Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: September 28, 2010
Format: Paperback
Pages: 389
Source: Library Borrow
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Date: January 16, 2013
Rating: 4 bookmarks
Synopsis: It’s hard to be a badass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family. Which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most.
To the public, I’m Gin Blanco, owner of Ashland’s best barbecue joint. To my friends, I’m the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker—Mab’s right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists.
At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I’ll take my chances. Then there’s Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland’s finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I’m a cold-blooded killer . . . who is about to save her life.
Release Date: September 28, 2010
Format: Paperback
Pages: 389
Source: Library Borrow
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Date: January 16, 2013
Rating: 4 bookmarks
Synopsis: It’s hard to be a badass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family. Which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most.
To the public, I’m Gin Blanco, owner of Ashland’s best barbecue joint. To my friends, I’m the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker—Mab’s right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists.
At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I’ll take my chances. Then there’s Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland’s finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I’m a cold-blooded killer . . . who is about to save her life.
Fabulous read, as expected. Gin again shows herself to be the biggest bad ass "retired" assassin on the planet. I hope that she officially comes back out of retirement. For now, she is a hero of sorts, except she's killing the bad guys instead of arresting them. Gin spends a lot of the book trying to protect her identity and keep her cover in place from Mab and her cronies. This includes letting giant almost beat her to death . That' was a beat down of all beat downs. I can't believe she allowed it to go that far. She was actually willing to die to protect her identity, and that's crazy to me.
As I was hoping he would, Owen stepped up and put little ole Donovan to shame! Team Owen!! I'm sure we'll read some unsavory things about him in future books, but for now, he's a perfect match for Gin. She's got a shady and troubled past and I he does also. He's all about her and not judgmental like squeaky clean Donovan was. I do hope that now that Donovan was officially no where to be seen in this installment, we won't have to keep rehashing their previous relationship. Gin sure does compare that relationship to this new one with Owen, which surprises me about her. Eventually she's going to have to move on from Donovan. I guess even a hard core assassin has guy drama.
Gin reunites with Bria, her little sister, who she thought had died. Not only is Bria the new detective in town, replacing Donovan, she has no clue Gin is her sister. We learn that she also has been investigating the death of her family, same as Gin. Without Bria even knowing it, she's immediately accepted into their little makeshift family. I can see that Gin and Bria will be come probably friends. Especially now that Bria has a reason to hang around the restaurant. I like that even though Bria is an honest cop, she doesn't see things in black and white, as Donovan did. I can tell she thinks that "Spider's" brand of justice may not be so bad. I do wonder how long it will go before she connects the dots and figures out that Gin is the Spider and her sister! I wonder which she will be revealed first. Her reaction to it all will be very dramatic I'm sure.
The Deveroux sisters are on hand to help Gin clean up behind herself. Her brother and handler Finn is a true partner in crime and is always there to help her out on the job. I do wonder if he will eventually hook up with Bria or if he'll end up being more of a brother to her too. I can't quit tell where that's headed.
I mostly like how all the characters in this series are so strong. None of them are weak and that's awesome to me. For example, in this book vampire Rosyln was being harassed and emotionally beaten down, yet she's still helps bring down her stalker and didn't cower in a corner.
The pace of this book is fast and consistent. The plot is continuously moving forward and and the characters are evolving as the story does. There was tons of action and a bit of romance. I think the next book, Tangled Threads, will be just as good if not better.
The only thing that keeps me from giving this book 5 bookmarks, is the repetitiveness of some of the situations. It's like Estep feels she needs to remind us of things that just happened. If you're reading the series, all of these reminders aren't needed. Some here and there are cool, but to get some type of recap in every chapter is a little bit much. Overall the book is a must read. If you've invested the time reading the first two books, you've got to continue on!
A few of my favorite quotes:
“I’m just wondering how exactly I went from being the Spider to the Robin fucking Hood of the greater Ashland area... Instead of stealing from the rich, I’m stabbing them to death for the poor.”
“I don't judge you for what you've done, Gin. Why are you judging me for another man's mistakes?”
Happy Reading,
~Tamara
Gin reunites with Bria, her little sister, who she thought had died. Not only is Bria the new detective in town, replacing Donovan, she has no clue Gin is her sister. We learn that she also has been investigating the death of her family, same as Gin. Without Bria even knowing it, she's immediately accepted into their little makeshift family. I can see that Gin and Bria will be come probably friends. Especially now that Bria has a reason to hang around the restaurant. I like that even though Bria is an honest cop, she doesn't see things in black and white, as Donovan did. I can tell she thinks that "Spider's" brand of justice may not be so bad. I do wonder how long it will go before she connects the dots and figures out that Gin is the Spider and her sister! I wonder which she will be revealed first. Her reaction to it all will be very dramatic I'm sure.
The Deveroux sisters are on hand to help Gin clean up behind herself. Her brother and handler Finn is a true partner in crime and is always there to help her out on the job. I do wonder if he will eventually hook up with Bria or if he'll end up being more of a brother to her too. I can't quit tell where that's headed.
I mostly like how all the characters in this series are so strong. None of them are weak and that's awesome to me. For example, in this book vampire Rosyln was being harassed and emotionally beaten down, yet she's still helps bring down her stalker and didn't cower in a corner.
The pace of this book is fast and consistent. The plot is continuously moving forward and and the characters are evolving as the story does. There was tons of action and a bit of romance. I think the next book, Tangled Threads, will be just as good if not better.
The only thing that keeps me from giving this book 5 bookmarks, is the repetitiveness of some of the situations. It's like Estep feels she needs to remind us of things that just happened. If you're reading the series, all of these reminders aren't needed. Some here and there are cool, but to get some type of recap in every chapter is a little bit much. Overall the book is a must read. If you've invested the time reading the first two books, you've got to continue on!
A few of my favorite quotes:
“I’m just wondering how exactly I went from being the Spider to the Robin fucking Hood of the greater Ashland area... Instead of stealing from the rich, I’m stabbing them to death for the poor.”
“I don't judge you for what you've done, Gin. Why are you judging me for another man's mistakes?”
Happy Reading,
~Tamara
