Smash reviews Spider’s Revenge by Jennifer Estep

**SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS**
Old habits die hard. And I plan on mur­der­ing some­one before the night is through.

Killing used to be my reg­u­lar gig, after all. Gin Blanco, aka the Spi­der, assassin-for-hire. And I was very good at it. Now, I’m ready to make the one hit that truly mat­ters: Mab Mon­roe, the dan­ger­ous Fire ele­men­tal who mur­dered my fam­ily when I was thir­teen.

Oh, I don’t think the mis­sion will be easy, but turns out it’s a bit more prob­lem­atic than expected. The bitch knows I’m com­ing for her. So now I’m up against the army of lethal bounty hunters she hired to track me down. She also put a price on my baby sister’s head. Keep­ing Bria safe is my first pri­or­ity. Tak­ing Mab out is a close sec­ond.

Good thing I’ve got my pow­er­ful Stone and Ice magic — and my irre­sistible lover Owen Grayson — to watch my back. This bat­tle has been years in the mak­ing, and there’s a chance I won’t sur­vive. But if I’m going down, then Mab’s com­ing with me...no mat­ter what I have to do to make that happen.

This series just makes me happy. Aside from my intense yearning to have a womance with Gin, I just LOVE immersing myself into this world. This is the best book in the series, thus far. My jaw made nice with the floor on many occasion.  There was some serious action and even more serious ass-kicking. I loved the pace of the book and the intensity of the plot, and we get an epic fight that really stands out in the Urban Fantasy arena!

World-Building

Ohhhh, lawdie. I cannot even grasp all the WTFckery that went down in this book! We see elemental magic in this installment that will make your hair stand on end, or sizzle into oblivion. Mab has reached her limit and is looking over her shoulder constantly, waiting for the Spider to sink her fangs into her flesh. Mab hires bounty hunters from all over, promising them big bucks to bring the Spider out of her web and into Mab’s sizzling grasp. These people turn Ashland into an even more dangerous place, and Gin finally takes a stand.

Mab Monroe and Gin Blanco finally have their epic showdown, and it ain’t pretty, peeps! 

Characters

Gin has been through major trauma and my heart burns with sadness for the shit she has endured. We get some new flashbacks in this book, and they were downright heartbreaking.  Gin continues to fight inner demons while trying to remain level-headed. She is human, however, and makes mistakes. We get some really intimate scenes between Gin and her makeshift family. I seriously adore every single one of them. They remind me of a warm blanket on a cool night: comforting, pleasant and appreciated. And then there’s Finn. ♥

“What happened?”

Bria shrugged. “I waited until I was sure there was no one else around who could get hurt, then threw my coffee in the bastard’s face and took away his gun. While he was screaming from the pain and the second-degree burns, I cuffed his ass and hauled him down to the station. End of story.”

Finn gave my sister a warm, admiring look. “Nice takedown, detective. Even if you should have found another way to do it. Don’t you know that you never, ever waste a cup of coffee like that?”

Fletcher continues to be a huge part of Gin’s life even though he is no longer in it. The things that continue to link him to Gin’s history are just awesome. I love him more and more with each book.

Mab is one of the sickest, most vile villains in Urban Fantasy, and she really laid out her ugly in this book. I so wish we could get more background on her, because you aren’t just born with that kinda crazy built-in. We get a little glimpse into why she went after Gin’s family to begin with and the history between their families, but damn. Chic got dropped on her head as an infant, or something.

Favorite Scene

“Better be careful talking about how good my cooking is. Roslyn might get jealous.”

The vampire madam let out a soft laugh. “Oh, I’ll freely admit that your cooking is much better than mine, Gin. But I have certain skills you don’t, especially in the bedroom. I think that Xavier far prefers those, even over a plate of the Pork Pit’s best barbecue.”

Roslyn gave Xavier a sly look, and the giant’s grin widened.

“Well played, Roslyn,” I murmured. “Well played.”

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• Tags: Elemental Assassins, Gin Blanco, Jennifer Estep•