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Spider's Bite (Elemental Assassin #1)

by Jennifer Estep (Goodreads Author)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 11,677 ratings · 1,000 reviews

After Gin’s family was murdered by a Fire elemental when she was thirteen, she lived on the streets and eventually became an assassin to survive. Now, Gin is given an assignment by her handler to rub out an Ashland businessman, but it turns out to be a trap. After Gin’s handler is brutally murdered, she teams up with the sexy detective investigating the case to figure out...more

ebook, 313 pages

Published January 26th 2010 by Pocket Books (first published January 4th 2010)

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Kick Ass Female Heroines in Paranormal Genre

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Aug 16, 2011 AH rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, urban-fantasy, first-in-series, zzread-feb2011, vamps

Urban fantasy books are often saturated with the kick ass, snarky heroine, the requisite love interest, the paranormal creatures, cool weapons, and the evil bad guy or gal. Yes – this book has all that, but it felt like it had more. Set in the corrupt town of Ashland, Tennessee, Spider’s Bite has a dirty, gritty feel.

Gin Blanco is known as The Spider, a female assassin. She is extremely good at her job and is well compensated for her skills. Gin has standards, a kind of moral code. She does not...more Urban fantasy books are often saturated with the kick ass, snarky heroine, the requisite love interest, the paranormal creatures, cool weapons, and the evil bad guy or gal. Yes – this book has all that, but it felt like it had more. Set in the corrupt town of Ashland, Tennessee, Spider’s Bite has a dirty, gritty feel.

Gin Blanco is known as The Spider, a female assassin. She is extremely good at her job and is well compensated for her skills. Gin has standards, a kind of moral code. She does not kill children or the innocent.

I liked the originality of this book. While there are vampires in this book, their abilities are not really expanded upon, except that they seem to heal quickly. There are also giants and dwarves. There are also people that can control elemental magic – from air, fire, stone, ice, etc. Gin is an elemental. She has the ability to use stone and ice magic. While stone and ice are not the most powerful elemental magics out there, it is hinted that Gin has some extraordinary powers. I would have liked to have had more information on these elemental magic practitioners – How did they get the magic? Were they born with it? Can they learn it?

The world building in this book was intriguing. Basically, it felt like our world but with paranormal elements. Gin lives in a corrupt city which is policed by a corrupt police force. Even the organized crime elements felt like a paranormal mafia.

Our heroine Gin Blanco comes from tragic circumstances. Her family died in a fire, leaving her homeless. She is “found” by Fletcher, who gives her odd jobs in exchange for food. She later becomes an assassin and Fletcher acts as her handler. I found Fletcher to be a most interesting character, even though he was not around for most of the book.

I liked all the people that surrounded Gin. Finnegan Lane (Finn), Fletcher’s son was a wonderful character. I so wanted Gin to be his love interest, but it was not happening. Finn was a great supporting character.

I had trouble believing the attraction between Gin and Donovan Craig. I did not like the way that Donovan treated Gin. I found that his character fell flat for me because of his condescending attitude towards Gin, even though he was alive because of her.

The villain was especially evil and scary. I enjoyed the mystery of figuring out who she was and I was pleasantly surprised when I had guessed wrong. I loved the ending and it made me rush out to find the next book in the series Web of Lies.

Check out my review on Badass Book Reviews
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20 likes · like · see review

Oct 03, 2012 Carolyn F. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-book, urban-fantasy, audiobook-and-owned-book

Re-read via audiobook 09/25/12 Lauren Fortgang is the narrator for this series and has actually done such a great job that I ended up liking the book a whole lot more than when I read it. Maybe I interpreted the voice of the main character in a different way than Lauren and that was to the detriment of the book. I'm upping this to 4 full stars.

Previous review 08/26/12Assassin Gin is sent on a job that pays too much money for her and her handler to pass up. And that's when everything goes to hel...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Felicia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-paranormal, vaginal-urban-fantasy

Welllll, there were some cool things here. I enjoyed the main character enough to go along with the ride, but honestly I didn't really get the love interest guy at all, he didn't really PROVE he was hot and bothered, the writer just kept TELLING me he was, so I didn't really care what happened between them. There were a few leaps in the plot I found a bit disbelieving as well, and I felt the magic of the world, the whole elemental aspect, is SUPER interesting but wasn't exploited enough to feel...more

7 likes · like · see review

Oct 20, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kat-s-book-reviews, romance-romance-romance

The PNR genre has certainly grown a great deal in the past few years, but nothing much has changed.

It still draws a helluva lot of inspiration from Buffy. And who wouldn't? Buffy was hot. Buffy was funny. Buffy kicked arse.

Thankfully Estep's main character, Gin, isn't that funny but she does kick a lot of arse. Often and without all that pesky remorse that most other female protagonists are forced to endure by their cruel creators.

Because remorse is like an STD, folks, you get it by getting cl...more The PNR genre has certainly grown a great deal in the past few years, but nothing much has changed.

It still draws a helluva lot of inspiration from Buffy. And who wouldn't? Buffy was hot. Buffy was funny. Buffy kicked arse.

Thankfully Estep's main character, Gin, isn't that funny but she does kick a lot of arse. Often and without all that pesky remorse that most other female protagonists are forced to endure by their cruel creators.

