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Web of Lies (Elemental Assassin #2)

by Jennifer Estep (Goodreads Author)

4.14 of 5 stars 4.14 · rating details · 8,098 ratings · 491 reviews

Curiosity is definitely going to get me dead one of these days. Probably real soon.

I'm Gin Blanco.

You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant....more

Kindle Edition, 1st edition, 434 pages

Published May 25th 2010 by Pocket Books (first published May 5th 2010)

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Oct 22, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kat-s-book-reviews

So basically I kind of like this series. First of all because Gin may be a bleeding heart who'll take a job just because she hears a sobstory - but it also turns out she's a real bitch. Something I can really appreciate.

I've never told anybody this before but I also relate to Gin because I too am a female assassin.

Me!

This is totally me in my assassin garb getting ready to take down anybody I see dog-earring a book!

Okay... maybe not.

But I want to be! I plan on grabbing on of the fake katana from the...more

34 likes · like · see review

Aug 05, 2011 Lisa O. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lisa O. by: Maja

Shelves: fantasy, uf-or-pnr

3.5 stars.

This is not a review.
This is my rant directed towards one of the least likable love interests in the history of Urban Fantasy: Mr. Donovan Caine.
Or donovancaine, which has a certain assonance to a potent anesthetizer, and is truly appropriate, because that's exactly what he does to me. One of the most hypocritical, double-faced, backboneless men ever to have roamed the pages of a UF novel. And I loathe those kind of men - and who wouldn't?
Not only his ethics are just figments of his...more 3.5 stars.

This is not a review.
This is my rant directed towards one of the least likable love interests in the history of Urban Fantasy: Mr. Donovan Caine.
Or donovancaine, which has a certain assonance to a potent anesthetizer, and is truly appropriate, because that's exactly what he does to me. One of the most hypocritical, double-faced, backboneless men ever to have roamed the pages of a UF novel. And I loathe those kind of men - and who wouldn't?
Not only his ethics are just figments of his imagination and he takes advantage of Gin anytime that the chance arises, but what is most and fastidiously irksome is that he always and systematically gets post-coitum second thoughts - and let's face it, the coitus wasn't even that hot to begin with.
I really, really don't understand what Gin sees in him. She must be pretty desperate in her lonesome wolf-style assassin life. So I am proud to announce that, after his final backlessbone decision, that is to run from his issues and ignore them instead of come to terms with the not so virtuous bastard that he is, donovancaine is finally out of the picture. He left, not to see Gin ever again and face his true self. And good riddance.

Enter Owen Grayson, who I already like infinitely more than donovancaine. At least he's got a sense of humor.

Basically this second installment in the series is in line with the first one and I enjoyed it quite a bit. As readers of Spider's Bite should already know, Estep's problems are really minor and have to do with:
1- the fact that nobody has yet given her a Thesaurus for Christmas - the world sloppy repeated countless times in this book... I mean, WHY?
2- the fact that she perpetuates the belief that chicory coffee actually contains caffeine, which might be the problem with the previous point, that is Estep falling asleep on her manuscript without realizing it, and then forgetting she has used the word sloppy or the phrase "grey on gold" - and now the new entry "grey on violet" - too many a times.

Aside from that, the plot is really fast-paced and interesting and Gin is really a great character, ~~probably~~ without a doubt the main reason why I am going to keep on reading this series.

Maja says it gets better, and I trust her judgement.(less)

25 likes · like · see review

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

Shelves: cowboys, zzread-may2011, urban-fantasy, giants, dwarfs

3.5 stars

Web of Lies is the second book in Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassins series. Our heroine Gin Blanco has now retired from her extremely lucrative career as The Spider and has now settled down working at her restaurant The Pork Pitt. Gin finds retirement a little boring. When the opportunity to help Fletcher’s old friend Warren Fox arises, Gin agrees to do the job.

There are a lot of things to love about this series. The author builds an imaginative world where some people have the abil...more 3.5 stars

Web of Lies is the second book in Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassins series. Our heroine Gin Blanco has now retired from her extremely lucrative career as The Spider and has now settled down working at her restaurant The Pork Pitt. Gin finds retirement a little boring. When the opportunity to help Fletcher’s old friend Warren Fox arises, Gin agrees to do the job.

