*This title will be released on March 27, 2012*

Title: Sacrificial Magic Author:  Stacia Kane Series: Downside Ghosts #4 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Netgalley Reviewed by: Abigail Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages Publisher: Del Rey (March 27, 2012) ISBN-10: 034552750X ISBN-13: 978-0345527509   Sexual Content: Several scenes of sensuality. One moderately graphic sex scene. Vague references to sexual abuse. Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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This is another great week for covers, Abigail and I agree on our “Best” and each of the “Worst” titles have at least one thumbs up to their credit.  A former favorite is back with a redesign, as Andrew Fukuda’s THE HUNT gets a new look before it even comes to press.  This redesign generates a mixed reaction.  The original is gorgeous, but I can see how the new cover has a greater “off the shelf” appeal.  Which one do you prefer?

 

There are some novel items in the mix this week.  A cover re-boot for Kim Harrington’s CLARITY paperback release, a cover model doppelganger for Stacia Kane’s newest Downside Ghosts offering, and the opportunity to vote on which cover goes to print for Tes Hilaire’s debut novel. 

Vamparazzi by Laura Resnick 

(Click to enlarge)

Description: Playing a scantily clad vampire victim in an off-Broadway play, struggling actress Esther Diamond now may be the target of someone who claims to be a genuine bloodsucker... No Author Comment Available.

Series: Esther Diamond #4 Artist: Dan Dos Santos Goodreads: Link	Publisher: DAW Release Date: October 4, 2011 Source: Goodreads
Julia’s Thoughts	Abigail’s Thoughts
Absolutely love this cover!	There is no mistaking a Dan Dos Santos cover.  He’s genius.  This is genius…his covers really tells story.

Previous Covers in This Series

**Visit Dark Faerie Tales today for her Deadly Destination tour of Karin Harlow’s Lost Souls from Selena & a chance to win ENEMY MINE**

Of the many wonderful authors who’ve taken us on our Deadly Destinations tours, Stacia Kane's has been one I’ve been especially looking forward to.  Her Downside Ghosts series is one of my absolute favorite urban fantasy series and any time I get the chance confess my terrible, terrible addiction to these dark and wonderful books, I take it.  We’ll be taking the official tour of Triumph City, the setting of “Rich the Brave” which is a Downside Ghosts story in the upcoming anthology HOME IMPROVEMENT: UNDEAD EDITION available on August 2, 2011 from Ace Books.  Thanks to Stacia, one of you will win a Triumph City t-shirt of your choice!  See details below

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Tour of Triumph City
by
Stacia Kane

TRIUMPH CITY TOURS

“Where the Truth Comes to Life”

Welcome to Triumph City Tours, your gateway to America’s Capitol! We are the first—and best—tour company in Triumph City. Accept no substitutes!

For the Sumer 2024 season, we offer the following exciting, informative, and of course fun walking/driving tours:

SUNDAYS: Visit the headquarters of the Church of Real Truth! That’s right, this is your chance to see the inside of the most important building in the country. Our tour begins at ten A.M. when we watch the release of prisoners from the stocks outside the building (we do not supply rotten fruit or eggs, and we ask that if you plan to throw them you do so before the official tour start time. The prisoners have taken their punishment, after all). From there, we head into the building and through the outbuildings, where your tour guide—Harold Marks, a former Elder—will explain the history of the building, the creation of the City of Eternity, and how various Church employees are trained. You won’t want to miss his stories of the early days of the Church and the first days after Haunted Week as the Church struggled—and of course succeeded—in bringing order, peace, and Truth to the world!

(Note: This tour does NOT include execution rooms or prisons.)

MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS, FRIDAYS: Triumph City landmarks. Before it was renamed, Triumph City was a hugely important city in its own right, and full of its own unique and exciting history. Many landmarks of the Old Government still remain, and who better to show them to you than a former high official in that government? Join former Senator Richard Matheson every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at noon, outside of the Memorial train station, for a journey into the fascinating—and even haunted—past.

MONDAYS: Downside Delights. The area of Triumph City now known as Downside was once wealthy, and a few relics of this past still remain. Tour guide Duke tells you exactly how Downside turned from Old Money to No Money, and shows you how the past perseveres even when no ones cares enough to try to preserve it.

(Note: This is not a walking tour. Due to space constraints—there are only six seats in the tour van—it is advised you book in advance.)

(Note: an armed guard will be in the van.)

