Stacia Kane

Reviewed by Beth Johnson,
Kelly Lasiter, Amanda Rutter

Stacia Kane is an American who is now thrilled to be returning to the States after living in England with her husband, a UK citizen, and two daughters for more than two years. Born in Illinois, raised in St Louis, and a resident of South Florida for a dozen years, Kane's worked any number of low-paying jobs and a few higher-paying ones that were just as tedious. She enjoys cooking and reading, likes gin, French fries, and usually wears black. You can read excerpts of her novels at Stacia Kane's website. Read Beth's interview with Stacia Kane.

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Megan Chase — (2008-2010) Publisher: Megan promises listeners to her new radio call-in show that she'll "slay their personal demons," and they believe her. So do the personal demons... although she doesn't know it, Megan is the only human without a demon on her shoulder! Megan and her allies — a demon lover who both protects and seduces her with devilish intensity, a witch with poor social skills, and three cockney guard demons — have to deal not only with the personal demons, but a soul-sucker, ghosts of Megan's past, and a reporter who threatens to destroy Megan's career!

Stacia Kane Megan Chase: 1. Personal Demons 2. Demon Inside

Stacia Kane Megan Chase: 1. Personal Demons 2. Demon Inside 3. Demon Possessed

Stacia Kane fantasy book review Personal Demons Personal Demons

One thing my mom likes to remind me of repeatedly is positive reinforcement. Always start with the good, she likes to say, because if you start with the bad, that's all people will hear (or read, as the case may be). Admittedly, it's not something I'm very good at. I tend to think in chronological order, so if I didn't like things at the beginning of the book, that's where I'll start.

And the thing is, Stacia Kane's Personal Demons is a very good example of why you shouldn't let a shaky beginning ruin the whole ride. I admit, I giggled when I read the name The Accuser. I giggled even more when I read the name Greyson Dante. I boggled at why the heck Kane bothered writing it in the third person when we weren't going to get to see anyone else's point of view and I wondered why someone had replaced the editor with a butcher. Seriously, in the beginning there are places where it feels like things got cut out, things that would have made other things make more sense. Usually I'm all for strict editing, but geez! I think someone got a little too chop-happy here.

In spite of all that I kept reading, and a good thing, too. Because holy crap, Stacia Kane can write a scary scene. When she wants to, she can grab you by the throat with tension and fear. I just wish she'd done a bit more of it. I'd be interested to see what she could do with straight horror.

The characters kind of grew on me after a while. I like that Megan isn't a butt-kicking hard-ass with an attitude problem. Not only that, but the thought of wearing make up and a pretty dress excites her, rather than igniting a round of grumbling and griping. Shocking, I know. And though you don't get their POVs ever, the supporting cast is pretty fun, too. In spite of his silly name, Dante still managed to yank my Bad Boy chain like a monkey swinging from a church bell. And though they have ridiculous names (Maleficarum? Spud? Seriously?) and what just might be some of the worst written cockney accents in the history of literature, Megan's three demon bodyguards are hilarious. They do hair! And make up! And when one of the others called Spud a "daft old sow" I almost fell out of my chair. It's just so delightfully incongruous. I couldn't help but love them for it.

Though it doesn't exactly have the most original and distinctive plot ever, Personal Demons holds its own. I could have wished to see a little more of Megan actually performing her job of radio talk show host. On the other hand, I like the interesting line that Personal Demons walks between paranormal romance and urban fantasy. I'd definitely say it leans more to the latter, while adopting a few more paranormal romance-like traits in a way that I could really appreciate. I mean, hello, it's not told from first person POV. I honestly developed a little bit of a girl crush on Ms. Kane for that, because I was beginning to think it was illegal or something to write an urban fantasy in anything but first person.

