City of Ghosts

Downside Ghosts, Book 3

By: Stacia Kane

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

From rising star Stacia Kane comes the third novel in her dark and sexy Chess Putnam series, perfect for fans of Kim Harrison and Patricia Briggs.

Chess Putnam has a lot on her plate. Mangled human corpses have started to show up on the streets of Downside, and Chess’ bosses at the Church of Real Truth have ordered her to team up with the ultra-powerful Black Squad agency to crack the grisly case. Chess is under a binding spell that threatens death if she talks about the investigation, but the city’s most notorious crime boss—and Chess’ drug dealer—gets wind of her new assignment and insists on being kept informed. If that isn’t bad enough, a sinister street vendor appears to have information Chess needs. Only he’s not telling what he knows, or what it all has to do with the vast underground City of Eternity. Now Chess will have to navigate killer wraiths, First Elders, and a lot of seriously nasty magic—and the only man Chess can trust to help her through it all has every reason to want her dead.

©2010 Stacia Kane (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Such a great imaginative series!

This is such an imaginative series. These characters just keep drawing you closer, til your heart weeps at times for their struggles. Chess and Terrible pull at your heartstrings, as you feel what they feel.The story is so unique from any other, that I have read. Our heroine is a drug addict, with a heart of gold. From start to finish, this story keeps you enthralled, to the point of not taking the earbuds off til it's done. It's non stop action, mystery, and an emotional roller coaster. I'm on to the next in the series, but need to take a break, before I start, cause once you start, you'll want to do nothing else, but listen. The narration is one of the best I've heard. She has all the emotion down pat, and the voices couldn't be better. Start with book one, and go from there, cause these stories build from the previous one.

Another great story & performance

The characters in this series are great! I enjoy hearing Bahni read so much that I want to listen to them much more than I want to read them for myself. She has become the voice of Chess for me and has truly enhanced the story. This is my third volume all heard as audiobooks and I will definitely listen to all that Stacia Kane can write. Very creative but believable, if you can believe that!

When they break they shatter, but when they rejoin

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Chapter 23 was freaking transcendent. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but wow. That's a well done chapter.

Any additional comments?

I'm really liking this author, even though she's probably not for the litra-choor conniseurs. Good genre fiction can be hard to find, and this series is pretty good! I mean it's not Shakespeare guys. It's a thrill and a pleasure though. Ive got to say, after reading some reviews, I can't understand how reviewers can say they "can't identify with" a functioning drug addict as a protagonist. Really, that's kind of what books are for, to help you identify with the kind of life you have never lived yourself. Most of us also "can't identify with" what battling cancer is like, but a book about it wouldn't prompt most people to name this as a shortcoming of the plot. I suspect that most, but not all of those comments are more about people expressing their distaste for drug abuse, or drug abusers. That sort of thing is always in style isn't it? Having some group to look down on? Some big evil to scorn, even when doing so is meaningless and irrational? Like when you're just reading about it in a fictional novel which utilizes said evil in a very realistic, thought provoking, and original way? Anyway, these stories are fast paced and very creative, but I think the way the relationships between its characters are written and their dysfunction are the best parts of it all. I love the way the author really breaks things between her characters, I mean really BREAKS things badly, then she takes you through the seemingly impossible task of putting things between them back together again in the most exhilarating ways, then bam! It all breaks apart again! Very fun series!

enjoying it so far.

so I'm enjoying this series same I love the narrator but her voice and voices sounds too urban doesn't fit the characters depiction. I picture a petite AA with a edge and kick ass afro l woman and Terrible be A big dude like a younger mike Colter from Luke cage.
the whole Romeo and Juliet speak that's on the street level is much. but enjoying it

Yet another enjoyable listen

Ms. Kane & Ms. Turpin have churned out another "oh, dam, I can't go to sleep until this next ..." book. This time the story is so much more involved, and several of the personal issues are starting to be addressed.

A few things which are unfortunately pet peeves stand out like beacons, making some moments eye-roll worthy.

For starters, there's always a choice. Repeatedly saying she doesn't have a choice started grating on my nerves early on, and kept up til the second to last chapter.

To a lesser degree was the whole, "I deserve it," thing, especially about punishment, hate, pain, and abandonment. These could be triggering for some listeners.

Ms. Turpin gave a better performance on this one than the second book, but still not up to the standard she'd set in the first. There were quite a few cuts in the audio, where it was clear bits were pieced together, sometimes mid-sentence.

Still giving it five stars overall because I was literally and figuratively on the edge of my seat, eagerly awaiting the next paragraph throughout most of the listen.

Wow! Incredible!!

My Initial Reaction...
Wow! That was incredible! Despite having one of the most frustrating heroines, this series is quickly becoming a favorite. And the heroine? I officially kind of love her too! (there will be some series spoilers here... sorry, couldn't avoid it and gush like I wanted to!)

