Longer review later, but what fun this was! Owl is refreshingly upfront about why she does what she does (its for the money) and I'm honestly intrigued by the supernatural world she's getting unfortunately caught up in (Japanese dragons!!).

Also cat on a leash that's potty trained on the toilet and sense vampires. Guys...guys come on. I need one. ( )

Owl, ex-archaeology grad student turned international antiquities thief gets an offer she can’t refuse from Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon. If she retrieves an artifact stolen thousands of years ago will he get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead. She agrees to the offer, not only because of her vampire problem but because dragons like to eat thieves.

This is the first book (of many I hope) about Owl and a very good first book. I liked Owl from the beginning. She’s a smart mouth thief with a knack for finding trouble and a faithful companion by her side; Captain a vampire-hating cat. Owl has been laying low for months now hiding from vampires after a deal gone sour. So an offer from a dragon to get rid of her problem is perfect even though she usually tries to stay the hell away from supernaturals.

Beside Owl and the Captain, we also get to meet Nadya, her best friend, Rynn, bartender and also the guy she’s been shunning since he kissed her. Oricho and Lady Siyu that works for Mr. Kurosawa and are the ones that Owl has to report to.But the guy I liked the most is actually the one that we hardly get to meet, Carpe, Owls online gaming partner. Yeah, Owl likes to play an online game called World Quest when she’s not out stealing…eh, I mean retrieving artifacts. Of course, old enemies show up, like Alexander a vampires that really don’t like her.

Of course, finding the artifact isn’t a piece of cake and soon Owl, Nadya, and Rynn are in deep trouble and they have to fight vampires, Nagas and other creatures along the way.

I liked the book for its adventure, its action, and its humor. It was a fun and a pleasant read and I truly recommend this book to anyone that likes adventure books with a strong female character. Owl is great, she’s not perfect. For instance, she has a tendency to talk when she should keep her mouth shut. I even liked the relationship between Owl and Ryan and I’m extremely picky when it comes to romance.

Now I'm just looking forward to the next book!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

I appreciate Owl's bad attitude and bad-assery, but I'm not quite swept away just yet.

I think part of it is her very judgmental friends (which may seem like a weird statement, given that they are always trying to help her with things). I guess I feel like they don't trust her, and they feel overly betrayed by her past on a few occasions and I think, well, she's your friend and you're deciding after the fact, with full hindsight, that she made mistakes and that's just dumb. Either you think well enough of your friend to back her, or you should get new friends. Eh, I guess I'm saying that there's something off for me in the dynamics between characters, and it irks me. Never mind.

Solid urban fantasy adventure. Not so solid morals on the main character, and some really stupid decisions, but interesting. ( )

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I bought this book years ago and never got around to reading it for one reason or another until now. I really shouldn’t have put it off because it really was a good time. I have read a lot of urban fantasy in my life but this is the first time that I remember reading one that included an archeology angle and I must say that I liked it.

Owl was once a promising archeology student but she found something that she should have and was pushed out of the program. Now she earns a living getting antiques to private buyers, often through theft. The vampires are out to get her from a previous incident and now a dragon wants her to find an artifact for him. Her journey will take her from Vegas to Japan then Bali and she will encounter one bad situation after another.

I found this book to be really exciting. There was a lot of action and the story kept me guessing until the very end. Owl was great and I loved the way that she gave her tasks everything she had. Her vampire attacking cat, Captain, added a lot to the story and I really liked the friends that worked to help Owl with her mission. There was even a bit of romance to keep things really interesting.

I would recommend this book to others. I found it to be a really well-done introduction to a very promising series. I cannot wait to read about Owl’s next adventure. ( )

This is the second book I've read this year with a former archaeology student getting involved with the the paranormal. Alix is a grad student that stumbles onto the supernatural world during a dig and the information is promptly covered up and she quickly finds herself bounced out of her program and all her research work stolen by the university and given to someone else. To make ends meet she starts stealing artifacts for the black market and after a year she gets sucked back into the supernatural archaeological world. Being on the run for almost a year after accidentally killing a vampire during a dig she gets an offer she can’t refuse. Retrieve an object for a dragon and all her problems with the vampires will go away.

The story does use quite a bit of different mythologies and doesn't stick to the usual vampire and werewolf only that you see in so many urban fantasies. I’ll pick up the next one since the teaser for book 2 was at the end and it certainly caught my attention.

Digital copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
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