Spider's Bite: An Elemental Assassin Book (Elemental Assassin, #1)

by Jennifer Estep

Follow Gin Blanco, a kick-butt female assassin who moonlights at a BBQ joint in Tennessee, as she searches for the person who double-crossed her in this heart-pounding and fresh paranormal romance series.

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 assigned 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 who double-crossed her and why. Only one thing is for sure—Gin has no qualms about killing her way to the top of the conspiracy.

• ISBN10: 1439147973
• ISBN13: 9781439147979
• Publish Date: 26 January 2010
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Pocket Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Spider's Bite has one of the best opening chapters I have read. As soon as I finished it, I knew this was going to be my kind of book! We meet our heroine, Gin, while she's in an asylum where the doctor is trying to convince her that she is not the renowned assassin, the Spider. Of course, Gin is the assassin, and the doctor is her next target. Upon completion of her current mission, Gin is given another one which gives her a lot more problems than she bargained for.

I only had two issues with Spider's Bite, but I decided to round up instead of down since neither affected my enjoyment that much. The first was some repetition. Whenever Gin gets ready to go out, she has to tell us where her five knives go. They always go in the same place, but for some reason she has to tell us every single time. She also constantly tells us that runes are important for elementals and other magic users every time runes are brought up. I think we got it the first time, Gin.

The second was that I found the world building a bit questionable. I had lots of questions, but since this is the first book, I was sure they'd get answered later (most were in the next book). Plus none of my questions had anything to do with the current plot, just general questions about the different magical creatures. But I also found some of the elemental abilities to be quite far fetched. Air users can instantly heal wounds? Stone users can make their skin tough as stone? Ice users can create ice out of nothing? Really? I think elementals are really awesome, but they seemed too all-powerful for my liking.

Now for what I absolutely loved: the sexual tension! It's not a romance...yet, but holy crap! The tension! At the beginning of Spider's Bite we learn that Gin has a bit of a crush on Detective Donovan Caine. Well, crush may be an understatement. She has some quite vivid fantasies about him. Then when some evil elemental is after the good detective, Gin rescues him, and sees that perhaps he's interested in her, too. There's one scene where I swear they were five seconds from getting it on in public! Dang! Then their sexual tension turns into regular tension and it's like...nooo! But dang...those two...I need more Gin and Donovan!

Spider's Bite was a lot of fun. It's exciting and sexy, and just an all around a good time. I really like Gin. She may be a murderer for hire, but she still has heart. The plot was fast paced and engaging, and while it wrapped up neatly, the ending still had a bit of a shock.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Berls]

Audio Review | Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep My Initial Reaction...
Spider's Bite is an action-packed emotional ride, with solidly complex characters and a unique magical world that I look forward to getting to know better. As the first book in the Elemental Assassins series, Spider Bite didn't really suffer from what I call "first book syndrome." The world building was fantastic, but didn't weigh down the story.
 
The Narration...
Lauren Fortgang is a good narrator. Her voice for Gin really embodied a tough, yet southern, girl and her voices for other characters were distinct and appropriate. My main complaint was her pacing; she spoke so slow. Now, if you have one of the audible apps that lets you change the speed, this isn't a big deal and you'll probably have no complaints. I don't and found it annoying. I'll continue listening to the series though, so it didn't bother me that much.
The Characters...
I love Gin! LOL not the drink (well, I guess that's okay too) but the heroine of Spider's Bite. Her opening line is fantabulous: "My name is Gin and I kill people." I think one of the things I love most about Gin is that she's skilled, not flashy. She's an assassin, but she doesn't go for guns or explosives and she rarely uses her elemental abilities. No, she's the quiet, precise killer using knives, careful planning, and her brain. The Spider, her assassin moniker, is a very appropriate name for her. And she's so much more than a killer. Gin feels very deeply, even if she does hide her feelings behind a rough exterior most the time. And Jennifer Estep writes those emotions so beautifully - my heart went out for Gin on numerous occasions and I even shed a few tears.  Gin also has morals; she may be a killer, but she has a code. And she has a soft side. Some of the best moments are when Gin is in her kitchen cooking. Oh and she has the best sense of humor. There are some incredible one liners that come out of no where and just make you laugh. Gin is everything I love in a charcter: smart, sassy, determined, tough and tortured.
 
I really love the supporting characters in Spider's Bite as well. They're well developed and their dialogue with Gin is great. Finnigan (Fin) Lane, Gin's adoptive brother, is the perfect compliment to Gin's personality. He is a womanizer, complete with the rugged good looks, charm, and oodles of money. But he's also tough - not as tough as Gin - and he's a total smart aleck. He may not be an assassin like Gin, but he knows the business and knows how to be her sidekick. They obviously have a deep, personal relationship and I love their ability to have silent conversations. And like any brother, he's obnoxious and teases her. I loved every minute.
 
