The departed have arrived in Unholy Ghosts.

Summary from Goodreads:

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. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully tattooed witch and freewheeling ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for banishing the wicked dead. But Chess is keeping a dark secret: She owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump, who wants immediate payback in the form of a dangerous job that involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and 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.

My take:

I became immersed in this underground society of drug lords and ghost hunters. I felt the author did a wonderful job of creating a unique world in which ghosts were acknowledged but banished. (Love the matter-of-fact way people accepted the existence of ghosts.) I could stretch forth my hand and touch the dank walls of the underground tunnels and tenement stairways. The author painted the sights, sounds and smells of this labyrinthine environment so intricately, at times I was reminded of Gaiman’s Neverwhere. The slang took some getting used to, but it fit the novel well in a sort of Clockwork Orange way. Though Chess and her counterpart, drug lord enforcer Terrible, are flawed, they possess that essential kernel of humanity that makes us want to root for them as they navigate this dark dystopian world.

However, I did not feel the author carried off the second half of the book as well. Once the author peopled this frightening world with these unique characters, she neglected them in favor of escalating violence, slobbering demons, and spiraling special effects. The plot devolved into a blow-by-blow slugfest in an attempt to build tension and create empathy. It didn’t work. The story of these troubled characters should have been deepened; instead, the plot surface took over. I hope this series does not become yet another three scoop sundae with globby chocolate syrup smothered in marshmallow topping when story is what we crave.

From Unholy Ghosts I turned to The Handmaid’s Tale. Now there’s a dystopian novel with some meat.