Because remorse is like an STD, folks, you get it by getting close to people, it never goes away and it makes you a lot less fun to be with when you're not on your medication.

The novel was refreshingly free of duo love interests competing for our protagonist’s affections. You can imagine, after reading so many PNR romances and Urban fantasy novels, that I’m about to gorge out my own eyes before watching two men pussy foot around the same arse-kicking wench until she finally chooses the wrong one. (Penny will agree with me – she always roots for the underdog!)

I would say that my one complaint about this novel is Estep’s heroizing (no, not a ‘real’ word but really, if we all pitch in together then we can MAKE it a real word!) Gin. This chick is an assassin and she never kills a single person in this book that doesn’t thoroughly deserve it. Thoroughly. Estep actually goes to great pains to ensure that we know that every single person knifed or otherwise stabbed (she doesn’t always stab with knives so I don’t want you to confuse the two, folks!) deserves it.

Let’s face it, the majority of her clients are NOT child molester’s and rapists and thugs who get off on torturing people. The majority of her clients are probably stock-brokers or politicians or supreme court judges or some such ilk who haven’t done too much wrong other than pissing off the wrong people.

Look, if you’re going to make your main character a cold hearted bitch – that’s actually okay with me. I can relate to that! But don’t tell us she’ll kill anything (except for children apparently) for a paycheck and then have her only kill bad guys in the actual text. Be brave. Go all out, Estep! I’m actually pretty confident you could pull it off!

This world does have vampires and long-lived dwarves in it but the main paranormal focus comes from the various elemental magic users which is a nice change of pace from the norm. Vampires aren’t even that awesome in this novel. Cool, I’m down with that. It’s not like Dracula was too much of a badass. I mean, c’mon, Van Helsing and co. weren’t exactly the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree as far as a Scooby gang goes.

The writing was smooth, the action was well paced and I enjoyed Gin’s forward and confident nature in dealing with the world around her and with Detective Caine who could stand to pull the stick out of his ass but was otherwise a good love interest and main character.

I will read the rest of this series until it either ends or I get bored. It was interesting and well written enough to keep me around but I wouldn’t say it’s a shining beacon of awesome in the genre like Mind Games was. Then again, what is there to expect? Like the hookers in this book, the PNR genre is getting a little old, a little tired, and looking a little more frayed around the edges. Maybe it’s time for the old girl to call it quits.
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Apr 19, 2012 Bubbles Hunty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: m-f

So this chick is like a stoner, like she controls the elemental magical-ness of Stone. She is also a minor Icer, she controls ice. I'll mention that later, for now let's get to the old-fashioned stoning. She can Listen to stones and make stones move and stuff with her mind. And she can turn her body to rock or something that's like a rock body armor.

Cool right? Except when this chick is aroused she thinks stuff like "I felt my nipples pebble" and I'm like "awkward" (say it really slowly). Who w...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jun 16, 2011 Lisa O. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lisa O. by: Maja

Shelves: uf-or-pnr, fantasy

3.5 stars.

They call Gin Blanco the Spider. She is an assassin, the female version of Jason Bourne. She is also a Stone Elemental, with the power to manipulate a particular element. She is the best at what she does. When she gets framed for a murder she did not commit and becomes the far-from-helpless victim of an intrigue to overthrow the city head honcho, the real murderers are not aware that they've signed their death warrant. Because Gin is pissed and she won't stop until she gets justice and...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Joan{missing the vampire bunny slippers!} rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Joan{missing the vampire bunny slippers!} by: Ashleigh

Shelves: ebooks-i-have, audiobooks-d

I love strong female leads! :D
And Gin is definitely one! I really liked this book! It was really well written and I can safely say that up until now Jennifer Estep hasn't failed me yet! :)
I will most definitely be reading more on this series! :)
Ashleigh you were totally right about this one! It was great! :D

6 likes · like · see review

Mar 03, 2012 Merve Özcan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: immortal, romance, witch, vampire, elemental, assassin, fav-women, demon