There are a lot of things to love about this series. The author builds an imaginative world where some people have the ability to control elements such as fire, ice, stone, air or a combination of some of the elements. The descriptions of the magic were intriguing. Gin’s elemental ice magic was handy for cooling drinks, creating lock picks, and ice knives. Her stone magic was useful as an alarm system among other things. I liked how the characters used magical runes to symbolize their abilities and distinguish themselves. This world also has giants, dwarfs, and vampires. The giants were huge imposing figures, the dwarfs stocky and strong, while the vampires were a little wimpy for my tastes.

The cast of characters are great. Gin shines as an assassin trying to run a business in a very corrupt town. Gin is witty and thinks on her feet, she has confidence except when it comes to love. Her attraction to Donovan Caine drove me crazy. I couldn’t stand her mooning over this character. Donovan Caine behaved in a way that just did not jibe with his righteous and moral ways. I despised his character. I loved the characters close to Gin, namely Finn, Sophia and Jo-Jo. They are the closest thing Gin has to family. Finn was just an awesome character - I love Finn.

There was a lot of repetition in this book. We are told that Donovan Caine smelled clean and soapy several times. The author uses “eyes” a little too much – “my gray eyes” appears in the text well over 20 times. There are also a lot of extraneous details that could have been left out, for example her description of a chicken salad sandwich was pretty much the recipe. A tighter edit would have made this book more readable.

Despite these things, the story itself was good, with a lot of action and excitement. I will definitely continue to read this series.

Check out my review on Badass Book Reviews
(less)

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Oct 08, 2011 Lynsey (The Demon Librarian) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

This is the second book in the Elemental Assassin series. The first book got better even as I read it, after a slightly unsure start. Now it seems the series is only going to continue in the same vein, getting better and better with each novel.

Detective Donovan Caine is still on the scene, although perhaps trying to distance himself slightly, as he still clearly doesn't approve of Gin's job. It is, after all, against everything he stands for as a cop, to let someone go around killing people for...more

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Sep 24, 2011 Mariya rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, magic-users

I have to say that I'm impressed. WEB OF LIES has exceeded my expectations this time around and I am looking forward to zipping through this series fast. I have come to love these characters even more except *cough*DonovanCaine*cough*, I didn't think an assassins life could get anymore exciting, but boy, was I wrong.

Our heroine Gin is retired or at least she is trying to stay retired, but being The Spider, the best assassin out there has been calling for her to get that excitement back in her li...more

6 likes · like · see review

Oct 23, 2012 Jennifer (a.k.a The Book Nympho) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, aadsav

Ok let me get the rant part of this review over with….. Bye, Bye Dick-tective Douche Bag! That’s all I will say so that I don’t spoil you guys but those of you that have read this series will know what I mean.

Web of Lies takes place about 2 months after the events in Spider’s Bite. And we find that Gin has been retired after taking a long vacation and is now running the Pork Pit full time. But what does a retired assassin do when she gets bored?

She plans the murder of one of the rich douche bags...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Carmel (Rabid Reads) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

Thanks to Lauren Fortgang's mesmerizing voice, Jennifer Estep's poignant first person POV writing style and Gin Blanco's stellar personality; the Elemental Assassin books are rapidly turning into one of the best Urban Fantasy series that I have ever read. So much so, that I find myself forsaking all of the other lovely novels on my shelves because I can't seem to get enough of this amazing story. I rarely step into a heroine's shoes while reading but with this series it's...more Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

Thanks to Lauren Fortgang's mesmerizing voice, Jennifer Estep's poignant first person POV writing style and Gin Blanco's stellar personality; the Elemental Assassin books are rapidly turning into one of the best Urban Fantasy series that I have ever read. So much so, that I find myself forsaking all of the other lovely novels on my shelves because I can't seem to get enough of this amazing story. I rarely step into a heroine's shoes while reading but with this series it's hard not to. Now, whether adopting an assassin's mindset in my daily life is a good thing or a bad thing still remains to be seen but regardless, Web of Lies takes escaping reality to a whole new level.

Usually I only read a handful of audio books a year but after having had Estep's first two stories read to me I can't imagine experiencing the Elemental Assassin world any other way. Nailing the first person POV is not an easy task to begin with but Jennifer makes it look easy. Her incredible writing style paired with Fortgang's superb narration helps to tip the realism factor of these novels over the edge. Taking a break from reading a good book is never easy but Estep makes it damned near impossible with this series. They say that the first step to dealing with an addiction is admitting that you have one well, I full-heartily acknowledge that I have a problem and that I have absolutely no intention of fixing it. The story itself is exceptional, the characters are outstanding and the writing is to die for.

