Customer Reviews

Web of Lies (Elemental Assassin, Book 2)

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep
Urban Fantasy- May 25th, 2010
5 stars

Web of Lies starts out fast, furious, and fun. This book utterly delighted me with its wonderful cast of characters and cool urban landscape filled with: power, danger and corruption. Although it helps to have read the previous book in this series I feel that new readers will still be able to start with this book although I would highly recommend reading the first just for the added enjoyment! The main character Gin holds nothing back as she risks her life and her heart for those she cares about and for those she feels under appreciated. As a heroine Gin has her own sense of morality and prefers being solo but always seems to find herself with a colorful cast of characters that made this 2nd book well worth the wait. But because this is the 2nd book in the proposed 5 book series, it is a transitional book and the ending is left somewhat uncertain.

Gin was the infamous Spider, the most dangerous and ruthless assassin for hire. In her last assignment her mentor was murdered and she was framed for his death. Gin was able to take her revenge for his murder and prove her innocence. At the end of the book 1 (Spider's Bite), Gin decides to retire, but we find in Web of Lies that she was not meant for inaction because trouble has a way of finding her.

Now the new owner of the Pork Pit restaurant, Gin has just started her early retirement. But her restaurant is robbed by a pair of young hoodlums. One with powerful connections that could mean big danger for her! Her life is further complicated when an old friend of her mentor asks for protection from an unscrupulous dwarf who wants their land.

I especially liked this book because it delved more into Gin's past. This 2nd book is more emotional than the previous book. This is largely due to the death of Gin's mentor, Fletcher. Not only does she miss his solid presence but Gin has inherited his restaurant and a mysterious picture of a sister she thought murdered. This book also includes important flashbacks that include Gin's early years with Fletcher and his son Finn. Gin is also uncertain if she should look for her sister and if she should pursue a relationship with the super uptight but sexy cop Donovan. To complicate matters further, another man is trying to worm his way into her affections.

I felt the 2nd book was as amazing as the first, it just focuses in a different area. In the first book I loved the non-stop action as Gin tries to discover the mystery behind her set up and find revenge for her mentor's death. In this book she is trying to settle into retirement but she finds trouble from all sides. As a transition book it leaves many questions unanswered. I felt this story brought a great depth to Gin and I admired the heroine even more. (As a nosy reader I love finding out more about characters I love and what shaped them into the person they are today!) Jennifer Estep does not give Gin the easy way out of her difficulties and as Gin struggles to make sense and find her own justice I felt part of the journey. Usually I like to have a book wrap up most of the loose ends but in this case I completely happy to have a 5 book series because I feel this main characters deserves it and I don't want to let go of her too soon! This series has a lot of space to expand, and each book brings more intriguing characters that add to a crew of friends that make this series all the more lively.

This series is not to be missed! If only for the loveable and Interesting characters. I especially enjoyed the dwarves Jo-Jo and Sophia and the charming and irreverent Finn. I can't get enough of this series!

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

I really enjoyed the first book, but I didn't think this one was as well done. I just glanced over the previous reviewer's remarks and I know I'm going to be the odd man out here, but I found myself scanning this book more than reading it. I thought there was way too much exposition (probably about 1/2 of the book could be considered a review of the previous novel). How many times did the heroine have to point out to us that she was with Fletcher for 17 years. That she was an assassin for 17 years? That her family died 17 years ago? She must have restated her family's death at least 10 times. She described her scars on her hand (circle with 8 lines, by the way it means patience) over and over. There were soooo many things that were repeated. Even little things. Did she have to refer to her restaurant as her "Gin joint" everytime she talked about it? Then, everytime Det. Caine showed up, there was the corney, "mmmm."

I was becoming more and more annoyed with the characters the more I read the story. Det. Caine became a wussy bore. I know the reason why she made him so unlikable, but it totally ruined the character of Gin, too. What reader want to see the heroine throw herself on a man that doesn't want her, again, over and over.

If you took out the repetition in the story it would probably have cut 2/3 of the book. I think that is a fair assessment of how much room the actual storyline (plot) took.

I will begin by saying I actually like the main character. She is fairly well developed. However, this writer treats the reader like an idiot, as if we have the retention capacity of a goldfish. She repeats information over and over and over. I'm not sure if she is just trying to fill pages or what but I don't need a full description of characters and elemental magic every chapter. I GOT IT the first time. Must you describe Mab Monroe in minute detail every time we see her even if we saw her 2 pages ago???

Also, her obsession with repeating phrases over and over and over. And, worse even than that, her obsession with the eyes. Everyone's eyes when they meet are "gray on gold" or "gray on violet" or whatever on whatever. She says this a zillion times. It was stupid the first time and doesn't get better with age. They are called mother's darlings and are supposed to be eliminated in the editing process.