Gen(evere), Donovan, Finn, Jojo, Fletcher.
Ah kitap güzeldi güzel olmasına ama çok açıktı, saplantılıydı ve oturmamış karakterler vardı.Gen, ana karakter, Fletcher onun eğitmeni, iş vereni, menajeri...
Donovan bir suikastciye aşık olan dürüst bir polis, doğrucu davud.Ama karakteri tam oturmadığını söylemek zorundayım. Sürekli ikilemde olması beni yordu ve kitabın akıcılığı etkiledi.Finn ise karizmatik erkek karakterdi. Gen ile aralarında bir şeyler geçmiş, birkaç kez tekrar edildi ama nerede, ne z...more Gen(evere), Donovan, Finn, Jojo, Fletcher.
Ah kitap güzeldi güzel olmasına ama çok açıktı, saplantılıydı ve oturmamış karakterler vardı.Gen, ana karakter, Fletcher onun eğitmeni, iş vereni, menajeri...
Donovan bir suikastciye aşık olan dürüst bir polis, doğrucu davud.Ama karakteri tam oturmadığını söylemek zorundayım. Sürekli ikilemde olması beni yordu ve kitabın akıcılığı etkiledi.Finn ise karizmatik erkek karakterdi. Gen ile aralarında bir şeyler geçmiş, birkaç kez tekrar edildi ama nerede, ne zaman, nasıl olduğuna dair bir bilgilendirme yok.Kitabın en başında kimin Fletcher'i öldürdüğüne dair bir fikir edindim. Mab'in bu kızın ailesinin ölümü ile ilgili olduğunu tahmin ettim.(bu arada Ailesinin ölümünün nasıl olduğuna dair kesin olmayan bir resim çizilse de, nedenine dair pek bir bilgi yok)
Kitapta bir çok tekrar vardı. masumları, hayvanları çocukları öldürmem... kaç defa geçti.
Ayrıca Fletcheri bu hayatın gerçeklerinden koruma isteği nedir.Söyle adamın ortağının bir çocuk tecavüzcüsü olduğunu, bu yüzden onu öldürdüğünü. Oda rahat etsin sende değil mi ama. Sanki hiç öğrenmeyecek.Böyle yaparak neyi kanıtlamaya çalıştığını merak ediyorum.
Final beklendiği gibi bitsede, taş elementi(ki gerçekten bir element mi taş, toprak varken?) ni kullanmayı(gerektiği gibi) becerememesi dikkat çekici ve hayal kırıklığı vericiydi. Eğer çetin ceviz bir karakter olacaksan, büyü gücünün hepsini en etkin şekilde kullanmayı bileceksin arkadaş!
Gizli tarif ve dükkanın Gen'e kalacağıda su götürmüyordu zaten. Bir "çok açık" nokta daha. Kimyonmuş bu arada.
Fahişelik yapan vampirler biraz garip geldi. bunlar zengin olamıyorlar mı? onca yıl yaşayıp.
Aslında düşününce kitabın beklenen sonu zayıftı. Donova'nın gelip kızı kurtaracağını adım kadar iyi biliyordum. Şarşırtacak hiç bir şey olmadı kitapta. Akıcıydı güzeldi. espiriliydi. Finn ile olan atışmalar güzeldi. Gen'in kendine olan güveni, işindeki etkinliği, insanların hareketlerini kontrol etme becerisi, ileri gürüşlülüğü karaktere gereken özellikleri vermişti. Ama hikayenin sonlanış biçimi biraz daha kapalı olmalıydı sanırım.
Finninde bir kız için pantolonları yaktığını görmek isteriz bu arada. Sofia'nın olayı nedir merak ediyorum. Yiyor mu cesetleri ne yapıyor? orada hileli bir şeyler belli ki.
Sonraki kitabı okuyacak kadar meraklıyım. İnşallah bu açıklık devam etmez. kitabın her şeyini tahmin ediyorsam okumanın ne anlamı var ki? (less)

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Oct 08, 2011 Lynsey (The Demon Librarian) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I ended up really enjoying this book. I say "ended up" because for the first 50 pages or so I was a little bit worried I wasn't going to like it at all. I'd read a really positive review on it, and I was looking forward to reading it, especially since it would provide a change from vampires and werewolves for a bit (even the most die-hard urban fantasy fan needs a change from time to time!). So it could be a case of expecting too much on my part, perhaps. I admit I was kind of expecting to find...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Emanuela ~plastic duck~ rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

2.5 stars.

I liked the setting: a city in the hand of a powerful and ruthless woman and magic. There are giants, dwarves, vampires but the most fascinating creatures have their own magic which is influenced by an element (Fire, Air, Ice and Stone), even if they do not all possess the same skills in handling it. The non-human creatures are not invincible and irresistible, they're more or less ordinary people, each of them struggling to live their lives in this dark place. We don't know why the wor...more

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Sep 12, 2010 Ami rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy-paranormal-futuristic

2.5 stars

Okay, let me start with the good ones: (1) The story is set in the "present" world; some of the people have extraordinary talent, magical talent, based on one of the elementals: Fire, Ice, Stone, and Air. It makes it easy to follow because there are no big jargons/words or complicated structure of magical worlds (2) The story is kind of fast-paced of a whodunit plot; someone is killed, our heroine is being bertrayed, her handler is killed, and the whole story is about her finding out th...more 2.5 stars

Okay, let me start with the good ones: (1) The story is set in the "present" world; some of the people have extraordinary talent, magical talent, based on one of the elementals: Fire, Ice, Stone, and Air. It makes it easy to follow because there are no big jargons/words or complicated structure of magical worlds (2) The story is kind of fast-paced of a whodunit plot; someone is killed, our heroine is being bertrayed, her handler is killed, and the whole story is about her finding out the truth (3) I kinda like Gin as a heroine, she is smart and ruthless, a perfect assassin but still sarcastic enough to make me like her (4) I also love Finn, her best friend who can also be seen as Gin's "half" brother by closeness of association.

BUT, there are several things that just annoy the HELL out of me, and I can't really get them out of the way to make me love this story more:

(1) The repetitive writing is just DRIVING ME INSANE!!!!! First, the way Gin always ends her "fantasy" of Donovan Caine with the word "Mmm". Seriously, after you find this word more than three times, you want to erase the word from your vocabulary forever. That, and the 'cousin' of Mmmm, which is "Hmmm".

(2) There are A LOT of unnecessary descriptions of one's look or one's dress; which is totally going nowhere. And what's with the fixation of someone's eye colors? There are repetitive description of Gin's grey eyes, Finn's green eyes, and Caine's hazel eyes. Also this combination of "grey on gold; gold on grey" everytime Caine and Gin look at each other?? Yes, I get it, their eyes are grey, green, and hazel, can we frickin' move on then?!