Finally there's Detective Donovan Caine. Right from the start Gin's fantasizing about the "good detective" because he's pretty damn sexy. But he's also good and Gin can't trust him. He's one of the only upstanding detectives on the police force, so he doesn't exactly want to play nice. His attitude toward Gin is sometimes frustrating because he's so determined to see her as an assassin that he can't seem to see that she just might be the good guy at the moment, while those he works with are the corrupt bad guys. The incredible sexual tension between Donovan and Gin is heightened by the fact that he is disgusted by what she stands for and she doesn't trust him as far she she could throw him (which I imagine is pretty far).
 
The Story...
Jennifer Estep has created a really fascinating and marvelously complex fantasy world with Spider's Bite. There are dwarves, vampires, and Elementals, the name for magic users. They're called Elementals because they can harness specific elements (either air, fire, stone or ice). It's a gift they are born with, to varying degrees of strength and combinations of elemental skills. Gin is a stone elemental, with a little bit of ice power, and those abilities combined with some killer instincts and fabulous training have made her one of the most sought after assassins: The Spider. We meet Gin while in the middle of a job and I was immediately impressed with her and intrigued by the possibilities of elemental magic. The story really picks up however, when her next job goes horribly wrong. She's been double crossed and no one double crosses the Spider. The story then becomes a mystery of trying to figure out who double crossed her and why. And all the while, whoever it was wants her and everyone she cares about dead. Not to mention that the "good detective" Donovan Cane saw Gin and has released an image of her as an assassin, so the cops (most of whom are dirty and probably on the mysterious double crossers payroll) are also looking for her.
 
On top of the main story is Gin's subtly written back story filled with a mystery of its own. Estep masterfully weaves in flashbacks and hints about Gin's past, making you more and more curious. This is clearly a mystery that will stay with the series for a while - maybe it will be the link carrying the series forward, I think it really could.
 
Concluding Sentiments...
It's an incredible race filled with some really great action scenes, fun banter, and a decent mystery. There were a few moments that were just a little too obvious for me, but for the most part Estep kept me on my toes. I really enjoyed this world that Estep has created and look forward to reading more stories set within it.
Get it on Amazon

[Hixxup]

I love getting my hands on books that are not your typical supernatural reads. The supernaturals in this books are of course your typical fae types, vampires, and Elemental's they control Stone, Fire, Air, and Ice with some minor ones such as metal and water. Gin is our main character she is a Stone Elemental, who's family was killed in front of her when she was 13, and was taken in by Fenegan (SP, and his son Finn. Fen will call him, had raised Gin to be the woman she is today, a badass assassin named the "Spider". Gin gets a job that pays a lot of money, She goes to do the hit, but when she gets ready to do her hit, she finds out they've been double crossed and she's going to be set up for the murder, as a bigger plot is going on. Gin must figure out who is behind the double cross and kill them before they end up getting her put in prison or worse dead.

[Amanda]

Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2011/10/14/review-spiders-bite-by-jennifer-estep/

I won’t lie. I love hard-edged female characters, and Gin is exactly that. But really, could you expect anything less from an assassin? Even though Gin is an assassin, she has principles and lives by her own rules. She’s an extremely likable assassin. And she cooks! Have I ever mentioned how much I love food?

Given that I loved Gin, it’s no surprise that I really liked Spider’s Bite even with the minimal world building that left me intrigued and wanting more. Spider’s Bite felt like a very small bite, as though we’re sampling Gin’s world before we dive in. It took a few chapters to really get into Spider’s Bite, but once I got going, it was very difficult to put down.

Now, Gin’s romance isn’t exactly ideal (though her romantic interest is pretty hot) but considering who Gin is, it works. Well, it perhaps “fits” is a better word than “work.” It fits. I’m interested to see how this romance plays out in future books, because it promises to be a difficult romance.

Other than the constant references to Gin’s gray eyes which almost got on my nerves, Spider’s Bite is a fantastic read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The side characters were also fantastically written, and I can’t wait to see more of them, as well.

[Melanie]

3.5 stars. There a lit of things I liked about this book. I love the opening line, "My name is Gin, and I kill people." It is a different story than I have been reading, it nice to have a book that is not about vampires and shifters, as much as I love them. Yes there are vampires in this book, but they play an extremely small part to the story. There are things that drove crazy, there a few things that are repeated a little too frequently. But over all, a great story. I can't wait to get the next one.