Oddly enough, I found that the earlier parts of Web of Lies were a little dull; I just couldn't get into the McAllister side plot. However, once Jake was "dealt with", the story really picked up from there. I guess that I've come to expect non-stop action from Jennifer Estep and when she actually took the time to focus on some the other important aspects of a good book I got a little impatient. Regardless, once Tobias Dawson showed his ugly mug it was go-go-go until the end. Speaking of the ending, talk about one hell of an "oh shit" moment! It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that I'll be reading Venom next.

Donovan Caine is a douchebag. Other than the scorching sexual chemistry between him and Gin, I had a hard time seeing any long term potential for them. Even though I felt sad for Blanco about the way she was treated and how everything kind of blew up in her face; I think that everyone's better off in the long run. Plus, I barely even know Owen Grayson and I'm already infatuated with him! There's just something about him that makes me go rawr, hubba-hubba! Yes, I realize that those are sound effects and not actual words but you get the idea.

After two stunning installments and more awesomeness on the way; I think it's safe to say that the Elemental Assassin series is a must read. Web of Lies is bursting at the seams with snark, badass-edness and unforgettable characters. The main plot that connects all of these books together promises to be a doozie and I for one can't wait to uncover Jennifer Estep's end game.

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Mar 03, 2012 Merve Özcan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: assassin, elemental, immortal, mythology, romance, vampire

Mükemmel olduğunu söyleyemesem de yarısından sonra kitaba bir heyecan bir akıcılık geldi.Hele şükür Donovan'dan kurtulduk diyebiliyorum. "Sevgili dedektif ahlaksız bir yerde asıl ahlaklı olanı bırakmayı" tercih ederek başka şehre gitti.Defol!!! Artık rahatladım.
Fletcher'ın eski bir arkadaşının başının belada olması Gin'i gene o ünlü Örümcek yapıyor. Klasik Donovan ve onun ahlak çatışması var ama işe Owen giriyor.Esas, esas adam :D Gin bir soygundan Owenin kız kardeşini kurtarıyor. Tanışma Böyl...more

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Apr 05, 2013 TheBookVixen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, read-in-2012, re-read, c-b

This review was originally posted on The Book Vixen. I won this book from a fellow book blogger.

Why I Read this Book: I have been sucked into this world since book one and I don’t see the momentum slowing down in the slightest.

What I Liked: You know when the question gets asked ‘if you could be any one character from a book, who would you be?’ – I finally have an answer! I can now honestly and enthusiastically say Gin FTW! I loved Gin in the first book and I love her even more now. She’s tough a...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Jen (Red Hot Books) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: elemental-assassin, urban-fantasy

Let me begin by saying, Donovan Caine is a weenie-toad. Now that I have that off my chest...

Web of Lies picks up about 2 months after Spider's Bite left off. Gin has retired from her life as an assassin and is now running the BBQ restaurant her foster-father Fletcher had left her in his will. Things are going smoothly (maybe a little too smoothly) when a punk kid, wielding fire magic, and one of his friends tries to hold up the Pork Pit. He threatens a young co-ed customer and Gin can see murd...more

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

Originally posted at WickedLilPixie Reviews

Web of Lies picks up four months after Book 1 Spider’s Bite left off. While Web of Lies may be read as a stand-alone novel, many of the developments that occur won’t be as meaningful if you skip Book 1. I highly recommend reading Spider’s Bite before taking this one on.

Gin “The Spider” Blanco has retired from the assassin business and is running her inherited restaurant The Pork Pit. We pick up with Gin on a seemingly typical day in The Port Pit, where...more Originally posted at WickedLilPixie Reviews

Web of Lies picks up four months after Book 1 Spider’s Bite left off. While Web of Lies may be read as a stand-alone novel, many of the developments that occur won’t be as meaningful if you skip Book 1. I highly recommend reading Spider’s Bite before taking this one on.

Gin “The Spider” Blanco has retired from the assassin business and is running her inherited restaurant The Pork Pit. We pick up with Gin on a seemingly typical day in The Port Pit, where the day is violently disrupted by an attempted robbery, followed by a shooting in her restaurant the very next day. While the two events seem unrelated at first, they successfully bring her out of retirement boredom as she is compelled to dig deeper and find out what is going on with the mobs in Ashland.