(3) What's with the "concept of repetition in three" since Gin always says "sloppy. sloppy. sloppy" when it comes to her enemy and "slaps slaps slaps" to describe someone being beaten. AND also, emotions should be a mixture of at least 3 things .. "Disgust. Anger. Mistrust. Suspicion. Curiosity." then "Shock. Anger. Disgust. Horror. Resignation.” Yes, one is conflicted, but really, LESS IS MORE!

(4) Last but not least, is I HATE DONOVAN CAINE, the supposed to be love interest of Gin. Ms. Estep probably wants to portray him as this one honest person with high idealism. But he comes out as a judgmental, arrogant bastard who thinks that he is better than everyone else. I can get attraction that starts from misunderstanding; look at Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. However, Caine doesn't only "misunderstand" Gin, he clearly despises her, and disgusted with the fact that there is some sort of attraction between them. I don't need that kind of hero. Sometimes I wish Gin just kills that a**hole.

I might be a little bit too harsh; especially since this is the first book and I rarely fall in love with the first book in a series. However, I don't think it intrigues me enough for book #2 ...(less)

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Aug 24, 2011 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-in-a-serie, pnr-urban-fantasy, books-i-own, read-2011

It's not that I didn't like the book.
But, I can't seem to find any book that can replace my hunger while waiting for the next book of Magic Bites series. *aarrrggghhh !!!*

It started out great, at first few pages it already captured my eye with a lot of action and speed, it seemed promising. But it seemed very slow pace from there. A lot of plotting, scheming and discussing...

The thing that bothered me most about this book was how the author constantly "REPEATED" ;
(view spoiler)...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Ren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, ass-kick-heroine, assasin-killer, 4-stars, annoying-chara, character-with-tattoo-and-piercing, enemy-to-lover, expect-better-for-the-sequel, group-challenge, lawman-and-agent, its-just-vanilla, my-nom-nom-boyfriend, paranormal, read-english-book-challenge, reccomended-to-translated, sadistic-psycho-chara, special-ability, stubborn-chara, there-are-hot-men, tony-mauro-cover, tortured-heroine, urban-fantasy, vampire, wanna-kick-the-hero, new-author-2012-challenge

My name is Ren and I'm just finish reading this book.

My feeling is a little bit mix for Gin. She's cold, yes. But too busy feeling guilty. Make her more human, I admit. Her coldness sometimes bother me.

I hope I can kick Donovan Caine's ass hard, and may he rot in hell forever!

And I just found my new nom nom boyfriend which is a sidekick rather than main hero, but still hot nonetheless. Yes, I talk about you, Finnegan Lane! ;)

Do I want to read the next? Err, with the new progress of the last book...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reads, uf-or-paranormal

Gin is an elemental assassin known as Spider. Her recent job turns out to be a set up which also leads to the death of her handler who has been like a father to her. She teams up w long time friend, Finn and Detective Donavan Caine to find out why and who has turned on her.

I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book. The heroine is kick ass and is very meticulous about her work. She's good at what she does and when she catches others slippin' it's so fun to read how she flawlessly sli...more

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Apr 22, 2010 Katie(babs) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gin Blanco is known as the Spider, an untouchable assassin for hire who kills people for the right price. She kills those who prey on the innocent and makes certain they will never hurt anyone ever again. Gin is known as a Stone elemental who has control over certain elements and in dangerous crunch times she can use her powers if need be. But Gin prefers to use weapons such as knives and guns to get the job done.

An assassin like Gin has a cover as a part-time cook for the Pork Pit that has the...more Gin Blanco is known as the Spider, an untouchable assassin for hire who kills people for the right price. She kills those who prey on the innocent and makes certain they will never hurt anyone ever again. Gin is known as a Stone elemental who has control over certain elements and in dangerous crunch times she can use her powers if need be. But Gin prefers to use weapons such as knives and guns to get the job done.

An assassin like Gin has a cover as a part-time cook for the Pork Pit that has the best barbecue in Ashland, and is run by Fletcher Giles, who is also her handler and sends Gin out on the high paying jobs. Gin also thinks of Fletcher and his son Finn as her family ever since Fletcher found Gin dying and starving in an alley behind the Pit when she was thirteen. He took her in, trained her, and now at thirty-years old, Gin is one of the most sought-after professionals in her field. Gin wants to take a long vacation, but Fletcher has a job too good too pass up to the tune of five million dollars. Gin will take out Gordon Giles, who has been embezzling money from a very high power elemental named Mab Monroe, who runs the Ashland underworld. Gin will do the job, pocket the money and head to Key West for some sun and relaxation.

The hit at the Ashland Opera house that was supposed to go off without a hitch goes very wrong, especially with detective Donovan Caine lurking around. He wants to bring the Spider down for killing his partner who was a dirty cop. Gin barely escapes intact and runs to Fletcher, who she finds dead in a pile of blood at the Pork Pit, flayed alive by magic. Gin grabs Finn before he is killed and they disappear. This is now personal for Gin and she won't rest until she eliminates those who tortured and killed Fletcher.

Things become even more complicated when Caine is targeted by the same people who are looking for Gin. She decides to save the detective and invited him into her world. Caine wants nothing more to finish Gin off, but he knows they have to work together in order to keep Ashland safe, regardless of the attraction they both have for one another.