(Note: This tour is undertaken at your own risk. You must sign a release before taking this tour, indemnifying Triumph City Tours for any damages, injuries, or loss of property and/or life. Triumph City Tours is not responsible for any of the above.)

(Note: It is recommended that you not bring any valuables with you on this tour, including jewelry, watches, purses and/or wallets, cameras or other recording devices, or anything else of value.)

(Note: We recommend you bring hand sanitizer and/or antibiotic ointment.)

(Note: For your safety, the doors of the tour van will be locked at all times. Any attempt by you to open the doors before the tour ends will result in action from the armed guard.)

(Note: Do not speak to the armed guard.)

(Note: This tour is not recommended for the elderly, the infirm, or the faint of heart. Pregnant women will be required to present a note from their doctors before being permitted to join the tour.)

TUESDAYS: Triumph City Style! Tour guide Katrina, a former editor at TRUE STYLE magazine, will take you on a walk you’ll never forget, through the toniest shopping district in Triumph City! With designers shops lining the street and plenty of time to browse and buy, this immensely popular tour should be at the top of your “To-Do” list! Starting at noon, this [continued…]

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About Stacia Kane

Stacia Kane has been a phone psychic, a customer service representative, a bartender, and a movie theatre usher. Writing is more fun than all of them combined. She wears a lot of black, still makes great cocktails, likes to play music loud in the car, and thinks Die Hard is one of the greatest movies ever made. She believes in dragons and the divine right of kings, and is a fervent Ricardian. She lives outside Atlanta with her husband and their two little girls. Visit Stacia Kane online: Website|Blog|Facebook|Twitter

Want to read more from Stacia Kane?

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Giveaway provided by Stacia Kane

One winner will pick out a Triumph City t-shirt (they come in a variety of styles and colors)

And don’t forget to pick up a copy of HOME IMPROVEMENT: UNDEAD EDITION available on August 2, 2011 from Ace

 

Description:

The editors of the New York Times bestselling Death's Excellent Vacation bring home a new collection...with a never-before- published Sookie Stackhouse story!

There's nothing like home renovation for finding skeletons in the closet or otherwordly portals in the attic. Now, for any homeowner who's ever wondered, "What's that creaking sound?" or fans of "how to" television who'd like a little unreality mixed in with their reality shows, editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner return with an all-new collection of the paranormal perils of Do-It-Yourself.

Sookie Stackhouse resides in these pages, in a never-before-published story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. And New York Times bestselling authors Patricia Briggs, James Grady, Heather Graham, Melissa Marr, and nine other outstanding writers have constructed more frightening and funny fixer-upper tales guaranteed to shake foundations and rattle readers' pipes:

Patricia Briggs

Victor Gischler

James Grady

Heather Graham

Simon R. Green

Charlaine Harris

Stacia Kane

Toni L.P. Kelner

E.E. Knight

Rochelle Krich

Melissa Marr

Seanan McGuire

Suzanne McLeod

S.J. Rozan

Pre-Order from

Giveaway Guidelines

1. Open to US addresses only

2. Leave a comment for Stacia & a way to contact you unless it’s listed in your profile

3. All Deadly Destinations winners will be announced on August 7th

4. See our Giveaway Policy if you have any questions

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Don’t miss any of the tours & giveaways from Deadly Destinations.  Check out all the previous posts from this event!

 

Book Description

IT’S A THIN LINE BETWEEN ALIVE AND UNDEAD.

Chess Putnam has a lot on her plate. Mangled human corpses have started to show up on the streets of Downside, and Chess’s 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’s 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—all while coping with some not-so-small issues of her own. And the only man Chess can trust to help her through it all has every reason to want her dead.

 Review

Book 3 in The Downside Ghosts Series

After devouring the first two Downside Ghost books in all their addictive, screwed up goodness, I had crazy, impossibly high hopes for CITY OF GHOSTS. And Stacia Kane didn’t disappoint in this action packed, scary cool, emotionally naked urban fantasy that I can still feel racing through my veins.

By far, CITY OF GHOSTS is the most emotionally rich story in the series so far.  By the end of Unholy Magic, Chess had spiraled into a pit of shame, guilt, and drug-induced regret culminating in gut wrenching ending where the guy she probably loved caught her about to screw the guy she definitely didn’t before he died and she risked her life to bring him back. 