This is a great follow up book! We get to see more of the characters we were introduced to previously, such as Finn her foster brother, and the two dwarf sisters Jo-Jo, and Sophie. Her love interest Detective Donovan Caine is also back and as judgmental and snarky as ever. In addition, there is a mysterious newcomer who makes it clear he has intentions of inserting himself in to her life. Did I mention bad guys? There are some nasty bad guys. And of course Mab Monroe, fire elemental extraordinaire and lead mobster, is back as well.

All the action of the previous book is present in Web of Lies. Gin is still the same cool-headed, smooth, and unapologetic protagonist we got to know, but we get more emotion this round. We’re given more flashbacks of Gin’s traumatic adolescence, and we’re given more back-story of her mentor and surrogate father Fletcher. Gin struggles with information Fletcher has left for her after his death regarding her sister, whom she thought dead. Does she search for her and if she finds her, how will she tell her sister about how she has lived her life? Gin shows a surprising amount of insecurity with regards to what her sister will think of her should she find her, which is a nice and surprising side of Gin to see. She struggles with her feelings and attraction for Detective Caine, his constant rejection, and there are a couple of parts where my heart breaks for her.

I still have some of the same small issues I have with the first book. Sometimes the narrative can be repetitive. In the case with this book she summarized what happened in the first book too often for me. Detective Caine was again frequently described as having a “soapy scent” and her inner monologue of “Mmm” following her descriptions of him still cheesed me out.

Developments are made in her relationships with those closest to her, including the Detective, but as new characters and revelations are made throughout this story, we are set up for book 3 out in September. While there is not a cliff-hanger ending, we are definitely left with enough mysterious threads I was left wanting more!(less)

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Apr 16, 2013 Ese rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So far so good. I'm really enjoying this series.
The plot of this book is fairly simple; Gin,bless her bleeding heart, decides to help out a poor girl who's been targeted by some very bad people. It turns out that she is related to an old friend of Fletcher's so Gin helps her out by doing what she does best- killing people. Detective Douchebag makes an appearance and descends to even lower levels of douchery. Can someone please tell me why Gin even cares about him? Because I'm looking pretty hard...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Christi Snow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My Review:
I'm not going to write a huge review on any of these books. This is an Urban Fantasy series that just builds upon the same story line so it's hard to not say too much that would end up being spoilers.

I started out listening to this book on audio, but it's 12 hours long and I haven't had that much audio time lately, so I finally broke down and finished it by reading the physical book. For me, this book seemed to be more of a transitional book and that may be because it took me so long t...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, audible

OK I like Gin and love narrator Lauren Fortgang. I could listen to her read a shopping list. However, there so very much repetition! I understand that when you write a series you have to fill in back ground previous events for folks who maybe haven't read all the book in order but dear God you don't need to tell me each thing 5 times in the same book! Also, what is with using a characters full name every time they come up?

The stories are fun but stop telling what I already know and stop describi...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Meg rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: women-supernatural

Web of Lies
OR
I Don't Know, What's My Morality Anyway

So I was right, I did enjoy this one better than the last. Same hard hitting action with romance as an under note rather than a major melody. Magic was a bit more of a thing this time, but Gin will still go for her knives first, which, for all my whining about needing more magic, I do approve of.

Gin's character continues to be strong and practical, but her hardness doesn't always work to her advantage. And yet, she's not a character who gets d...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Sandy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

WEB OF LIES (Elemental Assassin #2) by Jennifer Estep

WEB OF LIES is the second novel in Jennifer Estep’s Urban Fantasy series Elemental Assassin focusing on the Elemental Assassin for hire –The Spider. Gin Blanco is the recently retired assassin, who begrudgingly stepped away from the profession for which she has been trained for over a decade. But a vendetta against a friend of her one-time mentor brings Gin out of retirement and once again onto the front lines of murder, mayhem and the mob. On...more WEB OF LIES (Elemental Assassin #2) by Jennifer Estep

WEB OF LIES is the second novel in Jennifer Estep’s Urban Fantasy series Elemental Assassin focusing on the Elemental Assassin for hire –The Spider. Gin Blanco is the recently retired assassin, who begrudgingly stepped away from the profession for which she has been trained for over a decade. But a vendetta against a friend of her one-time mentor brings Gin out of retirement and once again onto the front lines of murder, mayhem and the mob. Only this time, several people are hoping The Spider dies, including a one-time lover who cannot get past-the past.