Spider's Bite is too good for words. Ever see the movie Wanted? Spider's Bite is very much like Wanted, but in book form. This action- packed, very skillfully written plot will blow your mind away. I really have to hand it to Jennifer Estep in writing a heroine who has very villain like traits, but one with morals. Gin kills and does it well, and the way she gets the job done is not for the weak of heart. The reader sympathizes for Gin right from the beginning because Ms. Estep allows us to walk into Gin's past and enter into her mind and why she has taken this harsh and sometimes lonely path. Gin may be unscrupulous at times, but she embodies the dark side of those comic book heroes we respect.

Not only is the action non-stop, but the growing lust between Gin and Caine is scorching hot. These two are burning for one another in ways where the steam is practically rising from the pages. Gin is very honest in her opinion of Caine and what she wants from him. Caine grapples with two side of his nature, the long arm of the law and those dark desires of a man who aches for a woman like Gin.

Spider's Bite has many scenes of violence, bloodshed and the open, in your face dark side of human nature that can be somewhat shocking in its telling. The cast of characters surrounding Gin are excellent and are a great support for her and what she needs to get done. Not many books can have my adrenaline pumping like Spider's Bite has done. This first book in a new series delivers by leaps and bounds.(less)

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Jun 26, 2010 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: uf

3.5 stars.This was a pretty good UF book, and I plan on following the rest of this series.

I liked the unconventional, humane assassin that features as the protagonist in this story. It's a credit to the author's skill that she can create and pull off a character that,while believable and true to her profession's nature,can incite sympathy and respect in the reader.
Gin is smart,sarcastic, tough-as-nails,ruthless and unapologetic,but not the standard of catty know-it-all that seems to plague the g...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Arushi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm going to write a review for this and it's going to be so fierce.

This is a warning y'all. Watch this space.

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 10, 2011 Sandy Vaughan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: listened

Like of bit of the 'paranormal'? What about mysteries? I do and this one made in curious...and it was on sale! Audible.com is such an enabling site!

I stayed up late playing marjon while I listened (well, I wanted to make sure I stayed awake as long as possible)!

Jen is a contract killer. She is tough as nails, pissed as a newt (way more than angry) and hotter than hell! She teams up with a human cop whose partner died at her hands; who wants her in jail (as soon they solve the case).

There are pe...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Lady Jaye rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2013, stars-4, awesome-heroines, dark-or-gritty-or-raw, fantasy-urban-fantasy, first-in-series, magic, owned-kindle, part-of-a-series, keeper, pb-other, people-magic-users, trained-killer, really-liked-it

A well-deserved four stars. Gin Blanco did not initially strike me as particularly impressive, and her attempts to defend herself and her line of work by pretending she was probably more upright than all the corrupt masqueraders around her didn't work. But as the plot progresses, you discover that that there's much to enjoy about Gin: her sharp wit, her astute analysis, her easy affection for Finn and all the people she loves, her disgust for injustice.

Gin's associates were equally fun to read a...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Jennifer (a.k.a The Book Nympho) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, aadsav

Wow. Any book that starts with the heroine stabbing someone in the balls is a book for me!

Spider’s Bite starts with a thrill ride that you find yourself riding through out the whole book. Like all great roll coasters there are not just ups and downs but there are a few loopy-de-loops and twists and turns just like the plot of this excellent Urban Fantasy tale that Estep was crafted.

If you are a fan of the Urban Fantasy genre then you know that they can be dark and gritty, some more than others....more

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Jan 27, 2013 Liv rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Liv by: Gin

Shelves: urban-fantasy, mystery

I have heard that the Elemantal Assassin series was quite popular, but this was my first encounter with it. As book #1 in the series, I thought it started off on fairly solid ground.

The book was centered on female protagonist, Gin, a.k.a. Spider. Gin was a deadly and feared assassin, who had quite a reputation. My attention was immediately captured from the first chapter, during which Gin was undercover at an asylum hitting on an unethical psychiatrist. Its setup was immediately interesting and...more I have heard that the Elemantal Assassin series was quite popular, but this was my first encounter with it. As book #1 in the series, I thought it started off on fairly solid ground.

The book was centered on female protagonist, Gin, a.k.a. Spider. Gin was a deadly and feared assassin, who had quite a reputation. My attention was immediately captured from the first chapter, during which Gin was undercover at an asylum hitting on an unethical psychiatrist. Its setup was immediately interesting and I was fully engaged from then on.

Gin’s life was turned upside down when an assassination attempt went wrong - her client had double-crossed her. The ruthless client not only framed Gin for the murder, her handler Fletcher, who was like a father to her, was tortured and killed in the process. A deed like this would not be allowed to go unpunished and Gin vowed to get to the bottom of this to avenge Fletcher’s death.

In general, the book was well-paced and well-written. The world-building was adequate in providing the basic information about the supernatural world and its players, but it left a lot of room for more growth and development. From a characterization standpoint, I liked that fact that there wasn’t any information overload (which could be overwhelming) and not too many frivolous and irrelevant characters introduced (which could be too confusing). The few key characters introduced in this book were interesting, unique and I remembered them – this was important for me because I would often come across a book with too many people/names to remember and in the end I would just become uninterested. The author was able to provide just the right amount of information and intrigue to the plot and characters, so as to keep the interest going.