I waffled a bit with the score for Personal Demons. I wasn't quite sure I'd call it a four star book, but it wasn't really a three star book, and even three and a half didn't quite cover it. In spite of its flaws, Stacia Kane has really created something quite delightful here. So in the end I decided to just round up. —Beth Johnson

Stacia Kane fantasy book review Personal Demons Personal Demons

I'm glad I read Beth's review of Personal Demons before I read the book. It meant I was prepared for the choppiness in the beginning chapters. There are some strange cuts and splices. In particular, there are several instances where important, plot-relevant conversations occur offscreen and are only mentioned in retrospect as Megan muses about them. I think it would have been more effective to show these conversations rather than narrate about them after the fact. I also had trouble getting a feel for the passage of time in these early chapters. I would think days passed, and it would turn out to be hours, or vice versa.

However, having read Beth's review, I knew it would be worth my while to persevere. Personal Demons turned out to be a fun novel, if not necessarily one that will stick in my mind forever. I love the premise: Megan, a psychologist, is the host of a radio talk show that promises to "slay your personal demons." Megan thinks it's bad enough that her boss makes her use that cheesy tag line, but when it turns out that personal demons actually exist and take her threat literally, she's got bigger problems on her plate. Like, say, fighting for her life.

Stacia Kane mixes this fast-paced plot with some humor and a heavy dollop of romance, and the result is a quick, enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for Megan in Demon Inside. —Kelly Lasiter

fantasy book review Stacia Kane Demon Inside Demon Inside

You know your family is dysfunctional when demons are better company.

As Demon Inside begins, Megan Chase is adjusting to her new role as Gretneg of the personal demons. A Gretneg is a leader, similar to a Mafia don, and much like a Mafia don, Megan has to show a ruthless side in order to keep her charges' respect and avoid being bullied by other Gretnegs. This is no easy task. Megan shrinks from the violent discipline the demons are used to. A rival demon has murdered several of Megan's demons. To top everything off, Megan's maybe-boyfriend Greyson is being evasive, and Megan is not sure where she stands with him.

At first, Demon Inside was exactly the book that Personal Demons led me to expect it would be. The early chapters are chock full of action and sex, but sometimes it got a little confusing as the plot careens from one scene to the next at breakneck pace.

Then, Stacia Kane throws us a curveball.

It happens about a third of the way into Demon Inside. A family tragedy sends Megan back to her crummy hometown, seemingly away from the thick of the action. In reality, though, when Megan goes home, she's moving closer to the heart of things. I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say that Megan has one seriously toxic family. My heart broke for her. Hidden in her family's past is a secret that helped create Megan's present situation. Only through facing her past demons — both literal and metaphorical — can she survive the confrontation that lies ahead.

In addition to enjoying the exciting, emotional plotline, I also loved Kane's scene-setting in Demon Inside. Her prose is straightforward and unpretentious, and there's no one phrase that sticks out in my memory, but add it all up, and this is definitely a writer who can paint a vivid picture. I especially liked the demon funeral, which was both creepy and surprisingly beautiful, and the demonic battle played out against a sleepy Christmas scene.

Stacia Kane has far surpassed Personal Demons with Demon Inside. I enjoyed Personal Demons, but I never imagined its sequel would suck me in like this. —Kelly Lasiter

fantasy book review Stacia Kane Demon Possessed Demon Possessed

The title Demon Possessed has a double meaning. On the surface, it seems to refer to the book’s murder-mystery plotline, which involves several characters who may or may not be possessed by demons. But it also refers to Megan, who must decide in this installment whether to become fully “possessed” by Greyson, the demon world, and the demonic side of her own nature.

The interpersonal-relationships plotline is the real gem in Demon Possessed. Stacia Kane does a great job of portraying Megan as a modern career woman thrust into a demon society that’s almost medieval in its treatment of women. Megan faces the work vs. family issue that so many women have to contend with, and due to the constraints of demon politics, she has fewer viable choices than most of us. She learns that Greyson must marry soon to secure his position, and that if she marries him, she’ll have to give up her job for safety reasons. Her other options are becoming his mistress while he contracts an arranged marriage, or giving him up entirely. This dilemma leads to an absolutely wrenching fight between the two. Kane puts Megan and Greyson (and the reader) through the wringer, and just when you think it can’t get any more painful, Malleus, Maleficarum, and Spud express their own feelings about the matter. I dare you not to need Kleenex while reading this scene!

