that every eye in the place didn’t turn to her while she went incandescent.

But they didn’t—which was a good thing, since spontaneous human combustion would probably raise an eyebrow even there. No one seemed to notice at all. They were all too busy drinking dollar beers, listening to X’s “Johnny Hit and Run Paulene,” and talking or arguing or trying to pick each other up. Spiky heads, heads bald or slick with pomade, like bizarre flowers strewn in a humid half-dead meadow, swaying in a stale-beer breeze. None of them turned to her.

Excellent. She didn’t want to be noticed. She never did, but especially not just then.

She shoved a couple of bucks at the bartender for her own beer and a tip and pushed her way through the field of oblivion-hunters until she reached him, stopping about a foot away, careful to not quite meet his eyes.

He did the same. “Hey, Chess. You right?”

She shrugged. Sipped her beer. “Right up. What time do they go on?”

“Ain’t for certain. Ten minutes maybe, fifteen? Thought you was coming earlier.”

She gave him a quick rundown of her night, her mind only half on her words. The rest was examining him, his black hair slicked back with pomade, the width of his shoulders, his height. His face, the face she’d once thought was ugly with its crooked, repeatedly broken nose, its scars, its heavy brow and thick muttonchop sideburns. The kind of face people ran away from, because the only place it looked like it belonged was behind a loaded weapon. Hell, it made his body look like a loaded weapon. Which it was. And that’s all people saw.

People were shitbags, with their easy smiles and their cold eyes and brutal hearts. She knew that better than anyone. Knew too that the face she looked at wasn’t ugly, that it was strong and it was Terrible’s. That meant it was hers to look at as much as she wanted, and that made something she thought might be real happiness ride higher in her chest.

“Telling on getting shit done this night,” he said, “Bump got an ask for you. Whyn’t you come on out back, lemme give you the knowledge.”

She shifted on her feet, glanced at the other guys still standing there, waiting to be included in the conversation. “Can’t it wait?”

“Could, aye, but might as well give it you now.”

The song ended; in the second or two of silence before the next one started she nodded. “Yeah, okay then. But let’s make it fast. I don’t want to miss the band.”

He shrugged. “Neither me. Longer you stand here, longer us take gettin back in, aye?”

She cocked an eyebrow at him, still careful not to look him in the eye, and headed down the hall that led to the bathrooms and the back door. Technically it wasn’t a back door. Technically it was an emergency exit. But the alarm wires had been ripped from the wall years before, and even if they hadn’t been it wouldn’t have mattered. Fire trucks didn’t respond to calls from Downside in general; one too many false alarms that ended in muggings and murders had stopped that particular service, and there was little worth saving there anyway.

Terrible pushed it open for her. She ducked under his arm and stepped into the alley, the soft squelch of still-wet dead leaves and garbage under her shoes reminding her for one unpleasant second of the earlier fun in the construction swamp. She couldn’t decide which one smelled better, either, but neither were pleasant.

But where the building had been full of people and ghosts, the alley was empty. Not even any light from the tenement windows behind occupied the space; only the dull glow of the gibbous moon overhead showed her that no living beings—no human ones, at least—waited there.

Terrible obviously noticed that too. The sound of the exit door slamming back into its frame hit her ears at the same time his body hit hers, slamming her against the back wall, further into the shadows where no one could see him kiss her long and hard.

Had she thought seeing him made her insides explode? She’d been wrong. This was an explosion. This was better than anything else; sometimes she thought it was even better than her pills. At his touch something inside her, something that had been tense and twisted and black, finally relaxed. At his touch something inside her that was constantly terrified found a little security.

Security Chess hoped and hoped would last, despite the nagging voice in the back of her mind that insisted it couldn’t, it wouldn’t; she didn’t deserve it, and she should just give up on the very idea.

Fuck that stupid voice. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pushed her hands down the collar of his shirt to feel the bare skin of his back warm beneath her palms. He was always warm. His own hands left shivering trails of heat from her face to her throat, blazed up her thighs and ribcage, over her breasts.