The Narration...
Thank you for reading this series, Bahni Turpin, so I don't have too. This is a brilliant series and one of the things that makes it brilliant is the way she's created a slang language all her own. But I don't think I could read it and get the meaning out the way Bahni does. Her ability to bring characters to life has landed her at the top of my go-to narrators list (though this is the only series I've read with her so far). If you've tried this series and had a hard time with the language, try again listening to Bahni. Just sayin'

The Characters...
Chess started growing on me with Unholy Magic. I started to understand her a lot better and it got me past my dislike of her drug addiction. Sure, I still am not a fan of her addiction, but I'm way over it. And I'm starting to believe that she'll get over it too. I see Chess thinking a lot better in this book - yes, she still makes dumb decisions and her addiction is still a handicap (which gets her into serious trouble at one point, again) - but she's starting to make decisions that are make sense. She seems to want something from life and that's a huge step for her. And I think it speaks volumes for the power of love.

And who does she love? Well, even if she's having a hard time with these feelings, we recognize them for what they are. Chess loves Terrible. But, she effed that up bad in Unholy Magic... though I think loosing him was what she needed to realize exactly how much he meant to her. I was really pleased that Stacia Kane went head first into that with City of Ghosts - from the get-go, Chess is feeling horrible about the loss of Terrible as a friend. And she has lost him. Terrible feels betrayed and he's letting her know. Talk about harsh! Every interaction with him broke my heart for the first... well, you don't want me to spoil it for you, now do you? Let me just say, this is a couple that is seriously effed up and I want things to work for them more than most.

I have to give a quick shout out to Lex. I have always been okay with him. Sure, he's really not right for Chess and her relationship with him never felt like more than prostituting herself for drugs. But she ends things with Lex early on in City of Ghosts and I was impressed, not only with the way he took it, but with the fact that he was still a friend to her. I hope at some point Chess will look back at some of the moments in this book and see that she is worth more than she thinks she is, because she has two guys who care for her deeply.

The Story...
As much as I love the characters, City of Ghosts has got one incredible story! The mystery kept me on my toes, guessing constantly. There is some incredible action and Chess is on it with her magic. I mean, this chick has always had the potential and we've seen glimpses, but in City of Ghosts she's downright fierce. The last bit is particularly intense.

Oh wait - I forgot to tell you what's going on, I got too excited about how awesome it was! What I love about this book is that it's so connected to both Unholy Ghosts and Unholy Magic, in true Urban Fantasy style. As in, you won't have a clue what's going on if you haven't read the first two. At the start of Unholy Magic Chess is working with the squad and they uncover illegal magic users - and it's time for the head, Madame Lupita's execution at the start of City of Ghosts. But things go terribly wrong and two members of the Church end up dead. It's the start of all sorts of problems that has Chess doubting the one thing she's always trusted in - her magic, which is Church Magic. She gets put on a case that puts her at the center of everything and it's, once again, up to Chess to save the day. Only this time she has a partner - the Grand Elder's daughter, Lauren - and that complicates the shit out of things. Not to mention she's not exactly a lovely person. I loved every moment of their interactions though, and particularly seeing that Chess could hold her own with someone who's supposed to be so much above her.

Concluding Sentiments...
I'm officially addicted to this series and can't wait to read more. It's action packed, sexy as hell, and bursting with magic. What more can you ask for?

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

Love this narrator!!

Any additional comments?

Oh Chess. What a piece of freaking work you are. ::Shakes head::

This series is dark, dark, dark, and more than a little depressing. I'm not usually a fan of downer reads. So why is it so good? How is this series so freaking good? And why can I not stop reading (or listening, in my case)?!?! Chess is a drugged out mess, and only sinking deeper into her own pit of suck. But Stacia Kane is kind of brilliant how she writes her character. Chess was worse than ever but I felt for her for the first time. I had empathy, man, empathy.

The way Bahni Turpin narrates this book makes me want to talk all cool and "downside"-y, which is inadvisable for me, considering I'm a uncool suburban mom. I want to casually drop in a "facts are truth" to someone. This book just gets under your skin. It made me want to visit the world of Downside Ghosts, if only as a casual observer (that place is freaking creepy and scary, dude).

I want to slap some sense into Chess but I also want to follow her around and witness her brilliance and her coming to pieces.

I loved this story and I will be listening to the rest of the series back to back. Stacia Kane, go easy on me.

Great series!!!

This is one of the most creative edge of the seat raw touching series I have ever read. Love the narrater she truly brings each character & scene alive

Self Destructive

Where does City of Ghosts rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Stacia Kane is a strong writer who weaves strong story lines with original material. Even though this is a series, one never gets the feeling that the author is dragging out the material - she paces her stories nicely.

What did you like best about this story?

Even though this is clearly fantasy material. Her characters are real on an emotional level. Her ideas original and interesting.

What does Bahni Turpin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Narration is highly subjective, but I think Bahni does a superb job bringing the story to life.

Any additional comments?

The protagonist is someone I am rooting for. She is a highly flawed individual. She clearly is a destructive personality patching her emotional wounds with drugs. I cannot really relate to this and yet I enjoyed listening to the book. It is a bit hard to deal with her bad choices, but she rings true.

Best yet

This book is the culmination of all before it. It’s like a huge sigh of relief. I’m hesitant for the next book. I think it should end here. Yet, I want more.

The cities. The names of the locations. Everything is so unique in this series. Oh and Kane can you outdo yourself? Please try.