Review: Chasing Magic by Stacia Kane

Title: Chasing Magic (Downside)
Series: Downside Ghosts, #5
Author: Stacia Kane
Published: June 26, 2012
Pages: 416
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: A
Reviewed by: Ellie

Favorite quote: 
 “Shit. You so fucking pretty, Chessie. True thing. So.....ain’t even can breath sometimes.” 


“What was the record for number of people fucked over in a single day, because she was pretty fucking sure nobody could beat her at that one.” 


“Rather be with you here. So whyn’t you make sure you stay yourself alive, dig? Don’t get dead Chessiebomb.”


summary from Goodreads

A DEADLY HIGH

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.

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Ellie's thoughts:

Usually I struggle to find one quote that perfectly sums up a book but with Chasing Magic there were so many that I finally settled on the three above. Sorry about the cursing but that’s how they talk in Downside. Chasing Magic is the fifth, and in my opinion best book in the Downside Ghosts series so far. This book picks up right were the last one left off and things are definitely changing in Downside. Lex is now in charge after his father’s death and has openly declared war on Bump and Terrible, much to Chessie’s dismay. Chess is still working for the church but her major goal at the moment is to find out who is behind the tainting of Downsides drug supply and how to keep Terrible safe and alive.

Chess and Terrible are still growing strong but still hiding their relationship from everyone except Bump, Lex and people at the Church. The best thing about Chasing Magic is the amount of Terrible that we get. He gets a much larger role and is actually a huge part of the plot line. Chess is still a junkie and still messing up left and right but the one thing that I love is that she always fights to stay with Terrible and there is no doubt that he loves Chessie more then anyone or anything. Chess and Terrible finally take their relationship public at a wedding and it made me want them to take it public in Downside.

There is a lot of crazy dark magic happening in Downside and it’s up to Chess and Terrible to stop it. I had no idea who was behind the tainting of Downsides drug supply and was actually very shocked  when everything is revealed. There are not many times when I’m kept guessing about what’s going on until the very end of a book but this book is that good. Between the suspense and mystery of the dark witch and the growing relationship between Chess and Terrible I could not put this book down. Bump makes a lot of cameos to provide some much needed laughs and he never fails to amaze me with his crass humor and horrible disregard for Chess. I have a great hate/love relationship with our drug lord and I would love to see a novella of how Terrible came to work for Bump.

I touched on this before but I had a big problem with Chess in this book. She is still a junkie and I felt that she was popping pills and doing lines a lot more then usual. Chess just couldn’t keep it together in this book and really pissed me off. There was actually one scene where I wanted to throw my kindle but was talked down by other book bloggers. There were even a few times when I was angry at Terrible for putting up with her lying and drug use. If it wasn’t for Terrible and the fact that he makes me swoon like no one else, I don’t think I could read a Downside book without him at this point. He keeps me reading when I really am angry at Chess and have given up on her. There are some talk about things changing but we will see if she actually pulls it off.

Even though I had major problems with Chess in this book, Chasing Magic was amazing and I loved it. As a fan of the series it gave me exactly what I wanted which was lots and lots of Terrible. I think I would read just about anything with him in it just to hear him tell Chess is his crazy jive talk how much he loves her and to hear him call her Chessiebomb. I am not sure what’s in the future for Downside but I am eagerly anticipating the hunt for more ghosts, maybe a trip to the City and lots of Terrible and Chess.