Review: Poison Promise

POISON PROMISE
Elemental Assassin #11
Jennifer Estep
Urban Fantasy
416 pages
Pocket Books
Available July 22nd
Source: e-ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Gin Blanco is hard-nosed, sexy, and lethal. Nicknamed “The Spider,” she’s a stone elemental assassin who brings her unique mix of magic and tact to every assignment, no matter the target.

There’s a new drug on the streets of Ashland, and its name “Burn” sums up the potent effect it has on its users. When one of her restaurant employees is threatened by dealers of the drug, Gin steps in to set things straight…

MY THOUGHTS
There comes a certain point in a series approaching the teens in number where there’s simply very little to say that hasn’t already been said about the characters, their strengths and weaknesses and the author’s ability to write their ongoing stories. At book eleven, Poison Promise continues to maintain the level of characterization and quality storytelling fans of the series have come to expect from Ms. Estep, and while this installment doesn’t necessarily show any new sides to Gin and company or throw an unexpected wrench in the well-oiled machine that is the Elemental Assassin series, it is nonetheless a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend several hours.

Gin has been a badass from the very beginning, thoroughly convinced her emotions were buried beneath a cold and ruthless exterior never to see the light of day, but we as readers have always been able to see that for the delusion it is, her stark vulnerability and low sense of self-worth in every area save for her abilities as an assassin coming through loud and clear. She has a tendency to take the cruel words of others–from adversaries and loved ones alike–as her penance to pay for the life she leads as The Spider, a trait that is sometimes as frustrating as it is effective in strengthening our bond to her.

In more recent books however, we've started to see a Gin who no longer simply accepts the disgust and disdain of others for the blood on her hands as her due, and her self-confidence as a woman, friend, sister, and lover–rather than just The Spider–continues to grow in Poison Promise. Gin carries around quite a bit of guilt when it comes to her little sister Bria, and as a result, she's always squared her shoulders in the face of Bria’s disapproval of her profession and stoically accepted her criticism (much to our dismay). Finally, in this latest installment we find a Gin who is unwilling to be an outlet for Bria’s frustration any longer, and we can’t help but smile in satisfaction as Gin gets angry at her sister when she would have previously stood still and let the blows find a soft place to land.

Poison Promise, though as action-packed as all the books that have come before it, has a somewhat inexplicable softer quality to it, where the violence Gin inflicts and that which is inflicted upon her isn’t quite as intense as it has been in installments past. There’s the feeling of building toward something larger in scale, and though we’re given a complete story with another epic villain struck down in the end as we’ve come to expect and appreciate, we definitely get the sense that book twelve will be bigger, badder and more brutal than this book as perhaps the most dangerous enemy yet sets her sights on Gin.

Rating: 4/5  

Find Jennifer:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: The Spider

THE SPIDER
Elemental Assassin #10
Jennifer Estep
Adult Urban Fantasy
400 pages
Pocket Books
Available December 24th
Source: e-ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Amazon)
How did I end up in a career where I always have blood on my hands? Well, let me tell you a story about an assassin who thought she could do no wrong. . . .

Ten years ago. A blistering hot August night. I remember like it was yesterday. The night I, Gin Blanco, truly became the Spider. Killing people is what I do best, especially now that I’ve honed my Ice and Stone magic. But back then, I had yet to learn one very important rule: arrogance will get you, every single time.

This particular job seemed simple: murder a crooked building contractor with ties to ruthless Fire elemental Mab Monroe. My mentor, Fletcher Lane, had some misgivings, but I was certain that I had the situation under control . . . right up until I exposed my weaknesses to a merciless opponent who exploited every single one of them. There’s a reason assassins aren’t supposed to feel anything. Luckily, a knife to the heart can fix that problem, especially when I’m the one wielding it. . . .

MY THOUGHTS
The Spider is a somewhat unusual installment in the Elemental Assassin series given that it's the tenth book yet also a prequel to all of the books we've read thus far, allowing fans of the series a never before seen glimpse at Gin as she's getting her bearings as an assassin while at the same time giving newcomers to the series a perfect introduction. This newest installment does revert back to the somewhat repetitive nature the last couple books had finally moved past, reminding longtime readers of things they are well aware of nine times over, but as always, even with that niggle Ms. Estep thoroughly entertains with a piece of Gin's life previously unknown to us. The real treat comes in the form of Fletcher Lane, a man we lost early on in the very first book and have felt the absence of in each book since, but in this story he's alive and well and beautifully caring despite what he's training Gin to do, and we can't help but revel in every minute we're granted with him knowing when it's over we'll be faced with his loss all over again.

The younger version of Gin we get in this book is surprisingly different from the Gin we've come to know and love, our expectation that she would be the exact same woman ten years prior of course slightly delusional once we've had time to think on it, and our initial shock quickly gives way to curiosity as we begin to catalog all the ways she differs from The Spider with whom we're so familiar. Over the course of this series we've learned to implicitly trust Gin, perhaps at times questioning the always-fatal solution she suggests to various problems, but we've unequivocally known that those she targets deserve their fate and then some; many of the villains she's faced monsters that haunt us long after we've finished reading. In this story though we find ourselves a bit off-kilter, Gin's willingness to so quickly believe what a file tells her is the truth causing nerves to roil in our guts and unease to shiver down our spines, something that's completely foreign to us in this context and utterly fascinating at the same time.

Gin has always been someone who inspires confidence in us as readers, our faith that she knows what she's doing unwavering as she proceeds to teach the nightmares that plague Ashland's streets, businesses or government officials lessons that will lead them straight to their graves. There's no doubt in our minds in The Spider however that it's Gin who will be learning a lesson; a rather brutal one that finally gives us some insight as to why she's so very susceptible to emotional hurt, particularly from members of the opposite sex. While we ache for this younger Gin, wanting nothing more than to scream ourselves hoarse telling her to open her eyes–that The Spider we know would never be satisfied with face-value and would dig and dig and dig until she found everything there was to know before acting–we find ourselves both riveted and resigned, knowing Gin has go this one the hard way in order to be the woman we meet later in her life.

It's nothing short of gratifying in the concluding chapters to watch as the Gin we recognize emerges from the young woman we didn't, the price for the change in her extraordinarily high, but paid for in full in wounds visible and not. Overall, The Spider is a deeply satisfying addition to this series for both new fans and old, Ms. Estep handing us a piece of Gin we never knew we were missing but now can't imagine continuing her story without.

Rating: 4/5

Find Jennifer:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.