Owl and the Japanese Circus
by Kristi CharishSeries: The Adventures of Owl #1
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Urban
Published on January 13th 2015
Pages: 432
Ex-archaeology grad student turned international antiquities thief, Alix—better known now as Owl—has one rule. No supernatural jobs. Ever. Until she crosses paths with Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns and runs the Japanese Circus Casino in Las Vegas. He insists Owl retrieve an artifact stolen three thousand years ago, and makes her an offer she can’t refuse: he’ll get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead. A dragon is about the only entity on the planet that can deliver on Owl’s vampire problem—and let’s face it, dragons are known to eat the odd thief.
Owl had a promising career ahead of her as an archeologist until she uncovered a supernatural site and her department made her a scapegoat. Archeologists don’t allow publication of supernatural sites. They keep them covered up.
Now Owl is using her knowledge as a very discreet and very expensive thief. It was going well until she accidentally exposed an ancient vampire to the sun during a job and his underlings are angry. Now she’s on the run and living off the grid with her Egyptian Mau cat, Captain. His breed was developed to sense and fight vampires.
The Japanese Circus is a Las Vegas casino that turns out to be owned by a dragon. She did a job for him without knowing he was a dragon and now he wants another. She can’t really refuse and stay alive.
This is a great start to a series that is different than other urban fantasy stories. Owl’s friend Nadya got out of the archeology program too and now runs a bar in Tokyo. You find out a lot about the host and hostess bar culture in Tokyo where having an attractive person pay attention to you is part of the provided atmosphere. The creatures in this supernatural world are familiar but each has a few different characteristics that aren’t commonly seen.
Owl is stubborn and doesn’t listen well to advice. She gets into trouble over and over because of it. That can get a little annoying to read but the author has made it make sense in context. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series.
