The third exciting novel starring 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) and for fans of Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, Jennifer Estep, Jenn Bennett, and fantasy lovers everywhere.
The International Archaeology Association (IAA) is responsible for keeping all things supernatural under wraps. They're also responsible for ruining the promising archaeology career of Alix Hiboux, better known as Owl.
Needless to say, Owl's still a little sore about that.
Just to keep Owl's life lively, the IAA has opened a bounty on the two designers of World Quest, the online RPG that is much, much more than it seems. Owl needs to locate the notorious gaming duo before the other mercenaries do. But finding the gamers won't be easy since every clue points to them hiding out in the legendary lost city of Shangri-La. Not to mention that the last time Owl and the game designers spoke, their conversation didn't exactly end on the best note...
Meanwhile, undercurrents of supernatural politics are running amok in Tokyo, dragging Owl and her friends into a deadly game of wits with an opponent who calls himself the Electric Samurai. The cost of losing? All-out civil war between two powerful supernatural factions.
All in all, just another great day on the job.
Owl dubs the suit of armor the Electric Samurai, and I loved all the tidbits we uncover about it during Owls quest. Her cases cross when her search for the missing designers has her hunting for the legendary lost city of Shangri-La. Intense and action-packed, with a few twists, including an unlikely ally, kept me flipping the pages. Owl once again has to handle betrayals, deals and outsmarting supernatural entities and beings. While Owl still makes rash decisions and leaps head first we do see listen and accept help from others.
Owl is a modern day Indian Jones who finds herself collecting antiquities for Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns and runs the Japanese Circus Casino in Las Vegas. In this third installment, Owl finds herself contracted out to the Elves to retrieve a supernatural suit of armor. The IAA wants her to locate the missing designers of World Quest, and the IAA has merchantries on her tail. Such is the life of Owl. Thankfully she has Rynn, her succubus boyfriend, Captain her supernatural sniffing cat and others like Nadya. Let us not forget a certain World Quest elf named Carpe, who almost got them all killed in the last book.
I absolutely love the characters in this series from a bitter and fanged snake to Captain the cat who kills me with his antics. The romantic thread is kept to a minimum which isn't surprising considering all of the trouble Owl finds herself in. It was fun to see them work side by side, or should I say, watch Rynn try to keep Owl out of trouble.
While each book features a new adventure or quest, there is an overall story arc, character growth and more that make it essential to read or listen to these books in order.
Nadya wasn't present as she is off in Tokyo dealing with power plays. This was an interesting thread that teases us unmercifully, and I am anxious to know more. Maybe we will learn more in the next book, OWL, AND THE TIGER THIEVES. Thankfully we won't have to wait long as it releases on September 25th of this year. Charish left us with a cliffhanger that has me counting down the days!
Copy provided by the publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
23 May, 2017:
Finished reading
-
23 May, 2017:
Reviewed