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Spider's Bite (Elemental Assassin, #1)

Jennifer Estep

Start date: January 1, 2017

Finish date: January 31, 2017

Discussion: Challenges: What's the Rush

Why we're reading this: Part of our group series (re)read: Elemental Assassin …more
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Challenges: What's the Rush

* 2025 Series Read: K.N. Banet's "Jacky Leon"
By Steph , Serious series addict · 89 posts · 31 views

last updated Aug 30, 2025 10:39PM

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* YEAR-LONG CHALLENGES
By Steph , Serious series addict · 1 post · 389 views

last updated Aug 17, 2010 11:14PM

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Jul 08, 2011 Marsha rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Gin, aka the Spider, is an assassin with a conscious (kind of reminds me of another book I read, minus the paranormal, fantasy elements - Ethical Assassin by David Liss - though the ethical assassin part is the only similarity really). Anyway, Gin doesn't kill kids, the innocent, etc. She only kills those that deserve it, those who have done something very bad. Orphaned at 13, she was taken in by Fletcher, her handler and 'adopted' dad. He taught her to be an assassin, utilizing her skills of pa Gin, aka the Spider, is an assassin with a conscious (kind of reminds me of another book I read, minus the paranormal, fantasy elements - Ethical Assassin by David Liss - though the ethical assassin part is the only similarity really). Anyway, Gin doesn't kill kids, the innocent, etc. She only kills those that deserve it, those who have done something very bad. Orphaned at 13, she was taken in by Fletcher, her handler and 'adopted' dad. He taught her to be an assassin, utilizing her skills of patience, survivalism, and determination. One last job, that's all Fletcher wanted her to do and then she was supposed to retire. But, of course, things didn't go as planned and she was running for her life, all the while trying to figure out and assassinate the party that had double crossed her. There were vampires, dwarves, and giants in this cast of characters - though they were so super human that they stole the show. Their 'gift' only made them stronger or faster or something along those lines. Then there were elementals - those individuals who could manipulate one or more element (fire, water, air, earth and the many derivatives). Gin was an elemental - earth (or stone) and water. Though, her water gift wasn't nearly as strong as her ability to manipulate and listen to stone. In fact, she was quite gifted in that area. And of course, there was a love interest - or maybe I should classify him as a sexual interest. Because, there really wasn't much mushy, love involved in her feelings toward Donovan Caine - one of the few honest police officers in the city of Ashland. He, of course, was out to get Gin, but he also was indebted to her for saving his life. Conundrum!

Okay, Detective Caine is where my frustration with the story really takes place. I just don't see the connection between these two characters. I enjoyed the various other characters in the book - including Gin, but not Caine. It wasn't so much that he was a bad person, his character just fell completely flat. Though, he was hugely sanctimonious throughout the story. But, honestly, I just couldn't feel the draw between Gin and Caine. It just felt like Estep simply decided that they were going to be hot for each other and then tried to create sexual tension as often as possible. It just wasn't believable for me.

With that said - I enjoyed the mystery behind the story, the action, the elements that were a part of the super natural world. It was an interesting and novel take and I appreciated the different story line. The vampires didn't take over with their vicious, blood thirsty power and neither did the other characters.

I have already started Web of Lies - the next book in this series and I look forward to seeing if an actual relationship develops between Gin and Caine. ...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Garima rated it really liked it

Shelves: uf, favorites

After a long time I enjoyed a UF series. The heroine is kick-ass and and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. I liked the elementals concept and that the story keeps moving instead of stagnating with long paragraphs of the assassins guilt and issues. I like that Gin is an unapologetic, no bull-shit character and her emotions feel genuine and not cloying. The book holds true to the urban fantasy genre instead of leaning more towards the Paranormal romance genre as a lot of the recent ones ...more

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