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Downside Ghosts #5.6
Keeping it Close
A Downside Ghosts serial short story released in 11 parts on the author's blog.
Now also released in the anthology Five Down.
Now also released in the anthology Five Down.
79 pages, ebook
First published December 10, 2013
1 person is currently reading
426 people want to read
About the author
Stacia Kane
35 books2,535 followersStacia Kane is the author of the light-hearted romantic urban fantasy "Megan Chase" series starting with PERSONAL DEMONS.
She currently writes the gritty dystopian urban fantasy "Downside" series starring Chess Putnam and featuring ghosts, human sacrifice, drugs, witchcraft, punk rock, and a badass '69 Chevelle. She bleaches her hair and wears a lot of black.
She currently writes the gritty dystopian urban fantasy "Downside" series starring Chess Putnam and featuring ghosts, human sacrifice, drugs, witchcraft, punk rock, and a badass '69 Chevelle. She bleaches her hair and wears a lot of black.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 13, 2014
Just realized I don't have an Alternative Universe shelf.
It's true, Jake.
Anywhore.
This was really good. We've got ghosts (natch), Chess angsting (of course) and Terrible & Chess being romantic (oh, baby). Also, a proliferation of drug use (dur).
Also, there's a co-worker subplot that's really well-done. Neither Chess not I saw it coming and I'm absolutely dying to see how or if it plays out in the next book.
Speaking of which.
WHERE THE FUCK IS THE NEXT BOOK?!?
August 31, 2014
Liked it, the story was a tad predictable at times but it was still an enjoyable read. I loved the few Chess/Terrible moments, it was great they still had chemistry despite them being in a stable relationship, most UF couples tend to become boring after getting together.
It would be good if Chess had other interests/passions outside of Terrible… All she seems to care about is him and it makes her character kind of flat. Even her work for the Church is less about her being passionate about it and more about her having a job to fund her drug habit. As brilliant as Terrible is, she really needs to develop more outside of him and the drugs. There needs to be some character growth in a different direction because everything Terrible/drug related has been done to death.
It would be good if Chess had other interests/passions outside of Terrible… All she seems to care about is him and it makes her character kind of flat. Even her work for the Church is less about her being passionate about it and more about her having a job to fund her drug habit. As brilliant as Terrible is, she really needs to develop more outside of him and the drugs. There needs to be some character growth in a different direction because everything Terrible/drug related has been done to death.
April 3, 2014
It was short. It was Chess and Terrible and the Church and cepts and sex. It was Downside. Not enough, but hey, what can you do.
March 29, 2014
Keeping it Close was offered by Stacia Kane as an 11-part serial short on her website. Since I favor immediate gratification, I chose to wait to read it until all parts were available. You can grab a copy of the full short here. She is not charging for the "Pay what you want if you want" story, but fans who would like to send a payment (of any amount) are able to do so by using the PayPal link.
Series note: this short is unnumbered, but I would recommend not reading it until after book 5, Chasing Magic, because it contains spoilers.
What would you do to keep those you love close to you? In this short, Chess is assigned a case that hits a bit close to home. The guilty party feels justified in their wrong doings, which causes her to think on what she's done. When she broaches the subject of concern with Terrible he admits, "Ain't like words what I'm best at. Thinkin you dig my meaning though." That she does. And, once again, he's able to push away her fears, if only temporarily, and replace it with a sense of happiness.
Series note: this short is unnumbered, but I would recommend not reading it until after book 5, Chasing Magic, because it contains spoilers.
What would you do to keep those you love close to you? In this short, Chess is assigned a case that hits a bit close to home. The guilty party feels justified in their wrong doings, which causes her to think on what she's done. When she broaches the subject of concern with Terrible he admits, "Ain't like words what I'm best at. Thinkin you dig my meaning though." That she does. And, once again, he's able to push away her fears, if only temporarily, and replace it with a sense of happiness.
... losing Terrible? Nope. Somewhere in the back of her mind, somewhere deep down in her soul, deeper even than all the filth and sludge, the guilt and rage and memories she buried every day under the weight of her pills and powders and thick sweet Dream smoke, way down at the bottom ... Down there was the terror like a constantly churning engine at the idea of losing him.I'm so anxious for book 6, still untitled, due out this July. Thank you to Stacia Kane for proving this short. Your Downside stories show us how fragile we truly can be and how the love and support of others can give us strength and courage to face it.
June 25, 2017
Another great short! Never enough Downside!
July 22, 2014
Super fun, I'd pay for a serial like this from a handful of my favorite authors any day of the week, it's so fun to look forward to the installments, to anticipate what's going to happen next. It's funny because usually I want the story all at once. i don't read preview chapters of books I know already know I'm going to read, I don't like being left on a cliff of anticipate for months. But a serial with daily or weekly installments is a whole different ball of wax, it's an event and a game and a lot of fun. Plus I'll take my Stacia Kane stories any way that I can get them!
February 27, 2015
This was a great short. It had a bit of everything, only a bit too much Chess angst and self loathing, and a satisfying amount of smexy.
And because it was short it wasn't enough.
Still, it was nice to get back to the characters and Downside, and I would love to see where the subplot with the secondary characters at the Church went.
And because it was short it wasn't enough.
