Thursday, December 26, 2013

Review: The Spider by Jennifer Estep

The Spider
Release Date: December 24, 2013
Publisher: Pocket Books
ISBN:   1451689012
ISBN13: 9781451689013
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Edelweiss
The tenth book in the bestselling and “outstanding” (Romantic Times) Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series finally reveals for the first time the origins of Gin Blanco’s career as the deadliest of assassins.

For the first time, the origins of Gin Blanco’s career as the deadly assassin “the Spider” are revealed in full. In a story that pre-dates the other nine books in the series, Gin Blanco goes through her paces to become the most feared assassin in the Ashland.

THE SPIDER brings us back to the beginning of Gin's career. I admit that it was a little weird at times and I know this will sound bad but I really enjoyed watching Gin stumble around and make crazy decisions based on anything but her head. Seeing Fletcher again was nice as well. He is present in other novels but he was front and center for a good chunk of THE SPIDER. You can really get a feel for their connection as well as how he trained Gin.

As for the plot, I enjoyed it. It was a little predictable and I wasn't crazy about all the coincidental run ins involving people who are now in her life but I still enjoyed reading about Gin's adventure and trials as a new assassin trying to find herself. Could I have gone on with the series without reading THE SPIDER? Probably, but I wouldn't want to. Jennifer is a fantastic writer and Gin is a fantastic character that I can not seem to get enough of. I am patiently (OK maybe not so patiently) waiting for POISON PROMISE and I am looking forward to getting back to the present day with Gin and her gang. 

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.