One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Elemental Assassin, Book 3
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 416 Pages, 5339 Locations
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


Gin Blanco is, among other things, a retired assassin. What she's quickly coming to realize, however, is while retiring is easy, staying that way is much less so. That realization is quite literally beaten into her by the giant Elliot Slater, right hand thug of family annihilator and Fire elemental Mab Monroe, after Slater and two of his enforcers accost her on her college campus at the behest of Jonah McAllister, Mab's lawyer and left hand sleazebag. McAllister is trying to find out who's responsible for the death of his son, but Gin takes the beating both to protect her identity and to protect those who lied for her a couple of weeks ago when she used a party at Mab's to get close to a target. She ended up killing Jake McAllister before he could rape and murder her, instead.

Gin survives the vicious beating only to come face to face with her long lost sister Bria. Overcome by unexpected emotions and unwilling to introduce herself to her sister just yet, Gin retreats to get some perspective and information...and healing. Before she can make any moves in the sister direction, though, two friends turn to Gin and foster brother Finn for the sort of help only a spider can supply. It's the kind of help Gin is happy to offer, actually, as not only does she feel responsible for the situation in which the vampire Roslyn and, by extension, the giant Xavier find themselves, but some sadistic giants just deserve to get dead more than others so it's the mutually beneficial sort of pro bono work that the Spider just loves.

Tricky part is making sure her friends and loved ones don't get dead first.

In this third foray into the seedy underbelly of a corrupt Ashland, Jennifer Estep is starting to get her groove on with Gin and Company. Venom is a much more streamlined and well-plotted book than its predecessors, and the main and secondary characters are hitting their strides as they develop and expand their rolls in each book.

Gin has been the drawing force for my interest in this series since the beginning, and she was in her sarcastic, self deprecating, delightfully deadly element here. In fact, I find she's growing more and more likable while maintaining that killer edge that keeps her firmly off the side of angels but doesn't quite propel her into villain territory, either. The fact that she's an assassin is no secret - though she's 'retired' now (works more than most of the actively employed I've met, but still) - and she has no regrets or tedious crises of conscience to make her a character of pathos and angst (which would really annoy me). She's a strong, capable, wily predator with a wide protective streak for those few people she considers her family, with just enough emotional vulnerability and past tragedy to make her sympathetic. I've become very fond of her through the series.

I really enjoyed how the plot of this book developed and appreciated the fast-paced opening sequence. I thought first two books in the series dragged at the beginning, but from the first sentence, Venom drops readers into Gin's head just prior to her savage attack and it's pretty much a non-stop ride from there. The plot did have a couple of rough patches, left several questions unanswered, and offered up one or two unoriginal plot twists (she got the wrong sister...really?), but those few issues were easier to take when surrounded by solid story. There were also a few instances of characters doing stupid things that created unnecessary havoc, making questionable decisions and nonsensical choices that served little purpose but to set up the latter events in the story. That's normally a major peeve of mine but the resolution of the final conflict was satisfying enough to smooth out my feelings.

A couple of my biggest issues with the prior books did carry over to this one, though to a slightly lesser degree. Estep's tendency towards repetition in the narrative is one of the biggies. Is it really necessary for Gin to qualify the gin as bitter eight times in a chapter or two? Or remind readers about Gin's relationship with Fletcher every time his name is mentioned? And is there anyone who has read any of the books in the series who doesn't know by now that Fletcher and Finn drank/drink chicory coffee and that when Finn does, it reminds Gin of Fletcher? I keep hoping to see Estep advance beyond that habit for repetition before pounding her readers over the head with it, but so far, no luck.

My other significant issues with the first two books in the series, detective Donovan Caine's existence and the excessive exposition (if you read the second book, you didn't need to bother reading the first - it was practically rewritten in a condensed format in Web of Lies), were toned down in Venom. There's still room for improvement, as the combination of the excessive exposition and repetitive narrative compounds and amplifies both issues, but it's better than it was. As for Donovan Caine...he left in the last book and while his name comes up a lot, he - thankfully - doesn't. I didn't like him, haven't from the first book, and much prefer the more compatible alternative we spend time with in this book, Owen Grayson. Even though aspects of Owen's character are still a little rough and some a bit too convenient to be entirely plausible, when compared to the sanctimonious prig Caine, I have no complaints.

I'm pleased to see the direction this series is taking and the strides Estep has made with it. She long since charmed me with Gin Blanco as a heroine, but she's now also winning me over with a strong and clean plot that supports and complements her characters, along with improving technical mechanics and writing style. Venom is my favorite of the first three books, but I'm looking forward to Tangled Threads (Elemental Assassin, Book 4) which is slated for release on April 26, 2011. Long wait, I know, but I'm really starting to think Gin's worth it.