Finally he pulled away enough to meet her eyes. That jolt of electricity, the one she’d been so careful not to feel inside the bar, hit her. Her cheeks tightened. Her mouth curved into a grin she couldn’t stop. “I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it at all.”

“Aye, me too. Glad you did. Feelin like I ain’t seen you in weeks.”

“It’s been three days.”

“Aye, but…feels longer. We all clear now?”

She nodded. The past week had been the first time in her life she wished she wasn’t what she was, wasn’t a witch, didn’t have extra power in her blood that meant anyone coming in contact with it might be affected by it; wished such an effect wasn’t part of the marriage ceremony, and meant a commitment she didn’t think either of them was ready to make.

If she wasn’t a witch it wouldn’t matter. Marriages were bound by blood and magic combined, not one or the other, so required the Church’s assistance. But magic was in her blood, and that meant spending six days burning with frustration.

His eyebrows rose; his hands wandered with more purpose. “You ain’t really wanna stay for the band, aye? Whyn’t we head on out now instead?”

“I thought you wanted to see the band,” she teased.

“Changed my thought. Let’s us go. Back my place, aye?” He was smiling, that smile she’d always loved, while his hands distracted her and his body warmed her through her clothes. Summer drew closer every day, and the temperatures reflected that, but it seemed like she was always cold when he wasn’t around. “C’mon.”

“My place is closer.”

“Aye.” He leaned in to bite her neck; she shivered. “But mine’s got thicker walls, dig, an I plan on makin you scream a few times afore we get to sleeping.”

I took her a minute to draw enough breath to speak, through a throat suddenly too tight for anything but a gasp. “I thought we decided we wanted to actually get out tonight, though.”

“And done it. Now us can go back in.”

“I don’t know,” she managed to say. It was becoming more difficult to talk, especially since he’d started sucking gently on her neck, making her dizzy. Without her consciously ordering it to do so her right hand slid down below his belt, finding him hard beneath his jeans and pressing against him. “I really thought you wanted to see the band. You have me for the whole night, you know.”

“Aw, c’mon, Chessiebomb. Car’s right nearby. Whyn’t you come into the car with me. That’s still out, aye? And say our proper hellos.”

“I guess we—”

The sound of his phone ringing, a loud jangly sort of ring, cut her off.

“Ignore it,” she suggested, but she knew he couldn’t. They both knew he couldn’t. Midnight was practically the start of a normal day in Downside, yes, but she doubted anyone who’d be calling him at that hour would have good news.

She was right. Within seconds of answering the phone his face darkened; darkened and took on that look she’d only seen a few times before, that lowered-brow-narrowed-eyes look of absolute rage. The kind of look that would be the last thing the person who caused it would ever see. His fingers tightened on her waist.

“Aye,” he said. “Get em—aye. On my way.”

Her heart sank. Looked like they weren’t going back to anybody’s place, to anybody’s bed. At least not for a long time.

His phone snapped shut. “Pipe room’s burnin.”

“What?”

He was already walking up the alley, back toward the street, holding her hand in an almost painful grip. “Fuckin Slobag, ’swhat. Pipe room up Sixtieth, green one. On fire.” (hide spoiler)]

Excerpt blocked strictly b/c of its length. Per DFT, "the excerpt is from Chapter Two, so there’s not really much set up involved. It’s just Chess meeting Terrible at Trickster’s after she finishes work. So, I'm assuming no spoilers. But, as always, read at your own risk. ;)

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

:D

But six more months...sigh.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

:) Have you seen the cover for the next one? It was revealed today.



Even though it does look a bit similar to Mancusi's

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Yeah, I just saw that! (and you're right about the similarity~but really like the tattoo!)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Me too. I think it looks good.

[Marsha]

I absolutely love this series too. It took me a bit to get into the first one because of the drug use and the 'world'. But, I kept reading and it was absolutely worth the ride. I raced through all three books in a very short amount of time and I can't believe how long I have to wait for the next one! UGH! I love Chess, she's real, she's complex. Terrible? It is amazing how someone who's not 'all that' can be ALL THAT! One thing I also liked was that just because their grammar wasn't perfect (or even average), they were still intelligent and quick minded. I will be waiting (impatiently) for the next installment! Go Terrible!