As Gin’s mentor, Fletcher Lane aka the Tin Man, had trained her well, but following his murder, Gin had decided to retire. Fletcher had raised Gin after her family was murdered by a Fire Elemental, and when he died, a few secrets about her past died with him. Running the Pork Pit in the corrupt town of Ashland kept Gin busy but an attempted robbery by the son of mob lawyer Jonah McAllister once again put Gin in the eye of the storm. And to complicate matters, both Jonah and his son would just as soon see Gin dead then press charges against the delinquent male.

Meanwhile a young woman comes looking for the Tin Man-that name was only known by those who associated with the assassin and who ever was looking for the man did not know he was dead. But when shots are fired into the Pork Pit, Gin goes hunting for who ever was aiming at the café. Only this time is wasn’t at Gin but at the young woman at the counter. Tobias Dawson was sending a message to Fletcher’s old friend Warren Fox and his granddaughter was the target. Tobias wanted his land.

Detective Donovan Caine returns as Gin’s former lover. Unable to handle the pressure associated with being The Spider’s man, Donovan continues to treat Gin like she has the plague, until the night his hormones take over and Gin hopes that the man she thought she once loved, would see that she was not his enemy. But ego and the law eat away at Donovan when as one of the detectives trying to clean up the corrupt Ashland Police Department, Donovan can no longer step aside and let Gin continue to kill for hire. Donovan’s feelings about Gin are raw and ugly, but when he walks away in disgust after finding her alive following a cave-in at the mines, Gin knows the pain of rejection and the heartache that accompanies a fall.

Gin needs a way to get close to the man hoping to kill Warren, but the only way was through a major soire at Mab Monroe’s. As the leader of the Ashland mob scene, Mab held all the cards as it pertains to the criminal element and its’ control. But something about Mab was familiar to Gin and the information hidden by Fletcher would hold the clues to the murder of Gin’s parents and the sister she once thought was dead. Only now, Mab is involved with the man gunning for Warren and the lands rights that he owns. But when Tobias Dawson is no longer in the picture, Gin will find she has become the target of two of Ashland’s most powerful criminals.

Along the way, we are introduced to Owen Grayson. A wealthy businessman, whose sister witnessed the attempted robbery at the Pork Pit and by the end of the story Owen has purchased the mines and lands in question and the sparks of a potential new relationship are looking up for the woman known as The Spider.

WEB OF LIES is another welcome storyline in Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series. Gin’s numerous losses of family and friend, is only highlighted by the tears that refuse to fall when the pain of rejection hurts almost as much as a broken jaw. Jennifer is a gifted and powerful writer that will keep you on the edge of the proverbial seat until the final chapter.

see all of my reviews at : thereadingcafe.com(less)

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Jul 20, 2012 Kara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a great series. I like the originality of the elements. For someone who is so hard core as Gin it is nice to see her go all mushy and want to do something "pro bono" for someone just to protect their innocence. The romance with the cop plays out in this one. I like the resolution. Another man is chasing her with love in his eyes, but of course, Gin is chasing the Detective, and she does a little self analysis about why she must chase and how it would be nice to succomb to the chase, but...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Taylor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kickass-heroine, best-of-the-best, assasins

So, Alexis James is deader than a doorknob, Donovan Caine is still a very sexy and too righteous, and she has a new target in sight (although this is different from the ones before). So everybody knows that she was attempting retirement, but as the books kept on coming, then it was obvious that she was not doing so well in that endevour, and am I ever happy about it. She gets Jake plowing into her restaurant, threatening her costumers, next thing you know Jonah McAllister is paying a visit to pa...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Rie Conley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Orginal review over @ Mission to Read

Squee! I just finished this one and I’m dying for the next one! Like right FREAKING now!Halfway through the first book I added the next two on my request list from the library and two days later I drove out of my way to go pick it up. For a person that mostly reads whatever she may have at hand this is devotion. And I was NOT disappointed. I’m IN LOVE!!!

Gin is still a bit judgmental for my tastes. She has A LOT of issues herself and she seems to look down o...more Orginal review over @ Mission to Read

Squee! I just finished this one and I’m dying for the next one! Like right FREAKING now!Halfway through the first book I added the next two on my request list from the library and two days later I drove out of my way to go pick it up. For a person that mostly reads whatever she may have at hand this is devotion. And I was NOT disappointed. I’m IN LOVE!!!

