Monday, April 8, 2019

Spider's Bite (Elemental Assassin #1) by Jennifer Estep




Publication: January 26, 2010
Publisher: Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster
Source: Purchased My Own Copy



Synopsis:

“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.
 



******

Gin…aka the Spider is definitely a strong lead character in this series.  Having suffered the horrible pain of losing her family in a tragic fire at a young age, Gin’s life has been anything but easy. Living on the streets as a teenager, she is taken in by a seemingly kind man who owns a diner. It is in that moment that her life changes again. Fast forward years later and we see her as the Spider, a cunning and well-known assassin. She’s good at what she does and she has a small but effective support team. That is until someone decided to double cross her and kill her handler. Now Gin is racing against the clock to not only avenge the murder of her handler and father figure, but also to prove to the cops that she's not the assassin they are looking for. Gin is smart, but it’s clear from the start that she is going to need help tracking down the person behind her setup. Thankfully she has Finnegan Lane to help her. They have a sort of brother/sister relationship. Not to mention Finnegan’s dad was Gin’s handler, so he has a stake in making sure his dad’s murderer pays. I enjoyed Gin and Finnegan’s scenes. They worked really well together and it showed.

One of the things I did not like was Donovan Cain, Gin’s “love interest”; if you can call him that. Gin killed his partner so I could get were some of Donovan’s anger and resentment came from. But it was annoying to have that fact thrown in my face every 5 seconds when he was in the scene. There is supposedly this attraction between Donovan and Gin, but in all honesty I felt like Gin was way more attracted to him then he was to her. And I don't see any real chemistry between them at all. He may be hot, but his personality gives him the air of a jackass. And I don't even see why Gin likes him in the first place aside from his hot body. A body that she talks about on numerous occasions when she fantasizes about sleeping with him.

Aside from that, I liked the story and the pace of things. Nothing felt rushed or dragged out. What made me pick up Spider’s Bite originally, was the story of an assassin who could wield elemental magic. That idea was really intriguing to me and I enjoyed learning a little more about it as the story progressed. I liked Gin and her attitude. She is a kick-ass assassin. She kills people and she makes no apologies for it. Gin doesn't care whether you like her, love her, or hate her; she'll keep doing what she's doing because it's something that she's good at. And it's profitable. Loved the side characters is the story. It felt like almost every character added something good to the story and made it what it was; a fun and entertaining read.



RATING: 3 out of 5.





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