When CITY OF GHOSTS begins, the rage and disgust that exudes from Terrible when he is near Chess is only surpassed by her own self loathing.  In her eyes, Chess is valueless and deserving of every drop of animosity that Terrible flings at her.  In his eyes, Terrible is what his name says he is.  He can’t process the pain she caused him, so he lashes out instead.  I’ve never seen two people hurt one another as deeply as these two do, and at the same time empathize with their bone deep hurt so that I understand why.  Their love is pitiful and painful enough to steal your breath. 

And if that emotional hell ride wasn’t enough, Chess is beaten, burned, cursed, magically Bound, and nearly raped in CITY OF GHOSTS all while having to face a threat that is seeking to undue the very thread that have held her life together: The Church.

The Downside Ghosts series is in turn scary and shocking.  The characters live daily in a personal hell that most people can’t fathom. Yes, Chess is a junkie who makes Rachel Morgan’s relationship decisions look healthy, but in CITY OF GHOSTS, she is more vulnerable and more honest with herself that I ever thought possible.  I imagine that she still has further down to go before she picks herself up, but I have no doubt that she will.  On her website, Stacia Kane says, "The fourth and fifth books in the series will probably be released in Fall 2011/Spring 2012.” I just hate that I’ll have to wait so long for my next Chess/Terrible fix. 

Sexual Content: References to sex.  References to rape.  Attempted rape.  Two graphic sex scenes.

My Rating (out of 5):
Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.

Click HERE to read an excerpt from CITY OF GHOSTS

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (July 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345515595
• ISBN-13: 978-0345515599
• Cover Art: Juliana Kolesova

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Disagree with my review?  Contact me with your review for this or any other book I’ve reviewed and I might use it for 2nd Opinion Review.

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• Review: City OF Ghosts By Stacia Kane (smexybooks.com)
• BOOK REVIEW: City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane (bookchickcity.com)

**This title will be released on July 6, 2010**

 

Book Description

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.

 Review

Book 2 in The Downside Ghosts Series

Like any drug, the first taste gets your attention but its the second taste that gets you hooked. I though the first Downside Ghosts book, Unholy Ghosts, was an impressive debut, but UNHOLY MAGIC is even better. I am well and truly addicted to this dark, seductive urban fantasy series.

Ghosts were stronger underground; no witch willingly went below the surface of the earth, not without a Church edict or a death wish. Chess had both to varying degrees… –First line from UNHOLY MAGIC

Chess Putnam is a total train wreck of a human being. Her childhood was spent bouncing from one abusive foster home to the next. In her adult life she is a junkie, becoming more and more dependent on her pills and Speed just to make it through the day. Yet she is a fighter.  Battling her own demons one day at a time, or ghosts as the case may be. Sometimes she gives in, but she never gives up. I find that I’m constantly rooting for her, even when she falls—which she does a lot—to pick herself up and keep going, and I kind of love her for that.

But it is hard when you see those bad decisions lining up to tackle her all at once, which they do in UNHOLY MAGIC.  Romantically there was a very unorthodox love interest introduced in the last book, Terrible, who basically lives up to his name, but who like Chess, you root for (even more so in this book).  There are some profoundly powerful scenes when we find out more about both Chess and Terrible’s histories, and when they both have to finally own up to their feelings for each other.  I’m still recovering. 

Bottom line, Chess Putnam is quickly becoming one of my favorite urban fantasy heroines.  Yes, she’s an addict, who gets twitchy, itchy and even physically ill if she goes too long without a fix.  But I’m starting to relate when it comes to the Downside Ghosts series.  Sure, Stacia was all nice and generous at first, releasing the first three books a month apart (the third Downside Ghosts book, City of Ghosts, will be released on July 27, 2010).  But what happens in August when I’m jonesing for book four?  If what happened to Chess in UNHOLY MAGIC is any indication, it’s not going to be pretty, but right now I’m too high off this book to care.

Sexual Content: References to sex. Several scenes of sensuality. Several sex scenes. An orgy is briefly described. References to child molestation. References to rape. 

My Rating (out of 5):
Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & pre-order the sequel.

Click HERE to read an excerpt from UNHOLY MAGIC

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (July 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345515587
• ISBN-13: 978-0345515582
• Cover Art: Juliana Kolesova

*Disclosure: I received this book courtesy of Random House

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Disagree with my review?  Contact me with your review for this or any other book I’ve reviewed and I might use it for 2nd Opinion Review.