Chasing Magic - Book Review

Chasing Magic (Downside Ghosts #5)
by Stacia Kane

What is it about:
Magic-wielding Churchwitch and secret addict Chess Putnam knows better than anyone just how high a price people are willing to pay for a chemical rush. But when someone with money to burn and a penchant for black magic starts tampering with Downside’s drug supply, Chess realizes that the unlucky customers are paying with their souls—and taking the innocent with them, as the magic-infused speed compels them to kill in the most gruesome ways possible.

As if the streets weren’t scary enough, the looming war between the two men in her life explodes, taking even more casualties and putting Chess squarely in the middle. Downside could become a literal ghost town if Chess doesn’t find a way to stop both the war and the dark wave of death-magic, and the only way to do that is to use both her addiction and her power to enter the spell and chase the magic all the way back to its malevolent source. Too bad that doing so will probably kill Chess—if the war doesn’t first destroy the man who’s become her reason for living.

What did I think of it:
I love this series and preordered this book back in 2012, so I'm still wondering how it ended up being overlooked until recently.

Because this is a really great read.

I love how Kane succeeds in making me root for Chess and Terrible. They're a pair of unlikely heroes after all, Chess being an addict and Terrible being a thug. Still I love them both and want them to overcome all their problems and save the day.

I've said before that this series is driven by the characters and their interactions, and that's again true in Chasing Magic. Sure the overall story is good (and they're getting better each book in my opinion), but it's the characters that keep me invested and make that I can't put the book down. And not just Chess and Terrible. There are lots more characters that are so intriguing you want to know more about what makes them tick.

All in all I fell in love with this series all over again and I will have to get hold of all the short stories I haven't been able to get my trotters on so far.

Why should you read it:
It's a gritty and awesome UF read.