Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Review: Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep


Title: Spider’s Bite
Series: Elemental Assassin #1
Available: Now
Number of pages: 395
Reading level: Adult




4 out of 5 Stars










Description from Goodreads:


"My name is Gin, and I kill people." 

My name is Gin Blanco. They call me the Spider — the most feared assassin in the South (and a part-time cook at the Pork Pit BBQ joint.) As a Stone elemental, I can hear the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet and feel the vibrations of the soaring mountains above me, though I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride. 

After a ruthless Air elemental double-crossed me and killed my handler, I'm out for revenge. And I'll exterminate anyone who gets in my way. I may look hot in a miniskirt, but I'm still one of the bad guys. Which is why I'm in trouble when irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine agrees to help. The last thing a coldhearted killer needs when she's battling a magic more powerful than her own is a sexy distraction ... especially when he wants her dead just as much as the enemy.


My thoughts:


Gin Blanco was left to fend for herself after her family was brutally murdered by a fire wielding elemental. Living on her own on the rough streets of Ashland, and eating out of dumpsters to survive all while still a child. Then Fletcher Lane took her in, served as a father figure, and eventually introduced her to the life of an assassin. Now Gin is all grown up, and has quite a reputation as the paid killer known as "The Spider". Her most recent assignment is supposed to be a quick and straightforward kill. After Gin planned to take a much needed vacation. Imagine her surprise when the person who ordered the hit decides to double cross The Spider by hiring another assassin to take her out, murdering her handler, and torturing a man close to her. Gin puts the vacation on hold while she seeks revenge for those she loves. 


This was an exciting start to a new series. I never thought I’d sympathize with an assassin until I met Gin. The poor girl has had a rough life, and now focuses on taking the law into her own hands. Most of the people she is hired to kill are pretty sleazy folk so that makes the whole hitman thing a little easier to forgive. She is very skilled in hand to hand combat as well as the use of knives. As an elemental she also has the power of stone and ice to fall back on. She is the epitome of badass chick, and a great addition to the Urban Fantasy genre!


I enjoyed the world the author created, but I wish she would have given a little more background on the elementals and how it all worked. I also wasn’t feeling the chemistry between Gin and Detective Caine. I was secretly rooting for Finn to sweep her off of her feet, but the references to him being like family dashed most of my hopes of a Gin and Finn hookup.  Still a really strong start to the series. I’m currently devouring the second book, Web of Lies


Jennifer Estep on the web:

Website | Blog | Twitter


Books in this series:


Spider's Bite (Elemental Assassin, Book 1)Web of Lies (Elemental Assassin, Book 2)Venom (Elemental Assassin, Book 3)





Source: Purchased by moi.

3 comments:

  1. This sounds promising. I'll have to check it out! Great cover too.

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  2. Great review! I bought it recently and can't wait to read it too. I took a quick look at your reviews for the following books and saw that you gave them even higher ratings (I didn't read those though since I didn't want any spoilers), so I'm looking forward to discovering this UF series.

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