Still, it was nice to get back to the characters and Downside, and I would love to see where the subplot with the secondary characters at the Church went.
January 11, 2015
I LOVED this. Love Love Love. I mean, its Terrible, and he melts my whole body so there really wasn't a contest but STILL.
September 23, 2014
I loved it! It was full of Chess looking into herself, action and an exciting case. And love. It was fab!
January 1, 2020
Of course my favorite parts are of Chess and Terrible together. This was maybe a little obvious at times, but it was still fun and interesting.
October 6, 2025
Because I have chronic migraine, I'm 99.9% audiobooks these days.
That said, it had been years since I have done a complete Downside Ghosts reread and I really wanted to do so. Though I did battle headaches while using my Nook, it was worth it because I had forgotten damn near everything about Keeping it Close.
It was almost like reading it for the first time, the case Chess was working on was cool despite being a dud, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Don't you love when that happens?
Original review:Keeping it Close, Downside Ghosts #5.6, was originally released in serial format. As a person who loathes the serial format, I'm glad that it was eventually released in Stacia Kane's Five Down: A Downside Anthology. If it hadn't been, I probably would have missed out on it entirely.
Keeping it Close has Chess dealing with a few issues. For one, some of the employees that Chess works with at The Church, are questioning her relationship with Terrible. Needless to say, the confrontation wasn't pretty, but Chess handled it a hell of a lot better than I would have.
Secondly, Chess finds herself smack dab in the middle of a Debunking case that has "no bonus" written all over it. After coming clean with Elder Griffin earlier in the series, Chess feels that she is getting shit cases because he is angry and no longer trusts her. That said, she made the most of it and it genuinely ended up being a rather unique case; bonus of not.
Lastly, for the first time in her life, Chess gets jealous. It was kinda cute, in all actuality. After all of her issues, emotional baggage, and various insecurities, it was nice to see her FINALLY realize that Terrible is hers. I never expected the "mine" mentality from Chess, but I certainly appreciated it. It was worth the wait.
That said, it had been years since I have done a complete Downside Ghosts reread and I really wanted to do so. Though I did battle headaches while using my Nook, it was worth it because I had forgotten damn near everything about Keeping it Close.
It was almost like reading it for the first time, the case Chess was working on was cool despite being a dud, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Don't you love when that happens?
Original review:Keeping it Close, Downside Ghosts #5.6, was originally released in serial format. As a person who loathes the serial format, I'm glad that it was eventually released in Stacia Kane's Five Down: A Downside Anthology. If it hadn't been, I probably would have missed out on it entirely.
Keeping it Close has Chess dealing with a few issues. For one, some of the employees that Chess works with at The Church, are questioning her relationship with Terrible. Needless to say, the confrontation wasn't pretty, but Chess handled it a hell of a lot better than I would have.
Secondly, Chess finds herself smack dab in the middle of a Debunking case that has "no bonus" written all over it. After coming clean with Elder Griffin earlier in the series, Chess feels that she is getting shit cases because he is angry and no longer trusts her. That said, she made the most of it and it genuinely ended up being a rather unique case; bonus of not.
Lastly, for the first time in her life, Chess gets jealous. It was kinda cute, in all actuality. After all of her issues, emotional baggage, and various insecurities, it was nice to see her FINALLY realize that Terrible is hers. I never expected the "mine" mentality from Chess, but I certainly appreciated it. It was worth the wait.
September 9, 2015
Chess is back and doing what she does best as a Debunker. This case is somewhat different, though. From the onset, it looks like Chess is being handed the crappiest of cases from Elder Griffin. Her fall from grace is taking a toll on her, both physically and mentally, and it also seems to be bleeding over to her job. Hopefully being the best Debunker is enough to prove herself but I do fear for her future, particularly when it comes to the Church and certain relationships that come along with it.
The case itself was a fairly interesting one. I've seen some reviewers call it predictable and perhaps I'm a bit slow, but I didn't see any of it coming. Each person involved in the apparent haunting was equally smarmy and I certainly couldn't differentiate between their motives.
For all the Chess and Terrible lovers, they didn't disappoint in this short story. Chess also showed some different sides of herself; at times she was a little jealous, which is definitely something new for her. Other times, she was quite introspective and I really enjoyed seeing that side of her.
This story was originally published as a serial on Stacia's website and is now available through her blog as a free complete download. If you do choose to read this, I suggest waiting until you've finished book 5 because there are certain elements that are best read with the backstory for full comprehension.
The case itself was a fairly interesting one. I've seen some reviewers call it predictable and perhaps I'm a bit slow, but I didn't see any of it coming. Each person involved in the apparent haunting was equally smarmy and I certainly couldn't differentiate between their motives.
For all the Chess and Terrible lovers, they didn't disappoint in this short story. Chess also showed some different sides of herself; at times she was a little jealous, which is definitely something new for her. Other times, she was quite introspective and I really enjoyed seeing that side of her.
This story was originally published as a serial on Stacia's website and is now available through her blog as a free complete download. If you do choose to read this, I suggest waiting until you've finished book 5 because there are certain elements that are best read with the backstory for full comprehension.
April 19, 2015
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
June 11, 2016
Mmmmm, terrible.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews