Kristi Charish

Fans of Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, and Linda Hamilton will flock to the kick-ass world of Owl, a modern-day “Indiana Jane” who reluctantly navigates the hidden supernatural world. 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 retraces the steps of Mr. Kurosawa’s ancient thief from Japan to Bali with the help of her best friend, Nadya, and an attractive mercenary. As it turns out though, finding the scroll is the least of her worries. When she figures out one of Mr. Kurosawa’s trusted advisors is orchestrating a plan to use a weapon powerful enough to wipe out a city, things go to hell in a hand basket fast…and Owl has to pick sides.

Owl and the Japanese Circus

The first in an exciting series featuring the unforgettable antiquities thief Owl—a modern-day “Indiana Jane” who reluctantly navigates the hidden supernatural world—from the pen of rising urban fantasy star Kristi Charish (The Kincaid Strange series). For fans of Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, Jennifer Estep, Jenn Bennett, and the like. 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 retraces the steps of Mr. Kurosawa’s ancient thief from Japan to Bali with the help of her best friend, Nadya, and an attractive mercenary. As it turns out though, finding the scroll is the least of her worries. When she figures out one of Mr. Kurosawa’s trusted advisors is orchestrating a plan to use a weapon powerful enough to wipe out a city, things go to hell in a hand basket fast…and Owl has to pick sides.

Sarah Escorsa

☠ DNF at 15%. Because there is only so much complete, total, utter stupidity I can take.

My collection of Stupidly Stupid Pieces of Crap (SSPoC™) is on the rise! Go me! I feel so special right now, and so lucky to have come across such an amazing gem! What a wonderfully crafted, beautifully told story! I blissfully enjoyed every single minute I wasted spent DNFing reading it. This, ladies and gentleman, is the Marvelous Magic of Books (MMB™). You know, when you get so aggravated by lost in the tale you are reading that you want to smash your Kindle against the nearest wall the outside world disappears, and all of your troubles with it? Peace, serenity, fulfillment and stuff. It really is a thing of beauty.


Get it? Good. It looks like there might be hope for you yet, my Little Barnacles. Wow. Who would have thought?!

Okay. Time to cut the Stupid Crap and get right to the Stupid Point. What is so Stupidly Stupid about this particular PoC™? The delightfully entertaining and superiorly witty heroine!  I love her. What an amazing mc she is. But just how amazing is she, you ask? Well, our dear girl Owl has so many stellar qualities I'm not sure where to begin, but I will try and make a short list for you (because I am really nice and thoughtful and stuff). Let's see…stupid lovely Owl is (check all that apply):

➘ Stupidly Named.
But you probably didn't need me to point that out.

➘ Stupidly Full of Herself. 
Yeah, she's pretty awesome. It's just that she's the only one who knows it. Okay, that's not really fair. To be honest, our Silly Girl in residence can be pretty talented: she can read and write ten languages, including Japanese, fluently. Two of them are even dead. Bloody hell, the girl's a genius. More or less. I mean, she's super fluent in TEN freaking languages, but she just can’t speak or understand a word of any of them. And that makes perfect sense. Told you the girl was a genius. Watch out, Stephen Hawking, Owl is out to get you!

➘ Stupidly Immature. 
Silly Owl is so refreshingly juvenile that reading her Silly Adventures make me feel like I'm 12 again. It's absolutely delightful.

➘ Stupidly Annoying. 
But that might just be me. I am, after all, quite allergic to idiotic nitwits.

➘ Stupidly Stupid. 
But, who knows, it may be nothing but a cunning act on her part. Yeah, that's probably it. Silly Owl must be an Undercover Airhead (UA™). I mean, no one can really be that stupid, right?



➘ Stupidly Filthy Rich.
We kind of got that she had truck loads of money the first 200 times you mentioned it, Kristi Charish. But hey, you can never be too careful. Your readers are probably as superiorly intelligent as Ms Einstein Owl here, so it's better to play it safe and rehash a little bit to make sure they get your point. That brand dropping thing is quite the genius idea, by the way: by naming Chanel, Versace, Vuitton and Ralph Lauren about 225659 times, I think there is a slight possibility that your brain-dead readers might understand that Silly Owl has tons of doe. And that she might be Stupidly Superficial. Which takes us right to ↓↓

➘ Stupidly Superficial.
Damn, that girl is so good she makes Kim Kardashian look like a total amateur. Owl, you are my hero. Forget Lady, forget Kate Daniels, I want to be you when I grow up. Oh yeah, that would definitely be a dream come true.



By the way, do you know what else makes Owl super stupid special? She manages to get the hots for a blond, Caucasian (and obviously good-looking) guy in Tokyo. Because, come on, who would fall for a yucky, brown-haired (and obviously ugly as hell) Asian guy?! In Tokyo, of all places?! Ew. Ew. Ew. Okay, it seems that I'm being unusually unfair again (must be some weird virus I caught). Apparently,  you see a lot of blonds in Japan, Japanese and Caucasian. Oops, my bad, I stand dutifully corrected. I guess this means Dear Owl is not so stupid special after all. I guess it just means she has crappy taste in men. 

Oh, and guess what else? Owl is pretty stupid, too. Yes, absolutely. I kid you not.



And the rest of the characters of this book? They are so paper-thin and decaffeinated that they make the Kings and Queens of Decaf (aka the Chicagoland Vampires) look like potential Nobel Prize recipients.

And the story? Well, let me think for a second there…I know it was pretty fascinating, and that there was something crucially important I wanted to say about it, but I can't quite recall what it was right now…Oh wait, I know!



➽ And the moral of this non-review is: this was such a pathetic SSPoC™ that it made me want to pick up The Blade Itself again. Yes, it's that bad. But hey, everyone else seems to think this book is pretty awesome. Which probably means everyone I read the book wrong. Again. Well, either that or their my Stupidity Detector is broken. Again.

Nickie Mohler

I loved this book! Owl is a thief, or should I say procurer of artifacts. She doesn't want anything to do with supernaturals, but you don't always get what you want. The characters are great. Owl, Nadya, Rynn, and her cat Captain help make a very interesting tale. I love all things paranormal. supernatural, etc. I hate books that are more romance than supernatural. That being said, this book was perfect for me. Heavy on the supernatural, with a little romance thrown in. I definitely recommend this book!

Owl and the Japanese Circus

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