Elemental Assassin Series: 
  

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Elemental Assassin, Book 2
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


The Spider is retired. The assassin's alter ego Gin Blanco, on the other hand, now owns and runs the Pork Pit, the barbecue joint that her handler, Fletcher, left her upon his death. He's the one who wanted her to retire, and she's been doing the best to follow his last wishes. Problem is, she's bored out of her mind. The sort of bored no amount of restaurant managing, baking, or auditing classes at Ashland's Community College can quite ease. It's been two months since she went head to head with the Elemental Mage who was responsible for Fletcher's death, two months of mourning the man who was like a father to her, and two months with nothing more taxing to do than making sure no one followed her home or had been to her house while she was working. She's more than ready for a little excitement. She should've known excitement would find her eventually.

First there was the robbery...well, the attempt, anyway. Two goons storm into her place with ill intent and one is the son of a very affluent, connected, and, of course, crooked attorney, but Gin doesn't much care who beget the bastard. He threatened her place and almost killed a customer. No one does that to her. She doesn't kill him - witnesses, more's the pity - but she is intent on pressing charges. Even after the powerful daddy pays her a less than pleasant visit. Gin doesn't scare easy. Or, you know...at all.

That one event brings Donovan Caine back into her life - after he'd been pointedly avoiding her since Fletcher's funeral. The sparks are still there, but he's still a supercilious and sanctimonious prig. Soon Gin doesn't have time to deal with his issues even if she wanted to, because someone's taking shots at her restaurant. At first she thinks it's the goon with the Daddy issues, but no - the shooter is after someone else entirely, and Gin is drawn into a situation not of her making. A corrupt businessman is threatening the life of a childhood friend of Fletcher's, as well as attempting to rape and murder his granddaughter. Maybe that retirement was a wee bit precipitous, after all.

So here we are again for the second foray into the Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep. I wasn't totally thrilled with the first, Spider's Bite (see my review here), but I saw potential for the series. Some of that potential was realized in this second book. I did enjoy this one slightly more than the first. One of the things I liked in both books is the complexity and depth in the fascinating character of Gin. I think she's the high point of the book and the series. She's such a fantastic blend of contradictions. An assassin since she was thirteen, she can kill coldly and cleanly with no effect on her conscience, and yet for those few people she cares about, she's wildly protective and will go to any and every length to defend them. She a jaded realist, but there's parts of her that still hope for things that she's never known. She keeps her heart more closely guarded than most countries guard their gold, yet the echoes of past tragedies still make it break. If anyone gets too close, she's quick to stick a blade in them, yet she's one of the loneliest people I've ever seen.

Her relationship with Donovan Caine (who I have to admit, I loathe) is such a good example of the myriad of contradictions that make Gin so special. She wants him, she's drawn to him, and she will never bend for him, or compromise herself to be with him. He condemns her for her profession, part of him despises her for his unquenchable desire, and she knows that he'll never accept her. She could tell him of her past, her childhood, so he could understand. She could seduce him day and night until he gives over to her completely. She does neither. She wants him, yes, but even more than his body, she wants him to accept all of her - to see all of her, and until he does, she accepts that there's no future in it. But she hopes that maybe one day...

I really do enjoy her character, and think she's one of the more interesting ones I've come across in urban fantasy lately. The supporting cast - Finn and the dwarven sisters Jo-Jo and Sophia are back from the first book, as well, and I enjoyed spending time with them again. There are a few new faces that have some interesting potential. I'm really hoping to see more of Owen in the next book, even if I thought the timing of his arrival in the book was a little convenient.

Unfortunately, the drawbacks of the last book have also carried over into this one. I wasn't thrilled with the plot. It wasn't as cohesive or as complex as I would've liked, and it took a while to really get into it. The book started a bit slow for me, even with the robbery, and I felt Estep was a little too conscientious in introducing new readers to previous events. Yes, this book could be read as a stand-alone, and that's all well and good, but after the massive amount of exposition heavily lathered into the first third of the book, a reader new to the series doesn't even have to bother reading the first book to be as familiar with it as those of us who did.

In the first book, also, I had a problem with repetition in the narrative, and again I felt like this was an issue here. In much the same way. Often about the same things. Descriptions are given again and again - like the scars on Gin's hand, or the way Donovan smells, or the coffee Finn drinks, etc. We also hear more than once about how Gin feels about Fletcher and the folder he'd made for her - that comes up through the whole book. At times it feels like Estep is bludgeoning her readers to really, really get her points across and it's just not necessary. Much less repetition would be greatly appreciated as the series continues.

