After Reading Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts 1) by Stacia Kane

With Ms Karen Marie Moning blogging about it and Nalini Singh gushing on the book's cover, (both are one of  my favorite authors, fyi), I was thoroughly intrigue about Ms Kane's Unholy Ghosts.  Let me give you Goodreads' synopsis of the book:

THE DEPARTED HAVE ARRIVED.
 
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. 

Christianity was proven false and only one religion exists, the Church of real truth which denounced heaven and hell and in between.  Those who are sensitive to religion, especially Catholicism, may not find the book to their liking. With no salvation and faith, the people turned to the Church who had the power to banish ghosts who posed a threat humans survival, by performing magic. Imagine, a world ruled by heretics.
Chess is an unlikely heroine.  She's an employee of the Church, a debunker of ghosts.  Because she is good with her job and because of her predilection to drugs, she gets into a precarious situation between two underlords. Chess is loyal to the Church who offered her sanctuary since she was a child who had never known her history. Because of her dependency to drugs, popping them like candies, I sometimes find her weak and has no direction in her life. But she redeems herself when she proves to be fearless when facing 'Nightmare Man'. A mutation of thinking and vengeful ghosts that is purely evil...it gave me goosebumps and actually jumping over shadows in my room.
A dark, gritty and at times sensual, this book will definitely linger in the back of your head days after reading it.