** spoiler alert ** Gin Blanco is trying her best to stay as a retired assassin. But unfortunately bad news follows her, mainly because of the turn of events in Web of Lies, where she ended up snuffing out the son of a very dangerous man, Jonah McAllister, who is also the lawyer for one of Ashland’s most powerful elementals, Mab Monroe. Venom starts where Gin has the flu and is suffering from a bad cold. She’s attacked by Jonah and some of his thugs because he thinks she knows something about his son’s death. Gin puts on the scared act and is beaten within an inch of her life. Mab puts a stop to it. Mab, Jonah and his goons all think Gin is some weak, pathetic loser. And because of that Mab has no idea what Gin is capable of and will be taken down. Gin wants to kill Mab, who was responsible for murdering her parents, almost killing her when she was a barely a teen, and up to most recently thought her younger sister Bria had been dead all these years. The biggest surprise in store for Gin is that Bria is alive and has moved to Ashland to take over the role of detective, the one Gin’s sometime lover, Detective Donovan Caine had recently vacated.

Gin’s attack doesn’t weaken her resolve. She’s fixed up by two very powerful dwarfs who are skilled in healing, and has the support of Finn Lane. Finn’s father Fletcher took Gin in and taught her to be an assassin. Years later he was tortured and killed. Gin also wants revenge for Fletcher’s murder because she thinks Mab may also had something to do with it. Gin and her crew carefully plan a way to bring down Mab, but Bria is sniffing around. And because of that, Bria is marked for death. Now Gin has to protect Bria, while keeping her true identity a secret, as well as lend aid to an old lover of Finn’s, a vampire, who is being stalked by one of Mab’s psychotic goons.

And, if that’s not bad enough, or perhaps in Gin’s case, a very good thing, the mysterious, rich Owen Grayson, who first appeared in Web of Lies (Gin saved his sister), wants to know Gin better. He too has a past much like Gin’s that bonds them. And because of that, Gin may have found not only someone who understands her, but a lover who won’t judge her like Donovan did every time they were together.

Venom is another wonderful installment of Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series. Gin makes no excuses about ending the lives of those who cause pain and suffering to innocent people. She’s much like Robin Hood, but instead of stealing from the rich to give to the poor, she’s a vigilante who is the judge and jury when it comes to the sort of punishment she dishes out. Gin also prefers to use weapons, knives being her weapon of choice, rather than her own elemental powers, and only if she has no other choice left.

What I also find amazing about Gin is her devotion to her friends, who are essentially her family. Her brother Finn, in everything but blood, is a smooth character who hides a very resourceful nature. Just as Gin puts on certain act for the world, Finn does also. And I have a good feeling that because Finn adores Gin, he’s close to feeling the same for Bria, but in more physical terms. And speaking of physical, Owen is a worthy partner and lover for Gin. He’s definitely not a rebound from Gin’s disastrous relationship with Donovan. I can’t wait to see what Jennifer has in store for these two, and if and when Donovan will return at some point.

Kick-ass balls to the walls action is what I think when it comes to Gin Blanco and this series. Venom may just have your adrenaline running where by the end you’ll be panting for the next book.