I read the first three books in this series hoping she would improve. I love to find a good series and try to give the author a couple books to get in the groove, but book three just proved identical to 1 and 2 and I cannot take her ridiculous, repetitious, overbearing writing style any more.

The premise of this series - a "heroine" who is an assassin (albeit retired), a Robin Hood who lends her deadly skills to aid the downtrodden - is somewhat interesting if morally ambigious. Additionally, there is a mystery from said heroine's past that I'm interested in seeing resolved. However, I don't know if that interest is enough to combat the negatives.

Ms. Estep expends a great deal of energy recapping the characters and events from the first book in this series. (From the preview I read of book 3, the same thing occurs in that book as well.) As someone who read the first book, this repitition was unnecessary and boring.

I also found much of the writing to be repetitive and in some cases, inapt as well as unnecessary. How many times do we need to be told that Gin keeps five silverstone knives on her person at all times, or that Gin's rune is a spiderweb which is embedded in her palms?

Much as I'd like to see if Mab Monroe gets her comeuppance and where sister Bria has been, I'm not sure I'll be able to muddle through the next installment in this series.

Wow- I just devoured this second book in the Elemental Assasin series. I would encourage you to read Book One Spider's Bite: An Elemental Assassin Book first.

At the end of the last book- Gin had taken over the Pork Pit and retired from her work as an assasin. Now a series of events occur which force her to use her assasin skills again. The book is non stop action.

All of the great supporting characters are back- Finn, her foster brother, the two dwarf sisters Jo-Jo and Sophia. Her love interest Detective Donovan Caine is back as well, along with another potential romantic interest, Owen Grayson. Please be advised- this is Urban Fantasy not Paranormal Romance.

The writing is smooth. The world building is unique. I loved this book. I am not a big fan of Donovan Caine, so I was happy to see another potential male lead.Also I can't wait to see what happens when she finds her long lost sister Bria.

Thankfully Book Three Venom: An Elemental Assassin Book will be available in September.

I very much enjoyed the first book in this series, Spider's Bite. But, some of the problems I had with the first book were only amplified in this sequel, and there were a few new problems as well. Estep has a habit of repeating little segments of text throughout the book. Sometimes it is Gin's thoughts, sometimes it is the way something is described. This was slightly annoying in the first book. By the second book it made me physically roll my eyes when I read about Gin's hand scars or the way Donovan smells. I get it. I have a memory. I can recall how he smells from 30 pages ago when you last described it in the exact same words. This repetition problem was only amplified in Web of Lies, as now there was room for repetition of the last book - whole segments were lifted from Book 1 and retold in Book 2. Like, when we visit Jo Jo's salon in book 2, it is described with just as much page space as it was in Book 1. I suppose Estep did this so you did not have to read Book 1 to read this one, but if you had read Book 1, it was almost as though you were being punished for it by having to read it again. The other major repetition is with the folder Fletcher leaves for Gin at the end of Book 1. She had the EXACT same conversation about it with 2 different characters, and then had an internal debate about it another 2 times. It felt like page filler.

My other major problem with this book was that I started to loathe Donovan, and question Gin's sanity for starting to fall for him. I am not sure where the warm fuzzy feelings on her part came from, as Donovan is never nice to her, seems to overtly show her his disdain for everything but her body, and over the course of 2 books we are witness to what I consider to be no scenes in which they interact in a way that makes me think there is any relationship there. So, I simply could not get emotionally invested in their relationship. But, what kept me from chucking this series is the introduction of another love interest, one that is intriguing and has the potential to get me emotionally involved in the next book, Venom - something that simply did not happen in Web of Lies. So, with that glimmer of hope, I will not quit the series... yet.

Gin Blanco was a collected, smart, intelligent heroine in book one. Not so in book two. This is the fastest I've EVER seen an urban fantasy series go down the drain. Book two made all the mistakes book one lacked. Gin acts like a brainless fool, doesn't do advanced planning, takes unnecessary risks, and hardly acts like an assassin.

Book one Gin would not pick a pointless fight on her home turf with a lieutenant of Mab. She'd soak him for a few million instead.

Book one Gin would not trip the exact alarm she herself uses on stone. She'd know to check for that.

Book one Gin would not blithely talk about assassination in front of detective Donovan and people who don't know her cover, even if her father did trust them when he was a young man (but still hadn't spoken to these 'friends' in fifty years!). What happened to being careful?

Book one Donovan had integrity, and would not act like a total wuss. Heck... book one Donovan would arrest Gin!

Book one Gin would know her target's magical abilities far in advance, not discover them at inconvenient times while in the middle of jobs.

Book one Gin would not recklessly fight a magic duel, if she could possibly avoid it. (Yes, easily could avoid it. Book one Gin would create her own opportunity, not take the highly dangerous yet obvious route.)