There’s also a mystery plotline, as mentioned above. It concerns an FBI agent snooping around a demon leaders’ meeting, some grisly murders, and a Bible-thumping exorcist plying his trade just down the road from the meeting. Megan and friends must figure out how all these things are connected before they become the killer’s next victims. There’s a lot of adrenaline in this plotline, but it ultimately pales next to the Megan/Greyson plotline. The mystery’s most harrowing moments come when it intersects with the love story. Each plot helps ramp up the tension in the other and, in the end, it’s a complication in the murder plot that leads Megan to realize what she really wants.

Throughout the Megan Chase series, Stacia Kane has built an intricate demon world and populated it with distinctive characters and, along the way, she’s honed her plotting skills (there aren’t any moments in Demon Possessed where scenes feel missing or out of order). Here, everything comes together. Kane’s world throws huge obstacles into her characters’ lives, and the characters have been developed so well that it hurts to see them suffer! If you’ve been following Megan’s story, you’ll definitely want to read Demon Possessed and learn whether she and Greyson manage to work it out. —Kelly Lasiter

The Downside Ghosts (Chess Putnam) — (2010-2012) Publisher: THE DEPARTED HAVE ARRIVED. 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. Consequently, there are many false claims of hauntings from those hoping to profit. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully-tattooed witch, freewheeling Debunker, and ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for nailing human liars and banishing the wicked dead. But she’s keeping a dark secret from the Church: a little drug problem that’s landed her in hot and dangerous water. Chess owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump. And Bump wants immediate payback. All Chess has to do is dispatch a very nasty species of undead from an old airport. But the job involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and crossing swords with 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.

urban fantasy book review Stacia Kane Downside 1. Unholy Ghosts 2. Unholy Magic

urban fantasy book review Stacia Kane Downside 1. Unholy Ghosts 2. Unholy Magic 3. City of Ghosts

urban fantasy book review Stacia Kane Downside 1. Unholy Ghosts 2. Unholy Magic 3. City of Ghosts 4. Sacrificial Magic

Unholy Ghosts

Unholy Ghosts is the first book in the Downside Ghosts sequence and introduces us to Chess Putnam. She lives in a world where Church and religion has been pushed aside in favour of the Church of Real Truth, because of an uprising by the undead in the form of ghosts. Chess is in the employ of the new Church, helping to judge whether complaints about haunting are true or not, since it has become lucrative business to try and con the Church. When Chess picks up a new case, she finds much more than she bargained for — especially when she also finds herself dealing with rival drug gangs and her dangerous attraction to her dealer’s ruthless enforcer.

Stacia Kane has written a tautly-paced, gripping and, above all, unique urban fantasy novel. The idea of a new world where ghosts can kill and where having the wrong tattoos brings a death sentence is brought to life with delicate touches in a prose that drives the story along.

Her heroine, Chess, is far from the usual kick-ass know-it-all. She has many foibles, the main one being her drug dependency, which weakens her at key moments and puts her in dangerous situations. It could be all too easy to decry Chess for her stupidity, but instead Kane writes her in such a way that you are able to empathise, if not to understand. In a literary genre that is crowded with supernatural beings and heroines who are joining the monsters, Chess stands out as being all too human.

As noted, the pacing is perfect — the mystery of what is happening with the Chester Airport (where Chess is investigating a possible haunting) slides into place piece by piece. Moments of pulse-pounding terror and excitement are followed up by quieter periods where the characters are built up into living, breathing, three-dimensional entities.

The world-building is also very strong, from the descriptions of the drugs that Chess relies on to the back alleys of Downside to the wonderfully quirky dialect of the Downside residents. By the time you close the last page, Downside feels like a real place — albeit one you definitely wouldn’t choose to visit after dark!

In fact, the only parts of the world building that are a little underdone are the magical rituals and power words that Kane employs, although the use of psychopomps — dogs and birds that escort the souls of ghosts to the City where they are all kept — is especially intriguing.

I’d also like to give praise to the secondary characters in the novel, especially, of course, Terrible and Lex, the two men who Chess is attracted to. Lex suffers from having less screentime and seems a little less interesting than Terrible, but both definitely play their part in making this novel entertaining. Oh, and the moments of intimacy are sexy as opposed to cringeworthy, which is always a bonus with this sort of book!