Gin is still a bit judgmental for my tastes. She has A LOT of issues herself and she seems to look down on others at times. She is incredibly strong, but most people are and it can seem at times that she’s a bit immature in her way of thinking she is the only strong one. She is incredibly hard on herself as well. She is devoted and loyal to her foster family and that endears her to me, but I would love for her to mature a bit in her opinions about others. Don’t get me wrong I love Gin, flaws and all. She is smart, independent, and doesn’t whine, but most importantly she is so loving even if she doesn’t think she is.

Her foster family is one of the best supporting character cast in books that I’ve read. One of the reason I love werewolf books is the pack mentality and she may not be a wolf, but she MOST CERTAINLY has a pack surrounding her.

Can I say I am ABSOLUTELY not Team Donavan? OMFG!!! This boy drives me up the wall. I so want to scream at him “Get over yourself already. Your morals are just as effed up as Gin’s and you DO NOT hold the authority on what is wrong and what is right! There is a whole sea of grey in the middle that you clearly are too dimwitted to see!”

Now Grayson is a completely different story. Even when he thinks she’s in a certain profession he doesn’t judge, doesn’t try to take advantage, but simply is still his gentlemanly self. He seems ultra-sophisticated, but not in that money hungry way that Finn is.

The plot was slower that Spider’s Bite, but it had a huge build up culminating in one of the best climaxes of all times. I mean it was almost orgasmic! As a result, I hope Gin becomes more confident in herself and perhaps she’ll stop reflecting bad attributes onto people she doesn’t know. If that’s the case there is going to be some astounding character growth in the next book.

Did I say that I’m in love? Yeah, well I am. It’s edging it’s way in for top love of the year award in the book department! I CANNOT wait until Venom is available.(less)

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Apr 02, 2012 Rita Webb rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gin Blanco finds retirement from being assassin to be very boring, so when she stumbles on a plot to murder a girl to force her grandfather to sell his land, she jumps in to help this family from a bully. Very A-team kind of stuff, but much more deadly.

My admiration for Jennifer Estep has grown with this latest installment in her Elemental Assassin series. #1 - I loved how she pulled threads from the last book and used them in this book. #2 - I loved how she seeded threads for the next book in t...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Naoms rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library, disappointing, paranormal-urban-fantasy, read-in-2012, witches-magic-users-shamans

Didn't quite like Web of Lies better than Spider's Bite, but liked Gin a lot better this time around.

The story takes off a few months after the events in Spider's Bite. Gin has retired from being an assassin, she's the proud restaurant owner and is trying to get on with her life after losing Fletcher, when trouble finds Gin again. What follows is a few action sequences, some sleuthing and Gin basically getting herself in to dangerous situations where she is always confident.

That's my major prob...more Didn't quite like Web of Lies better than Spider's Bite, but liked Gin a lot better this time around.

The story takes off a few months after the events in Spider's Bite. Gin has retired from being an assassin, she's the proud restaurant owner and is trying to get on with her life after losing Fletcher, when trouble finds Gin again. What follows is a few action sequences, some sleuthing and Gin basically getting herself in to dangerous situations where she is always confident.

That's my major problem with assassin stories in the first person. They're always way too conceited. Sure Gin has some vulnerable moments, but none she really admits to. She's always strong, or she's angry. When something hurts she follows it up with a "but." It's like this woman is indestructible and that's something I do not find interesting in a protagonist.

My other issue with this book is Donavon Cain what is the point to this guy? Why was he introduced to this series? Sure, his character was useful in Spider's Bite, but besides the sex, there is nothing that he does that Gin couldn't do herself..actually she could have done the sex alone. I mean he's just there to be a hypocrite and to be judgmental. That is literally ALL he does in Web of Lies. He struggles with his feelings for Gin, but those feelings are only sexual. At no point does Donovan Cain ever try to get to know Gin. Never tries to understand her. He hears bits and pieces about her past, but never pulls her aside and says "ok, lets have it, tell me all about you. I want to know you. If I want you this badly you can't be all evil." But he never does that. So I do not see the point of me reading about him for 2 books now.

