SFF Author: Stacia Kane

Personal Demons by Stacia Kane

The beginning chapters of Stacia Kane’s Personal Demons is a bit choppy. 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,

Demon Inside by Stacia Kane

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.

Demon Possessed by Stacia Kane

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.

Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane

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.

Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane

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,

City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane

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 meager 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.