Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Book Review: Spider's Bite

Spider's Bite

By:  Jennifer Estep

Publisher:  Pocket Books

Publish Date:  February 2010

Format:  Paperback 395pgs, pocket size

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  1st book in An Elemental Assassin series

Recommendation:  Yes, a light, quick assassin action read.

Book Synopsis:
My name is Gin, and I kill people.

The call me the Spider.  I'm the most feared assassin in the South - when I'm not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland.  As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me.  My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife.  But I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to.  Call it professional pride.

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

First Sentence:
"My name is Gin, and I kill people."

My Thoughts and Summary:
Gin, a stone Elemental finishes a job at the asylum and returns to the Pork Pit, like after every job, to meet with Fletcher - her handler and father figure - who hands her a folder with information on her next job.  A job that she doesn't want to take as she wants to go on vacation, but after seeing the obscene pay for it, she will go on vacation afterward.  She is to assassinate the CFO of an important company as he's been found at playing with the books.  Gin thinks the touchy part...he's an Air Elemental, but he may not be the Air Elemental she needs to be worried about.  Taking this assignment quickly turns Gin into the assignment and fall guy, and brings grieving and great danger to the family she's acquired.  Now the man she was to kill, she needs to save in order to save her own neck, along with the man meeting with him - the one and only cop that is on the straight and narrow, and hot looking, Donovan Caine.  Will an honest cop be able to work with an assassin?  Let alone the assassin who killed his partner?

This is not the dark gritty assassin read I usually read.  It had a light feel to it, and a fast read.  And I enjoyed it for that.  It was a quick read for me to sit down, pick up, and flip the pages.  A relaxing read for me.  Hard to believe relaxing with an assassin. lol.

I seemed to be flying through the pages, looking to see what would happen with Gin, what would she find out, what next fight would she get into.  And wanting to see the elemental magics held by her and others.  Then I was worried about Finn, Fletcher's son, wondering if he would stay safe.  And we can't forget about the handsome "good" cop, Donovan Caine.  I wondered if he would come around to seeing the world really isn't all black and white, and Gin falls in the gray area.  And what would become of them.

I really like the elemental magic here.  Being a Stone Elemental Gin can feel all the emotions ~ good and bad from stone; roads, walls, and so on.  But she has a touch of Ice Elemental too.  There are different elementals and degrees to their powers, as we see through the book.  This city Gin calls home, isn't such a happy place, and by the end of the book we start to understand that feeling more.


The first chapter starts with Gin on a job, and hints at what all this world has to hold for us.  And starts us out with action, Gin at her best work - killing with a screw and a pen.  We then slow down for a few pages to meet Fletcher, see more of the world, and get hints to Gin's past.  The hints make us curious to know more.


In the end, I got most of my answers.  I say most as the ending leaves me stunned with what Gin finds Fletcher had a file on.  A file that references Gin's past, which he pieced together and still loved Gin wholly.  I have the second book here, and look forward to following through with Gin to learn more about her, her past family, and keeping an eye out for Donovan.  And there is a tie to that Fire Elemental, Queen Mobstress I'm wondering on too.

I got the feel of much more to come, that ties with who we have learned about here in this book.


I read this book for my own enjoyment.

23 comments:

  1. It's the only one I read for now in this series, but I have book 2 and 3 too. Well I confess I don't remember a lot about the book. I think I really need to read more reviews to remember lol. I'm glad you enjoyed it hope it will be the same for the others.

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    1. Melliane - I have the second one here and I'm curious to see what comes from her on out. :) Thank you!

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  2. Great review! i've read this series and have to say its one of my fav UF's. One thing in the following books is there's a LOT of repetition of explaining Gin's background. Enough to annoy but not stop reading. Hope you enjoy the series as much as i did...

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    1. Thank you Smitten with Bad Boy Heroes. :) Glad you liked the review and enjoy these books. :) I'm looking forward to seeing what else goes on with Gin. And thanks for the warning. I thought that the same history was mentioned a good bit here too.

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  3. oh, the opening line is the best i've EVER read!! lol!

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  4. The first part is nice and good; the rest- not so, at least not to me. I stopped reading it after a while but I really liked this one!

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    1. Anachronist, I have to say there were a good bit of down times too. That's what I get for writing the review at work quickly. I wanted to mention that the action and movement would pick up then it would stop when it got going, slowing down to information again. But a very good start. :) Thank you!

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  5. I'm glad you enjoyed this one. I can't wait to see how you feel about the characters as the series keeps moving on. :)

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    1. Melissa (Books & Things) - Oh, I know... you want me to meet Owen. ;D LOL! I do need to meet him from all your praise of him. lol

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  6. This is one UF series I've been meaning to read for ages - so many people rave about it. Any fast paced and relaxing read will be a nice change as I feel like it's been a little heavy recently...I so need to read this!

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    1. Mel - Its a good start to a series. I'm curious to see what the next books have in stor for us. Hope you get to read it one day. :)

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  7. I was sadly not wowed, or maybe I had too high expectations. But at least you liked it :D

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    1. I can see not being wowed by this one, BLodeuedd. I thought it was a good read, but was it worth all the praise? For me, no not really. But a very good start. I'm curious to see where the characters go with the characters.

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  8. It's so much fun to read someone else's favourable review of a book I love! You have so much more exciting discoveries to make and wonderful characters to meet in the next books. I can't wait! :D

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    1. Mirjam, So glad to see you enjoyed this one too. :) I do look forward to the next books. I'll have to find time. :) Thank you!

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  9. So glad you liked it. This is one of my favourite UF series! Thanks for the post.

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    1. Hey Jenn. I had a few small catches with it, but it's the first book of the series so I'm sure things will clear up with the books to come in the future. But very good start!

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  10. I've heard mix things on this series. I'm not sure it's one I would put other reads aside for, kwim?

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    1. Jackie - lol. I know you have some series stacks going on there, so yes, wait on it. ;D Thank you!

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  11. Yaaay, So happy you liked this book. Yeah, it's not too dark. I love Gin and Finn so much. And it's only going to get better from here. Great review.

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    1. Jennifer L Bielman - Thank you! I'm curious to see what all else happens with Gin and Fin. :) Thank you!

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  12. Great review! Sounds like you really enjoyed yourself. I've got a friend who also LOVES this author's work so I can't say I'm a stranger to the name. ^_^ Happy reading!

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    1. GMR - Thank you! It was a nice light read that made it easy to get through so quickly. :) Thank you!

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