Spider's Trap (Elemental Assassin, #13)

by Jennifer Estep

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

Oh, how I just love this series. It just keeps getting better and better. Everytime that Ms. Estep takes you to a point that you think will be the end of the series or the overall story arc, she picks the story right back and sends Gin down another path that keeps the stories fresh and fun. You think that Gin has beat the big bad villain and that there is nothing left for her to do, but yet trouble still finds her in completely new ways.

In this story, Gin is now the reluctant leader of the Ashland underworld. This only increases the number of targets on her back. The only thing that is really different in her life is that she now has the play mediator between the other lowly underworld bosses and help them resolve their disputes. Watching her deal with these idiots is quite the hoot. I don’t envy her in the least.

The villain in this book is a metal elemental, which is a new thing for Gin to fight. Yes, Owen is a metal elemental, but she has never had to fight him and this villain is so much stronger than Owen. He also has some pretty neat tricks up his sleeve to help him win pretty much any battle. Trying to find a location to battle him where there is no metal is the best place to win, but that is much easier said than done.

We get to spend time with all of the favorite characters we’ve come to love. Yes, lots of time with Owen, Sophia, JoJo, Philip and no Elemental Assassins story is complete without Finn. I also loved having Silvo in the mix trying to manage Gin as she tries to manage the underworld. Even better, Silvo and Finn are constantly trying to one up each other. We even get to flashback and learn more about the closet softy, Fletcher Lane.

This was a great addition to the Elemental Assassins series. There is everything you’ve come to expect in a great Gin tale in Spider’s Trap. There is a wonderfully choreographed fight scene. There is some romance between Owen and Gin. The snarkiness between all the characters. The wonderful food that is listed, I swear makes me gain weight just reading it. Jennifer Estep’s ability to get this story exciting and fresh thirteen books in proves she is one of the masters in the urban fantasy genre.

Narration
Lauren Fortgang is a wonderful narrator who really nails the Southern voices of Gin and the gang. She handles everything from Sophia’s grunts, JoJo’s Southern Belle to Finn’s smug and suave Southern gentleman. Every character has a very unique voice and tone. I can always tell who is speaking. She is great at adding the excitement to the fight scenes and emotion to the more romantic scenes. She wonderful with the sexy scenes. She has converted this to an audio only series for me.