Despite Gin’s occupation as an assassin, it was hard to dislike her. She seemed to be someone who operated on some level of morals/conscience and would refuse to kill innocents. As a professional, she was badass, intelligent, observant, resourceful and analytical. She would often analyze the situation and devise plans to overcome obstacles that may seem insurmountable. Despite all her hardcore exteriors and kickassery, she expressed deep emotions when facing Fletcher’s death and it was obvious that she loved him and his son, Finn. This made her seem more human, more “real” in a way, and hence I liked her as a heroine. Her dark and traumatic past was something that lurked in the background but not too much was known about it. It would certainly be interesting to learn more of her past in subsequent books.

In this instalment, Gin took a romantic interest in detective Donovan Caine. Caine was the only “clean” cop in the city. He agreed to a truce with Gin in order to investigate the murder and the conspiracy behind things. During the course of the story, the attraction became mutual and fireworks began to go off. Why she took a special liking to Caine was rather mysterious, but my theory was that she was likely attracted to him due to (1) his physically pleasing features, (2) his idealistic outlook on justice, and (3) the fact that he represented something that she wasn’t and could never have.

Truth be told, I didn’t think Caine was a remarkable guy at all. Gin thought she was good-looking and attractive, but I wasn’t convinced at all. In fact, he often rubbed me the wrong way and I had to grit my teeth whenever he behaved and talked like a jackass to Gin. Unless he got off his idealistic moral high horse, there was no way that their conflicting romance would lead anywhere. In fact, his boy-scout-ish nature would likely get himself, or Gin, killed if this was allowed to continue.

So in a nutshell, I thought this was a pleasant read and a great start to a series. I would definitely continue.

I give this 3.5 stars.
(less)

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May 07, 2011 Pamela / SpazP rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“My name is Gin, and I kill people.”
Originally posted at WickedLilPixie Reviews

How can you not be ensnared immediately with an opening line like that? Jennifer Estep drops us into the life of elite assassin for hire Gin “The Spider” Blanco and from there you are off and running with Gin through a typical assignment.

From the very beginning Estep makes it clear to us that Gin is unashamed of who she is and what she does. She doesn’t apologize for her profession or make excuses for it. She was orph...more “My name is Gin, and I kill people.”
Originally posted at WickedLilPixie Reviews

How can you not be ensnared immediately with an opening line like that? Jennifer Estep drops us into the life of elite assassin for hire Gin “The Spider” Blanco and from there you are off and running with Gin through a typical assignment.

From the very beginning Estep makes it clear to us that Gin is unashamed of who she is and what she does. She doesn’t apologize for her profession or make excuses for it. She was orphaned when she was barely a teenager, and was left to live on the streets. From the streets she was taken in by another assassin. He raises Gin as his own and trains her to become an assassin like himself. Now years later she has earned a reputation for herself as the “The Spider”, known in the world for her unmatchable patience and natural ability with knives. Now that she is getting older (and by older we mean her late 20s, assassins have a very definite shelf-life) her handler and mentor pleads with her to retire after one more very lucrative job. And wouldn’t you know it? This last job she agrees to take goes epically wrong. Enter a brooding sexy detective and the story takes off from there. Gin is double-crossed, makes a badass escape (her second one, at this point), her mentor is tortured and murdered, then she is framed for murder. Essentially? She has the worst day ever. She reaches out to and teams up with some very interesting characters and vows to find the killer responsible for her loved one.

In Gin’s alternate universe called Ashland lies a dark city full the crime and corruption you would expect in a dark Urban Fantasy. There are humans, vampires, giants, and gnomes, all seemingly more on the human side in speech and mannerisms. In addition, there are Elementals. Elementals are magic users who control the elements of Stone, Ice, Fire and Air along with minor elements too. Gin is an Elemental with an ability of Stone, and a seemingly lesser ability of Ice. What makes her even more dangerous is that she has made her magic abilities secondary to her non-magic abilities. She prefers to rely on her wit, patience, and blades to fight, resorting only to Stone and Ice as a last resort.

I truly enjoyed Spider’s Bite. Estep was successful in placing us in Gin’s world and expecting us to keep up, which worked well with the setting of the fast pace. Estep is not afraid of narrating bloody violence and seedy landscapes, which helps give the book that dark and edgy feel I prefer in my Urban Fantasy books. Gin is not a one-dimensional character and I appreciated her complexity. She is not afraid to attack first, but she also has that critical softer side. She is truly dedicated to the few people in her life who have never let her down. Her confidence and sense of self is so refreshing that I admired her as she took us along with her story.

There is some sexual tension between Gin and the “good cop” she reaches out to for help, Donovan Caine, and even some romance. The first of my issues with the book is the Detective and his treatment of Gin. While I understood that Detective Caine is for all previous purposes on the other side of the law as her, once they agree to work together, his constant judgmental snarks really got to me. He never let up with it. This is probably testament to how much I liked Gin and felt pissed off on her behalf, but there were several times I wanted to reach in to the book and finger slap him. Detective Caine so vocally deeply despises everything Gin is and does, that we are left hoping for him to come around. It’s hard having faith he will change his thinking and in turn his treatment of Gin, because his bitchiness really never let up. But we can still hope!

