Unholy Magic in Stacia Kane's Chess Putnam/Downside Ghosts series by author Stacia Kane is a markedly innovative urban fantasy that takes readers for a walk on the wild side from cover to cover. Nonstop action and drama will keep readers glued to the book but desperate for more as the final chapter screeches to a halt.
Chess Putnam’s shocking triumph over the Church’s greatest foe in Unholy Ghosts set her path as the most sought-after ghost debunker in this
followup. In a world recovering from a cataclysmic massacre and now ruled by one church as both government and religion, unrest and dysfunction
run rampant in ignored areas of society — areas of society that perhaps shouldn’t be ignored by a wise ruling government. Chess’s position within the Church has afforded her many leniencies
all the way from the dregs of society to the highest levels of her governing institution, but she can only toe the line with ghosts, the Church, and drug lords for so long before her death
makes front-page news.
Despite her need to recover after her last case, Chess is once again up to her magical tattoos in ghosts and danger as she helps to ferret out a psychic
con and profiteers of illegal séances. Chess is also assigned an A-list celebrity’s case
whose claims of haunting could be very expensive for the Church if proven true. Of course, Chess’s drug lord
would choose this time to demand her help in finding the murderous ghost killing not only his “girls” but the rivaling drug lord’s corner treats as well.
Chess’s elevated status and fame are not undeserved: she is the best debunker the Church has on staff.
However, identifying that two of her cases are definitely false without the proof will get her nowhere fast. Chess is up against some very clever deceivers, and she
has to beat them at their game before her time runs out. Alone and virtually friendless, her fight may be lost before it has chance to begin.
In addition to the Chess Putnam series (Unholy Ghosts, Unholy Magic and City of Ghosts), Stacia Kane has also authored the Megan Chase series. Exciting though the Chess Putnam
and the Downside Ghosts series is, its constant drug-related content and behaviors
will be a turn-off for some readers.