Book one Gin would look for her sister instead of the pointless ego-match and pro-bono job that consisted of the entire book two.

I'll be skimming Venom (Elemental Assassin, Book 3) in the bookstore because I want to see book one Gin meet her sister (which should have been the plot of book two). I really hope book three Gin is nothing like book two Gin. The only phrase the comes to mind for this debacle is 'Stunning Disappointment'. The preview of Venom given in book two already means low expectations... the top three big bads are doing their own dirty work. If they are big and bad, they don't need to do their own dirty work.

I read the first book and the second (Web of Lies) one after the other. The second book had constant recap of the emotions and events from the first book - very annoying. I won't read any more in this series.

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy:
[...].

Five minutes prior to the start of WEB OF LIES, Gin Blanco is enjoying a good book, blackberry ice tea, and retirement from her profession as a high-end assassin. The story opens with armed robbery and Gin's snarky inner monologue, and though she subdues the intruders without causalities (there are witnesses around, after all), Gin's idyllic time reading at the Pork Pit counter-top and taking classes at the community college is over. As much as I loved seeing Gin enjoy a good book, I didn't mind the change of pace.

I though WEB OF LIES was at its strongest when Gin is doing what she does best: going on reconnaissance, assailing magically and physically fortified buildings, and killing bad guys so egregiously evil you cheer when they hit the floor (or get run over by a car. Twice.). Estep did a wonderful job of making me feel like I was at Gin's side, listening to her threat assessments and problem solving. (Though there were times when Gin would finish tallying up the attributes of a giant and move onto how she was going to kill him when I was still back on, "Wait, he's 7 feet tall, can survive a direct shotgun blast to the chest, and could break your neck with one punch? And you're going to attack?! Shouldn't we talk about this?") In Gin's world, local politics is a near-constant stream of graft, murder, and exploitation, allowing me to support her murderous justice wholeheartedly and enjoy the mayhem that ensues.

As with Spider's Bite, however, Gin and I part ways once she turns her attention from killing to dating. I agree with Abigail's assessment of the relationship between Gin and Donovan Caine in her review of Spider's Bite: "The way she objectified him, the way he fought his lust for her because of moral reasons...we've seen it before in a hundred other books (and movies) with the roles reversed. It sounds like it would be a fun switch, but I found it off-putting."

I, too, found it off-putting. In particular, I never felt that the author made a distinction between Donovan not liking Gin's profession and him not liking her. Gin is sympathetic enough that she deserves better than a man that avoids her, is disgusted by her choices, and, oh, by the way, can't resist her body. Donovan's shortcomings are highlighted by the introduction of Owen Grayson. He's powerful, handsome, and a good big brother. He also hits on Gin, no matter how many knives she's wearing on her body. This, in my mind, more than makes up for the whiff of organized crime that trails him. I don't want to spoil the Donovan/Owen competition by saying much more, but both readers who enjoy the physical chemistry between Gin and Donovan, and those of us who dislike their relationship dynamic, will find something to love in WEB OF LIES.

While WEB OF LIES did contain hints of my least favorite parts of Spider's Bite (Anita/Richard-esque discussions about murder being one of them), it also contained great action and a main character whom I enjoy. WEB OF LIES has made me anxious to pick up Venom, in the hopes that the best parts of the series have yet to come.

Sexual Content: An explicit sex scene. References to rape. References to prostitution. Description of oral sex.

I won't repeat here what the other 5-star reviewers have said. They've told you all about the the fascinating plots and the characters.

But let me just say that this is a totally original series--not much in common with many other urban fantasy novels. Jennifer Estep's writing is masterful and drops you squarely into the heroine's world. These books are full of worldbuilding, character development, fascinating good guys, friends, and bad guys; great storylines and subplots. It is a riveting tell. I read it in less than a day and then had to run to the computer see when Book 3 comes out.

Like other readers, I'm pretty tired of Det. Donovan Caine's moral high ground which he places above all else and I hope that's he's gone or that Owen Grayson ultimately wins the fight for Gin's heart. Because what little we see of Owen Grayson--well I was hooked from his first appearance. He's just perfect: slightly dangerous, non-judgmental, great sense of humor, patient, compassionate . . . . . . and big and gorgeousssssss. He also sees and accepts Gin for exactly who she is, something that Donovan Caine can't. I really hope that we and Gin see more of Grayson.

Finally, for all the arguments that Gin is heartless and emotionless, (Gin tells herself these things, too), she simply is not. She is kind, fiercely loyal, does the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing, and doesn't shy from doing the hard thing. She will do anything to protect those whom she loves.

The second book opens up the plots for the coming books--and there are strong indications of so many to come.

I can't urge you enough to read these books. They are awesome! 5 stars.