Writing goal check in: 1008 yesterday.
Book recommendation Thursday is a new feature on my blog. I’m not going to review books, but instead talk about the ones I enjoy. As an avid reader I tend to go through about two a week (or more). Some I actually read, but I listen to quite a few on my IPOD. Who has time to sit and read to their heart’s content?
So first up is Stacia Kane’s Unholy Ghosts
Urban Fantasy
Unholy Ghosts is the first in the Downside series (so far there are three out, with three more on the way). I found the first three on the selves of my local books store and since I am a sucker for series I snatched them up with only a glace at the back covers.
The synopsis from the B&N website:
“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 love a good entertaining urban fantasy. It is currently my genre of choice, but I have to say when I started the book I was more than slightly put off by the fact the heroine is a drug addict. Yes folks, she is addicted and not at all trying to do anything about it. Despite that, I kept reading and within a week worked my way through all three of the novels and am impatiently waiting for the next one.
Stacia Kane has managed to give us a book with a heavily flawed, socially unacceptable heroine who I still managed to root for. Chess has a past, that for me, makes it easy to understand her questionable choices, but she also has a good heart and remains sympathetic. In addition the hero, Terrible, is the front man for the local drug lord, uneducated and not portrayed as physically attractive in anyway. But I can’t help but love him. He’s loyal, street smart, and has plenty of issues of his own.
With that said, the actual plot of theses books is secondary for me. It’s the characters that are intriguing and I say thank you to Stacia for giving us something totally out of the norm.