In Ashland, dwarves, giants, vampires and witches are the norm, along with those that are known as elementals. Elementals are people who can control one of the four elements-- fire, ice, stone and air. Gin Blanco is a strong stone elemental who is a part time assassin and a full time cook at the Pork Pit. Known throughout Ashland as the Spider, Gin is the most feared assassin in the South. When her handler, Fletcher Lane, sends her out right after she completes her latest assignment, Gin's curiosity, along with the client paying her double her going rate, gets the best of her.

When Gin's client attempts a double-cross and kills Fletcher, Gin finds herself on the other end of the assassin game, trying to keep herself and those she loves alive. Teaming up with the last honest cop in Ashland doesn't make things any easier either. Detective Donovan Caine may be the sexiest man Gin has laid eyes on, but he hates her for murdering his partner and wouldn't be broken up over her death. With the magically stronger unknown enemy closing in on them, Gin is going to have to use all her assassin skills to make sure she, and those she cares about, all get out alive.

Jennifer Estep's SPIDER'S BITE is the first in a gritty new series featuring assassin Gin Blanco. From the moment you read the first line, you are pulled into an unapologetic world where magic rules and you take everything you can get. There's no glossing over the unpleasantness of Gin's job. In fact, she revels in every bit of it; the hunt, the kill, going home covered in blood after making someone a widow or an orphan. That's what makes this book work. Gin is who she is; she knows she's not a good guy and makes no apologies for it, which makes her likable. The banter between Gin and Finn Lane, Fletcher's son, is highly entertaining and the fire that burns between her and Donovan Caine is singe worthy. I can't wait to read more about them and find out if Detective Caine will ever loosen up his morals enough to allow him to be with Gin. A must read for anyone who enjoys having a daring and dangerous killer heroine kick ass.