I would have loved more of Finn and the Deveroux sisters. They're interesting characters that we know almost nothing about. Finn is there for comic relief, but I want to see deeper into him. I would love to see him really get down and dirty with Gin about, trying to help her find the trust about her family. ALSO, more about her family would be appreciated. She keeps talking about the file, but I want to know everything in the file. I want Gin to focus on it. I want Gin to focus on her revenge and stop with all these side investigations and problems. (less)

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Jan 28, 2012 Felicia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read, audiobook, audible-purchase-2009-to-2011

Bought on Audible
Audio Rating 4
Story Rating 4

What I Loved: Who doesn't love when a series gets stronger in the 2nd book? This is looking to be a series that consistently builds on the story, characters, and plots from the previous books and keeps you wanting more. Gin is a very impressive leading character. She is tough, smart, a chameleon (though I loved Owen's reaction to her hooker gear), and yet still vulnerable. She truly is a great mix of everything. The storyline was fantastic and I like...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Sayjil rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, paranormal

Other than being bored, retirement is going well for Spider. Gin Blanco is honouring Fletcher’s last wish by retiring and running the Pork Pit. Then two guys; Lance and Jake McAllister decided to rob the Pork Pit and Gin would have let them except they threatened to kill a customer. After Gin took care of them, she finds herself in unwanted attention, the girl being the sister of Owen Grayson and Jake the son of Mab Monroe’s lawyer, Jonah McAllister. This being spread around, a girl named Violet...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Stef rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really wish I could give this book no stars, but I don't think that would be fair. I love the plot and I love parts of Gin and her powers. I was so thrilled about the idea of an elemental assassin when I forced myself to read through the first one. First of all, for a hard core assassin Gin really whines a lot.I am so sick of books where the main character has all of these amazing powers and yet she whines relentlessly about how her life sucks. I understand that she lost her family and that he...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Romancing the Book rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, urban-fantasy

Review by Zita: Gin discovers that Fletcher, once known as the assassin called the Tin Man, did some pro bono work, so when Violet Fox shows up at the Pork Pit asking for his help, she gamely steps up to the plate. It seems a dwarf with mining concerns is harassing Violet's grandfather in order to force him to sell him his land. Grandpa Fox is holding his own, but the creeps are threatening Violet now. Gin manages to rescue Violet from a horrific beating and quickly reaches the conclusion that t...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Kiki rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: assassin, elemental-magic, contemporary, fantasy, vampire

Gin is now a retired assassin, but she is still a watchful, waiting spider- a dreadfully, bored spider with lots of curiosity to lead her into trouble.

It seems like the series is shifting to where Gin is more of a vigilante than a for hire assassin. The book starts with a robbery at the Peach Pit and a young female customer looking for the Tin Man- the late Fletcher Lane's handle.

I throughly loved this book as Gin strives to make things right for Fletcher's childhood best friend and his family...more

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Sep 14, 2011 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gin has entered her retirement as an assassin - she's now a college student and BBQ restaurant owner, hanging up her knives after her mentor died. Or so she thought.

An old friend of her foster-father shows up in her restaurant looking for help – and someone tries to kill her. Pulled in by the need to help her foster-father's friend (and because she's not tolerating any hits in her own restaurant) she finds them being intimidated into selling their land to a mining developer. Dragged in, she has...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, urban-fantasy

Another good book in the Elemental series.

This book started with Gin's life six months after the death of her mentor, Fletcher. She's taken over his BBQ restaurant, the Pork Pit, and has retired from the assassination business. When a pair of well-connected boys attempt to rob her store, she gets pulled back into violence.

The story tracked two major plot lines in parallel. In one, Gin is trying to save Fletcher's friend from being driven off his land. In another, she is dealing with the fallout...more Another good book in the Elemental series.

This book started with Gin's life six months after the death of her mentor, Fletcher. She's taken over his BBQ restaurant, the Pork Pit, and has retired from the assassination business. When a pair of well-connected boys attempt to rob her store, she gets pulled back into violence.

The story tracked two major plot lines in parallel. In one, Gin is trying to save Fletcher's friend from being driven off his land. In another, she is dealing with the fallout from trying to press charges against her would-be robber.

This book had a lot of the elements I really liked from the first book. Gin is a great female protagonist; she makes plans and drives the plot forwards with her decisions. This is a fresh thing in the genre. The dialog is sometimes snappy, and the plot works well.

However, there were a few things that bothered me during the book. I think I'm not 'getting' something about Donovan, the main romantic interest. In the first book, they were physically attracted to each other and forced together by chance. And that worked.

In this book, Gin seems smitten with Donovan and wounded that she can't get a relationship going. This is strange as Donovan's on-screen time consists mostly of hand-wringing, and telling Gin that she's a bad person because she's an assassin. Physical attraction is enough to explain lust, but why would these people be in a relationship?