Stacia Kane has upped the stakes for all those writing in the urban fantasy genre — Unholy Ghosts is gripping and brilliant. I can’t wait to read the next. —Amanda Rutter

Unholy Magic

In Stacia Kane’s second Downside Ghosts novel, Chess Putnam is pulled between two cases: the official Church investigation of the possible haunting of a celebrity, and the serial murders of prostitutes in Downside. She soon discovers that there is a dangerous sort of magic at work, and is forced to walk a fine line trying to balance all the elements of her life and work.

“Self-destruction was one thing, but she was turning into a one-woman wrecking ball.” In this book Chess is falling into an appalling addiction, but tries to convince herself that she is still merely a user. Her drug use compels her to keep visiting Lex, even though she knows she has to finish things with him to become a true part of Terrible’s life.

I found Unholy Magic desperately hard to read — at the same time as I wanted to shake Chess and try to force her to find help, I also wanted to sob with her as her life came crashing down around her. There was one particular graveyard scene between Chess, Lex and Terrible that I almost had to skip past, it was so powerfully written and haunting.

Kane succeeds admirably in writing a completely believable relationship between Chess and Terrible. It whispers into life as they begin trusting each other against all the odds, and grows as Chess realises that Terrible is much, much more than just the enforcer of drug lord Bump. This is not a relationship based on looks or immediate attraction; it grows and develops in an entirely realistic manner. Everything else in this novel takes second place to what is occurring between Chess and Terrible.

Which is a shame, because the plot is unpredictable and gripping, pitting Chess against an extremely chilling magic user. After reading certain scenes in Unholy Magic, I almost wanted to leave the light on at night!

I did have a slight problem with the middle part of Unholy Magic, where the storyline seems to skip along a little in places and doesn’t flow. This does coincide with the part of the novel where Chess’ drug addiction grows and threatens to consume her, so I put it down to the increasing disorientation of the main character, rather than a downturn in the quality of Kane’s work. It can, however, be confusing to read and follow.

Stacia Kane is writing a series that transcends the urban fantasy genre and should be read more widely. Her prose is excellent, characterisation and dialogue superb. This novel is bleaker and darker than the first, with a climax that leaves me longing to read City of Ghosts. I can’t recommend the Downside Ghosts highly enough. —Amanda Rutter

City of Ghosts

City of Ghosts is the third book about Chess Putnam, as she goes through the business of debunking hauntings. In this novel Chess is drawn into a Black Squad (government department) investigation, bound to silence about her doings. She struggles to work through the meagre clues of the case as danger tightens around her, throwing everyone she cares about into the gravest peril.

I’ll say straight out that I adore this series, but I find that most series tend to have a weaker book. In my opinion, City of Ghosts is that book for Downside Ghosts.

I still greatly love all of the encounters between Chess and Terrible, which are heartbreaking and blisteringly sexy by turn. However, the whole plot dealing with Lauren from the Black Squad and their investigation seems unnecessarily complicated. We have not only the Lamanu kicking up trouble again (after encountering them in the first novel of the series), but also bodies in the street, psychopomps going mad, and a strange character called Mcguinness creeping into the frame.

To handle all of those plot elements in a tale that also seeks to provide a conclusion to very difficult personal relationships is a step too far, in my opinion, and the novel feels too rushed.

Chess’ drug use also takes a massive back seat in City of Ghosts. We’ve seen her dependency increase, especially in the second novel where she found herself blackmailed thanks to the amount she was taking. But here we only see one real instance where it is key to the storyline. I feel like Kane wavered a little in how far to take this element.

With all that said, City of Ghosts is still a superior example of urban fantasy. Kane’s worldbuilding is without peer in this genre, presenting us with the Church and psychopomps, and then the scary Downside where Chess makes her life. The food, the markets, the characters all come to startling life.

I’m thrilled that Stacia Kane is writing further books in the Downside series. The adventures of Chess are deeply satisfying, leaving you feeling real emotion about the heroine. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to read more — I will be at the front of the queue. —Amanda Rutter

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