Like I said, I did like this book a little more than the first. I don't think Gin's actions were as intelligent as they were in that one during the events preceding and during the big showdown, but we got a broader glimpse of her personality, and her character was fleshed out even more, with a few more glimpses into her backstory. While the plot wasn't complex, I thought it had more of a human touch to it, and several plot threads engendered a bit more emotion from me than in the last. Plus, there was another nifty series cross-over mention. I love how Estep does that. In this book, Finn's reading a newspaper article written by Carmen Cole who you can meet in Karma Girl, the first of Estep's Bigtime series.

Despite Web of Lies not being quite as good for me as I'd hoped, I have pre-ordered the next book in the Elemental Assassin series, Venom, due out at the end of September. I enjoy Gin too much not to continue with her story for now.

Elemental Assassin Series:
   

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Elemental Assassin, Book 1
Rating: 3 Stars
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


Jennifer Estep has created a new series with a quintessential anti-heroine, Gin, an assassin with enough moral ambiguity to make mafia dons proud. Far removed from Estep's lighter fare, Spider's Bite is a dark urban fantasy featuring a very complex character, Gin Blanco, a woman who has suffered unthinkable loss and tragedy and turned herself into a deadly weapon to survive. Don't rally behind her too quickly, though, because while there are certainly aspects of Gin's character that are sympathetic and even one or two that are endearing, she's unapologetic about her profession. She has lines that she doesn't cross - no killing kids or pets, no torture, that sort of thing - but she's racked up an impressive body count and her assassin tag, The Spider, instills fear into the hearts of those who may end up a victim of her blades.

When a lucrative job goes as bad as it possibly can, Gin is double-crossed, almost killed, marked for death, her handler is brutally tortured and killed, and she's framed for a murder she didn't commit. She goes on the offensive to discover who hired her and why. With the help of her handler's son, Finn, and the one honest cop on the whole of the Ashland police force, she's committed to finding out who is responsible for killing her handler Fletcher and killing the hell out of them right back...or she'll die trying. In the alternate universe Estep's created, Gin lives in Ashland, a strange blend of crime, corruption, and picture-perfect suburbia, populated by humans, vampires, giants, gnomes and others, and Elementals - magic uses who control the elements of Stone, Ice, Fire, and Air. Gin is an Elemental with control over Stone and a lesser ability with Ice, but she eschews her magical talents when it comes to assassinations, preferring to rely on her wit, patience, and blades.

The strongest aspect of Spider's Bite is the character of Gin. Estep did an impressive job with her character definition and development. I very much appreciated her complexity, depth, and intelligence. She's flawed, damaged, and almost sociopathic, and I was fond of the combination of internal strength, fortitude, and physical aptitude. I liked her friend/associate Finn, as well, and though he wasn't as fleshed out as Gin and he played a careless playboy roll a little too often, I sympathized with him over the loss of his father. The cop, Detective Donovan Caine, was a bit too morally superior and way too judgmental and critical for me to warm up to him much.

While I'm a huge Gin fan, however, I'm not as big a fan of the plot and climax of Spider's Bite. I thought the beginning was weighed down by too much exposition and the middle dragged as the book practically plodded towards a not too surprising (though it tried to be) conclusion. And the plot itself: assassin double-crossed, handler killed, has to find out who did it and fast - wasn't all that compelling or dangerous and felt a bit cliched.

I also had some serious issues with technical aspects of the book. I felt there was way too much repetition, most notably in descriptive passages (if I had to read about Donovan's soapy scent one more time, or Gin's cold, gray eyes/stare, or see anyone else's eyes flash with emotion I was tossing my Kindle out the window). There were far too many awkward and unnecessary analogies used, as well, also as a descriptive tool that fell flat ("Finn's voice dripped with sarcasm like grease off a piece of bacon." "Emotions flashed in his eyes like lightning."). It got to a point where almost everything described was "like" something else. Analogous narrative can be a useful tool, but it was horribly overused here. I also had a problem with a couple of Gin's "hits." I admit, I'm no expert in human biology or pathology, but it felt like it should have taken a lot longer for Gin's targets to die from their wounds (in one case a screw perforating the trachea) than it did in several instances in the book. I'd have preferred either better description of the wounds inflicted or an explanation that a major organ, like the heart, or a major artery (brachial) was hit. Either that or be a little more realistic in length of time between a wound and death. I wish an editor had tightened up all those aspects of the book a bit more, because it got very distracting for me and I struggled at times to stay in the story.

I have to say, though, points to Estep for the wickedly subtle but nifty series cross-over with the mention of Fiona Fine's menswear collection. If you're unfamiliar with the fab Ms. Fine, check out Estep's delightfully campy and fun Bigtime series. Estep's second book in the An Elemental Assassin series is now out, and I look forward to continuing the tales of Gin, because regardless of the issues I had, I'm still interested enough to keep going with the series.