Spider’s Trap by Jennifer Estep

Getting another glimpse of the young Gin before she evolved into the Spider is always quite interesting. The reader gets a chance to understand her motivation a little bit better, and just how much Fletcher shaped her as an assassin and as a person.

This time it isn’t quite as obvious whether Gin has a new nemesis or not, because neither the target nor the intention of the new enemy is clear. Snippets of memory are dragging on Gin’s subconscious. Her gut feeling is trying to warn her and make her remember something she has locked away in a tidy little box in her head. It’s strange that Gin feels guilt rather than a sense of empathy with the actual target of the attacks. They have a lot in common, and yet perceive each other as enemies.

As a reader you can still feel the ripple of mega Mab being gone. So far not one person has lived up her evil scheming ways and ice-cold heart. Gin is just chewing them up and spitting them out like old bubble gum. Estep needs to make sure to keep the story fresh for long time readers and intriguing enough that new readers want to go back to the beginning. It’s time for a real challenge and not just another ode to her greatness.

Estep slips in the next potential threat in a very subtle way. A person who will certainly wreak havoc on Gin’s family and friends, Can’t wait to see the fallout from that in the next book.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.
To read more about the The Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep: The Cold Burn of Magic, The Poison Promise, The Spider, The Black Widow, Heart of Venom and Deadly Sting.

Heart of Venom by Jennifer Estep

After the lukewarm performance of the previous book in this series I am happy to say that both Gin and Estep have got their groove back.

After the unfortunate demise of Mab, Gin has been in dire need of a worthy opponent. The psycho sibling villain combo in this book fit the bill quite nicely. Gin has to settle an old debt from the Fletcher’s past. She gets all gung-ho and forest ninja to try to save an old friend.

I liked the fact that the author took Gin back to her feisty murderous self in this story. She doesn’t spend an entire book wondering about Owen or beating herself up about killing Salina. Gin goes back to her old mantra of some people just deserve to die and she is the one that should help them on their way.

After all the hardcore Spider action I wasn’t overly keen on the way the book ended, but who cares Gin got her groove back. It is a Gin with a huge slice of humanity bouncing round inside her though and I wonder whether that will have some impact on her insect antics further on down the line.
A cracking read.
I received a copy of this book via Edelweiss courtesy of the publisher.

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Deadly Sting by Jennifer Estep

I have to be honest I kind of miss big bad Mab. Things were so much more fun when Gin was always trying to find a way to slay that nasty piece of work. Gin needs another arch-enemy asap.

Now you may wonder why I think that, well that’s because I think there were far too many giants in this story. In fact the author seems to have forgotten that there are actually other supernatural beings or elementals who could serve as villains. It made this all a bit one-dimensional. It was just all a bit easy for Gin.

True it might have been because the whole scenario takes place in the space of one night, which I must admit is quite an interesting concept. Gin does her version of Bruce Willis in Die Hard.

Owen deserves a slap round the face with a wet kipper as far as I am concerned. Talk about being a drama diva. He needs to wake up and smell the roses before Gin moves on to greener pastures. In fact I think the author should introduce a new hot-blooded male, preferably dark and dangerous, to get her pulse racing and to make Owen reconsider his actions. Gin needs someone who will accept her regardless of the fact she might have to kill the odd ex-girlfriend of her boyfriend’s. I mean that could happen to anyone right?

This did feel like an interim book. Sort of an in between morsel till the next. After the book with the epic showdown with Mab and Owen acting like a complete plonker, any book after that was going to have trouble living up to the hype. Not as strong as the previous ones perhaps, but one that fans will lap up anyway. I think Estep is keeping all her eggs in a basket for the next one in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Edelweiss.