Black Widow by Jennifer Estep

Black Widow (Elemental Assassin, #12)

by Jennifer Estep

Lethal, sexy, and always ready to protect her friends, Gin Blanco (a.k.a. the Spider) takes on the mysterious M.M. Monroe in book twelve of the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

There’s nothing worse than a cruel, cunning enemy with time to kill—and my murder to plan. With wicked Fire elemental Mab Monroe long gone, you’d think I could finally catch a break. But someone’s always trying to take me down, either as Gin Blanco or my assassin alter-ago. Now along comes the Spider’s new arch-nemesis, the mysteriously named M. M. Monroe, who is gleefully working overtime to trap me in a sticky web of deceit.

The thing is, I’m not the only target. I can see through the tangled threads enough to know that every bit of bad luck my friends have been having lately is no accident—and that each unfortunate “coincidence” is just one more arrow drawing ever closer to hitting the real bull’s-eye. Though new to Ashland, this M. M. Monroe is no stranger to irony, trying to get me, an assassin, framed for murder. Yet, as my enemy’s master plan is slowly revealed, I have a sinking feeling that it will take more than my powerful Ice and Stone magic to stop my whole life from going up in flames.

Reviewed by Angie on

4 of 5 stars

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I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I went into Black Widow fully expecting this to be the end of the series. Well, it's not, but it is easily my favorite! The mysterious M.M. Monroe is finally making a play for power in Ashland, and her main priority is to destroy The Spider. Gin is also keeping tabs on Madeline, trying to find the perfect opportunity to take her out, but Madeline is completely unlike any of Gin's other opponents. She is an evil genius and uses her brain instead of brawn to hit Gin where it hurts. All of Gin's friends suddenly have all kinds of legal troubles, and finally The Pork Pit is targeted. There's nothing Gin can do without causing an even bigger scene, but she has no idea what to do in this situation anyway. There were honestly points where I thought Gin would lose. I was certainly on the edge of my seat the entire time!

Black Widow would have been a super fantastic close to this series! Even the last chapter was perfect! It showed what was next for Gin, but also left things just a little open. I was ready for the series to be over, but now I'm kind of glad there's more! Although I am a bit worried, since I enjoyed this one so much, and it did work super well as ending. With Gin's #1 enemy out of the picture, where can it possibly go from here?

What I loved best about Black Widow was that Gin's cockiness finally caught up to her. She always relies on her physical strength and elemental abilities to get out of tough situations and defeat opponents. She's completely blindsided by all of the legal attacks. Madeline had the perfect plan, and I was so worried for Gin and her friends. Of course, you can't keep The Spider down for long, and it's ultimately cockiness that helps Gin save herself and her city. However, I did feel like I had read that final battle before. It's very similar to Gin vs. Mab. Maybe it was suppose to be that way, given the family ties, but I was hoping for something new and exciting.

Black Widow was pretty fantastic. It was fast paced and I was never bored. I didn't even get annoyed when Gin told us for the millionth time where she stashes her five knives, so that's really saying something! While I do think this would have been the perfect place to end Gin's story, and I am very curious to see what the streets of Ashland hold for my favorite assassin now.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

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  • Started reading
  • 9 October, 2014: Finished reading
  • 9 October, 2014: Reviewed