There were a couple of small issues I had with the book as a whole. Estep could get very repetitive. After Gin faces tragedy early on in the story, the event itself is brought up so many times that it desensitized me. I seemed to disconnect with Gin when she’d keep bringing it up and it felt disingenuous. Estep’s narrative as a whole could feel forced and repetitive at times, particularly in the middle of the book. Gin described the same types of scenes over and over again. Her enemies were always “sloppy, sloppy, sloppy”. A larger one was how she finished ever narrative of Detective Caine with an inner monologue of “Mmm.” That was just weird and creepy ! Once, okay it works for me, but after every time she’d describe his “soapy scent”, at some point it was followed with an “Mmm.” And lastly, the big issue I had with the writing, Gin mentions her own grey eyes at least twenty times through the book. It was so often that I almost got out a highlighter and counted the occurrences. For me, these issues did not fully take away from the book, but they were prevalent enough to cause enough irritation that I could not give it 5 stars.

In summary, I gave this book a 4 stars. I enjoyed it and read it very quickly. I really liked the Heroine a great deal, and it had just enough of a cliff-hanger ending that it left me definitely wanting more!(less)

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Jul 13, 2010 Kitt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2010, urban-fantasy, books-i-own, elemental-assassin

Spider's Bite is Jennifer Estep's debut novel in the Elemental Assassins series, though, this isn't her first time around the block. She also has the Bigtime series about different women coming into their superpowers. However, I didn't actually know all of that until recently. This is another one of those series that grabbed me by the cover. An alone assassin with spider scars burned into her palm, standing outside of BBQ joint called the "Pork Pit"?? I'm intrigued....

In Jennifer Estep's Element...more Spider's Bite is Jennifer Estep's debut novel in the Elemental Assassins series, though, this isn't her first time around the block. She also has the Bigtime series about different women coming into their superpowers. However, I didn't actually know all of that until recently. This is another one of those series that grabbed me by the cover. An alone assassin with spider scars burned into her palm, standing outside of BBQ joint called the "Pork Pit"?? I'm intrigued....

In Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassins series the world is not too far different than ours. Life is led normally, for the most part, except things take on different meanings. Building icons or logos mean something far different here. Everything and everyone has a rune that says who they are and what they can do, even from a small age. There are plenty of beasties that populate the world and the city of Ashland. Dwarves, giants, vampires and elementals all rub elbows with the human population. Most are born and have always been. Vampires walk the day and usually end up as a streetwalker or a pimp and don't possess the usual long life and inhuman strength, but the blood lust is still there. Elementals climb highest on the food chain, wielding-fire, ice, stone and air. Keeping them all in line is of the most simple and obvious of solutions. Guns. Even elementals have their limitations.

Gin is a waitress at the "Pork Pit" during the day, but at night, she lives a far different lifestyle. Gin is an assassin. One of the very best in her field. The choice of her name and rune was easily made by the scars burned into both hands. She's called 'The Spider' and like her namesake, she kills with patience and stealth. She has some morals though, but there aren't many that she follows:

"No kids, no pets, no torture, no framing someone else for what I did"

Gin's cold, calculating and lethal, all good qualifications in her line of work. She's also an elemental. Her element is stone (a rare ability), that allows her to feel the vibrations of the live element sing through her veins and manipulate it to her will, but she also has a second weaker affinity for ice as well, giving her the power to cool drinks, make ice cubes, and other small objects.

When she was thirteen, her entire life and family was literally caught up in flames by a fire elemental. Someone had wanted her dead, enough to take out everything it their way. She escaped, but only to a life on Ashland's cruel city streets. Until luck, in it's twisted way, smiled upon her. Leading her in the direction of a barbecue joint owned by Fletcher Lane. He took her in and showed her the tricks of his trade. Flecher became her friend, a father figure, and a mentor all in one. He's also her handler and Gin get's all her clients through him. He's been on her case to retire lately, though, but Gin scoffs at the idea. What else would she do? This is her life. This is what she knows. What she's good at. All she's ever done for the last seventeen years. She has no intentions towards retirement. Fletcher let's her have her way. Except, after this last assignment, she's going to wish she had listened.

Gin gets shoved into a twisted game. She's hired to kill Gordon Giles. He's an embezler of millions and an unkown source wants his life. Gin knows it's not the queen bee herself, Mab Monroe. A woman that has Ashland under her thumb and president of Halo Industries, the company Giles so thoughtlessly decided to skim from. Everyone knows the fire elemental isn't afraid to take care of her own dirty work. The thought of who hired her is only a fleeting one, though. Gin isn't being paid a five million dollar fee -which is twice her usual fee- to ask questions and pushes all thoughts of it aside. She goes about her usual preparations. Though, right when Gin, hidden in the shadows of the old opera house, has her crossbow trained at Giles heart, Donovan Caine-straight arrow cop, enters and seats himself next to him. Gin's mild obsession with the detective from months forming causes her to drop her guard and it costs her. It seems another assassin has been dispatched to take her out and frame her for murder.

