Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane – review

From the author’s site:

ENEMIES DON’T NEED TO BE ALIVE TO BE DEADLY.

For Chess Putnam, finding herself near-fatally poisoned by a con psychic and then stopping a murderous ghost is just another day on the job. As an agent of the Church of Real Truth, Chess must expose those looking to profit from the world’s unpleasant little poltergeist problem—humans filing false claims of hauntings—all while staving off any undead who really are looking for a kill. But Chess has been extra busy these days, coping with a new “celebrity” assignment while trying on her own time to help some desperate prostitutes.

Someone’s taking out the hookers of Downside in the most gruesome way, and Chess is sure the rumors that it’s the work of a ghost are way off base. But proving herself right means walking in the path of a maniac, not to mention standing between the two men in her life just as they—along with their ruthless employers—are moving closer to a catastrophic showdown. Someone is dealing in murder, sex, and the supernatural, and once again Chess finds herself right in the crossfire.

It’s not unusual to expect an author’s second book in a series to be not quite as good as the first. As readers we brace for that even though we hope it will be at least on the same level if not better. And it’s not that we open the book and start reading with the expectation of being disappointed–on the contrary, we expect to love the book. After all, we’re coming back for more. But in the back of our minds we can’t help but think the words impress me, and, of course, it’s always nice–thrilling even–when it does.

Unholy Magic, the second book in Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts series, is easily on par with the first, Unholy Ghosts. It loses no ground, sacrifices no action, and, generally, continues to be excellent.

The best part about this continuing series is watching Chess Putnam develop as a character. The changes are subtle—she’s not turning her life over in one big leap—but they become more obvious. For one thing, Chess is more confident as a Debunker. In the first book, she had some doubts about her own abilities, and she often seemed to question her judgment even though her skills spoke for themselves. There’s less of that in Unholy Magic. Chess knows exactly what she ought to be doing as far as her work is concerned, and she’s not afraid to take risks in order to accomplish the goals she has been given.

Her personal life, on the other hand, is still one mass of knots and tangles. Her drug addiction aside (because it’s clear that she has no intention of changing that), she’s involved with a man from the wrong end of town, but she’s falling for someone else–someone who would be more than a little bit upset should he find out she’s sleeping with a member of the rival gang. She’s caught up, yet again, in an assignment given to her by Bump, Downside’s most powerful drug lord, and not only that, he wants her to make curses on top of it.

So life isn’t getting any easier for Chess, and the issue of having loyalties toward opposing groups of people is a constant headache.

Her developing relationship with Terrible is another great aspect of this book. Terrible has become more and more interesting as a character. He has great strengths but, also, insecurities that come out as he interacts with Chess. He’s just so positively genuine that’s near impossible not to like him. Their relationship is certainly the most heart-breaking element of the story, and it’s all the more poignant for the fact that Chess knows exactly how she’s been screwing it up. Without giving too much away, I was slightly surprised by what she was willing to do for him at the end of the novel. She’s normally so concerned about keeping her own hide intact that I didn’t think she’d do something so obviously dangerous, should anyone in the Church find out about it.

The plot of Unholy Magic initially resembles that of Unholy Ghosts as Chess works with two separate assignments at once–one legitimate mission assigned by the Church, and one that becomes her responsibility simply because she’s the only Churchwitch living in Downside. I enjoyed reading about both of these assignments, and, as usual, Kane’s ability to keep the story moving was a huge asset. There’s always something at the end of a chapter to keep the reader turning the pages, and the pace of the action makes the story fly by in no time at all.

One other thing I like about Chess and her investigations is that, when she finally reaches a conclusion, it doesn’t seem to come out of nowhere. There’s nothing more annoying than having a protagonist who magically has the answer when the story hasn’t yielded any good evidence. Chess, however, is intelligent enough to put the pieces together, and, when she does, it’s thanks to plenty of data and clues. Her reasoning is easy to follow, and at no point do I not believe her capable of getting the result that she does.

Unholy Magic ends with a few surprises and one major event that will carry over to the third book. I definitely recommend it to fans of Unholy Ghosts, and I’d suggest that other fans of urban fantasy try the Downside series if they haven’t yet.