This is really the time of the non-hero in the non-conventional sense. We're sick and tired of charming, suave, handsome men who are captains of industry – that whole scenario has been relegated to the shame cupboard that is known as the Cliche. Now, the man who twists our hearts until not a drop of air remains is....Terrible. Yes, the only dross about him is the name, but everything else is pure, solid gold.
Terrible is the believable hero of Stacia Kane's Downside books, the holy triumvirate aka Unholy Ghosts, Unholy Magic and City of Ghosts. There is another holy T, made up of our heroine Chess Putnam, junkie and witch, a pusher's top henchman Terrible, and Terrible's rival in love and war, Lex. Or as the incomparable JR Ward would have Chess say about Lex, the Chinese gang member who hops in and out of Chess' bed: “He's my lover...not the love of my life.”
Kane's world is shockingly attractive, God knows why. Chess is a product of abuse, as is Terrible, their lives are violent, they are part of an unpredictable underworld where the prospect of Tomorrow may be a dream, and yet you can't get enough. Kane's people are people you learn to like; for me, Terrible, I'm sorry to say, is my ideal man. He is smart, loyal, powerful, has a sense of humour, and has your back. When he falls in love, he falls all the way. The cherry on top of the chocolate fudge? He can hold a conversation – of course a man like this would have to be fictional.
But I admire Kane's imagination and the fact that she can make a love scene indelible. What more can you ask for as a reader, really?
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