Turn of events force Gin into action. Revenge becomes the objective mission. Nobody double-crosses her, messes with her family and still lives to tell the tale. Gin is pissed and pissing off an assassin such as her is their first mistake. Along the way, Gin's path crosses again with Detective Caine, when men are sent to stop his unwanted questions and silence him forever, the same men Gin is looking for. Donovan Caine, though, is on his own mission of revenge against the person responsible for his partners murder a couple months back. Gin needs Donovan's information on Giles, but sees no reason not to tell him the truth of her involvement in his partners death to focus him. Donovan now has a reason to loathe Gin, but he's going to need her help to stay alive, and so against his very nature, he's forced into a strained truce with her. With Finnegan Lane -Fletcher Lane's sons- help, the three of them seek out the ones responsible. Taking them on a course steeped in dirty cops and crazy-power hungry villains.

Spider's Bite was exactly everything I think an urban fantasy should be. It's opening was an explosion that grabbed my attention from the very first page and kept it through action-packed twisting turns. Gin is methodical and persistent in her search. I spent a good amount of time trying not to like her in all her chilling ways, but I just can't. She's not bothered at all by the killing of other beings for a price. Blood doesn't disturb her and is easily washed away. She'll even do pro-bono killings for the right reason. However, I have much respect for her. She does have feelings hiding in her cold heart. Although, her morals list is short, she sticks by them. She never goes back on her word. I want to know more about her, what makes her tick and what she'll do next. When I finished Spider's Bite I had so many questions, that will no doubt be laid out a little at a time, and I'm anticipating to enjoy every minute of it. Jennifer Estep has captured my attention and created a series that I'll be impatiently waiting for with each new installment.(less)

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Feb 17, 2010 Natalie (Mindful Musings) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, own-mass-market, nook, magic-wielders, re-read-list, adult

Barbecue chef by day, assassin by night. Spider's Bite is another fun, action-filled addition to the genre of urban fantasy. The main character, Gin Blanco, is a kickass heroine with a tragic past full of mystery. She works jobs obtained by her handler, Fletcher, a former assassin himself. However, Gin has rules: no kids, no pets, no torture. Not to mention there's plenty of corrupt, backstabbing money-mongers busy hiring her out to off one another. For an assassin, she has morals, and it's not...more

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Apr 19, 2011 Suz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

3.5 stars

Strong heroine. Engaging who-dun-it. Romance with heat and plenty of issues to over come. Personal issues and crisis, vengence, magic, hot sex. It's all in there.

So why did I have a hard time pushing through it? By all rights I should have loved it. I certainly didn't hate it. Perhaps I was expecting too much because so many folks I know love it. I'm going to read on in the hopes that my investment increases as I move into the books.

I'm hoping her propensity to end every paragraph in wh...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Lorelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: uf-keen-as

3.5. I really liked Gin so the protagonist wasn't a problem. Even though there seemed to be lots going it didn't feel exciting as it should. Nothing stood out. Finn was cool but Caine is meh to me so far. I like to be sucked in by loads of supporting characters. Maybe a bit more world and character building would have been nice. I normally get all caught up with the emotions but I felt little when i should have been sad. Lots of "should have would have could haves" going on with her reflecting o...more

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Dec 01, 2011 Angela James rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, urban-fantasy

While I enjoyed this book and contemplated reading the second, feedback and reviews I've gotten/read, make me think I might not enjoy future books. The complaints by many readers about future books restating information repetitively make me think I may be better off moving on from this series, since that's the type of thing my editorial brain would definitely notice!

That said, I thought this was a good first book in the series, I liked the heroine, enjoyed the story setup and thought it was a pl...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio_books, work-out_audio-book, driving_to_work_books, 2011, paranormal_romance, paranormal_mystery, jennifer-estep

REALLY enjoyed this.

I love the whole ruthless kick-ass assasin girl with a tender heart. I loved the side-kick Finn. I liked the love interest. He was kind of unbending and a little naive - but I suppose that is part of his charm. I think the author did a good job at placing us in a world that has giants, vampires and dwarves as well as Elementals (those who harness the power of an element) without making it feel like too much of a stretch.

Looking forward to the next book. They are on sale at...more

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Jun 10, 2013 Sherre Leach rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I heard a lot about this book in the blogosphere, and I bought it after a review I read back before I even became a blogger myself, and It's been sitting on my shelf ever since. Despite the constant glowing reviews, I never picked it up until recently, and I'm pissed at myself for waiting so long.

The book is really good. Our MC is an assassin, and a very good one, until she makes a few "sloppy mistakes" and finds herself on the other end of a hit, then she teams up with a Detective to hunt down...more

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May 15, 2013 Kindra Hinckley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was well written. The editing was very respectable throughout this whole book. Which made reading the story enjoyable. Gin, What a character! My heart breaks at how cold she is and she shows no emotion except for the ones she has let in, only after years of trust. I was frustrated with her character for a moment. I thought, "Why can she just tell him the damn truth?" But at the same time i felt as if she made all the right decisions for herself. Even if she kept the walls up. You can't...more

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About Jennifer Estep

Jennifer Estep is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

Jennifer writes the Elemental Assassin adult urban fantasy series for Pocket. Books in the series are SPIDER'S BITE, WEB OF LIES, VENOM, TANGLED THREADS, SPIDER'S REVENGE, BY A THREAD, and WIDOW'S WEB. THREAD OF DEATH, an e-novella, is also available.

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“The two men stared at each other. Assumptions were made, judgments rendered, dicks measured.” — 141 people liked it

“You're late."

"Sorry. I was busy talking about my feelings and killing people.” — 124 people liked it

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