It also feels like it undermines the character of Gin Blanco. I really like the idea of a competent, uninhibited female lead. And it works great with books that are structured like 'heist' stories. Then the book introduces a wet-blanket love interest and some sub-plots that make Gin seem much less ruthless than the narrator would have us believe.

The parallel plots surprised me because they were relatively unlinked. I'm not sure if this is necessarily a bad thing. I normally expect to see events linking together in the climax, and this surprised me.

However, it might have been nice if they'd interacted a little more, if only in terms of having Gin feel pressure from facing down two antagonists at once. The robbery plot seemed to get resolved quite quickly and sooner in the story than I'd have expected. I liked having a story break the normal, "All antagonists end up with the UF hero having to come back from behind," rule.

Gin also discovered that her mentor had been looking into the death of her parents. And she felt (of all things) betrayed by this. That reaction just seemed odd. It could be that he secretly rejected her and expressed it via manila folder (her initial guess). Or he was just investigating her family's death.

The book introduced some new characters, including a romantic interest who seems infinitely more interesting than Donovan. We also get to see the secondary characters developed quite a bit more.

I'd give it 4.5 if I could. On the balance, it was quite good, but the character arcs weren't quite as strong as in the first book.(less)

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Jul 14, 2011 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-5-stars

Plot: 4.5 Stars
Although I wished Gin would've looked a bit more into the bomb that was dropped at the end of Spider's Bite, I can understand her hesitance. Hopefully this plotline will be expanded on in the third novel, Venom. Besides this point, the plot drew me in immediately. Every piece of the puzzle fit together perfectly, and yet so many things completely surprised me. It was very interesting to see more of the elemental powers that Gin and other citizens of Ashland possess.

Pace: 4.5 Star...more Plot: 4.5 Stars
Although I wished Gin would've looked a bit more into the bomb that was dropped at the end of Spider's Bite, I can understand her hesitance. Hopefully this plotline will be expanded on in the third novel, Venom. Besides this point, the plot drew me in immediately. Every piece of the puzzle fit together perfectly, and yet so many things completely surprised me. It was very interesting to see more of the elemental powers that Gin and other citizens of Ashland possess.

Pace: 4.5 Stars
Web of Lies was like a roller coaster: you speed through a bunch of twists and turns, and once you're finished you can't wait to do it again. The novel itself encompassed less than a week, but it was a completely believable timeline. Even when Gin took a step back and baked a delicious cobbler, the story didn't slow down. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire four hundred pages, and just couldn't get enough.

Characters: 5 Stars
Gin really showed some growth in this novel. After a stint of retirement, she takes a case out of morals instead of money. It's always good to be reassured that a tough-as-nails heroine has feelings and morals. Finnegan makes a great sidekick to Gin, although I'm sure he would be pissed to be referred to as a sidekick. He brought just the right amount of humor to the story. There were also a lot of new characters, both good and evil, and we got to know all of them pretty well. I was a little disappointed in Donovan, but I don't think this is the last we've seen of the good cop.

Cover: 4.5 Star
This series has been blessed with a fantastic cover artist. At first, I was confused by the brown background image, especially after Spider's Bite had such specific details added in. But once I finished the book and gave the cover another look, I was enlightened and realized the background image was from a crucial part of the book. I also love that the cover model has Gin's spider rune scars on her palms, and her silverstone knife. It actually feels like Gin is on the cover, and not just a model that can pass for her.

Overall: 4.5 Stars

Disclosure: I received an eARC of this book from the author and also bought a copy of this book for my own enjoyment. (less)

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Jul 13, 2011 Susie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oh My Shelves: Ongoing Buddy Read for Elemental Assassin	42	28	May 24, 2013 10:39am
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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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Tangled Threads (Elemental Assassin, #4)

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Quotes from Web of Lies

“You could just run over him," I said. "He's already dead, and it's not like you haven't done it before."
"Yeah, but I don't want bloody bits of dwarf stuck on my wheels for the next two weeks." Finn sniffed. "This is an Aston Martin, Gin. You don't run over dead bodies in an Aston Martin."
"Tell that to James Bond."
Finn shot me a dirty look as he pulled out onto the street.” — 26 people liked it

“This is an Aston Martin, Gin.You don't run over dead bodies in an Aston Matin."
"Tell that to James Bond” — 22 people liked it

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