Jo-Jo, skilled healer and beautician and her sister Sophia,
bad-ass body disposer and Goth extraordinaire have been a
part of Gin Blanco's life since she met her foster father
Fletcher Lane, aka the assassin Tin Man. Years ago Fletcher
rescued Sophia from a madman on a mountain top, one who was
obsessed with owning her and breaking her down. Now that
Fletcher is dead, the man, his evil sister and his gang of
moonshiners have taken Sophia, shot Jo-Jo and ruined a
perfectly fine girl's day at Jo-Jo's salon.
Against a gang of men holed up in their mountain hide out,
Gin brings her skill as the assassin known as the Spider, a
few good men and her deadly desire to rescue a member of her
family; hardly a fair fight.
Jennifer Estep always weaves in a bit of Spider's past
adventures, particularly the elements that created her
current ties and relationships with the characters in Gin
Blanco's chosen family. In HEART OF VENOM, the ninth of the
series, flashbacks to events in book one are essential to
bringing home to the reader just how important saving Sophia
is to Gin. Although her desire to protect is more than
enough to motivate her, when you add the connection to
finishing something her beloved Fletcher Lane started Gin's
desire to wipe this particular scum from the earth explodes
into a need greater than taking her next breath.
I have read more than one book where flashbacks are inserted
awkwardly like prunes into raisin bread. Jennifer Estep on
the other hand slips them in wherever she needs them to be
with no detraction to her story. Although the flashbacks in
the main narrative can't help but create some level of
interruption they provide another tool in ratcheting up the
tension underlying the main thrust of the action instead of
merely being an informational device.
It isn't often that the ninth in a series provides the same
level of excitement and thrill as the first, but with Estep
writing it, you can count on each book adding even more
polish to the legend of the Spider while giving readers the
connection they crave to the world and characters they have
been following for years. The Elemental Assassin
series is one of the best out there and I think it will be
considered essential reading in any future literature class
focused on Urban Fantasy. In the meantime it is pure,
adrenalin ridden, kick-ass reading for the Spider's many
fans.
The hotly anticipated ninth novel in the hugely popular
Elemental Assassin series finds Gin Blanco on a dangerous
mission to rescue a friend.
When a terror from the past threatens Gin’s friend and
body-disposer, Sophia, Gin will stop at nothing to protect
her, even if it means walking straight into a killer’s trap.
Meanwhile, the rocky romance between Gin and Owen reaches a
turning point—can they reunite and rekindle their love? Or
will the things Gin has been forced to do in her line of
work as the deadly assassin the Spider keep them apart
forever? Assuming, that is, she survives long enough to find
out...
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