Review: Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep

Title: Web of Lies
Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Elemental Assassin #2
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: May 25th, 2010
Blurb:
Curiosity is definitely going to get me dead one of these days. Probably real soon.

I'm Gin Blanco.

You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coalmining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired. So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scout mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental with a little Ice magic thrown in, but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man . . . dead or alive.


In this second book, Gin takes a job "pro bono" after her retirement when 2 young men try to rob the Pork Pit. One of the men is the son of the lawyer of Mab, the powerful fire elemental. Needless to say, they try to intimidate her into dropping the charges, but she doesn't. There were only 2 costumers at the time: Eva Grayson & her frind Cassidy. The first is the sister of a powerful business man, Owen Grayson, who wants to reward Gin for saving her sister.

When Violet, Eva Grayson's best friend, goes to the Pork Pit asking for the Tin Man, everyone is suspicious and when someone shoots the Pork Pit, and they realize that the shots were meant for Violet, Gin will try to help her the best she can. When they find out that those people wanted to kill Violet for the land her grandfather owns, that her grandfather used to be Fletcher's best friend and that the bad guys were connected to Mab, Gin only knows one way to fix everything.

We find out a new side of Gin in this book. I really liked how she cares for everyone under her protection. Her relationship with Donovan keeps being complicated but it comes to a kind of resolution at the end of the book. Sometimes he reminds me of Richard, from the Anita Blake series, especially whe he can't accept the reality of their lives.
Gin has a soft spot for Violet, because she reminds her too much of how she was once upon a time.

I loved the parts that involved Mab. She's the ultimate bad guy in this series and I can't wait to see a fight between Gin and her.
Another plot point introduced in the last book was that Gin's younger sister was still alive. It seems like maybe we'll meet her in the next book, and that's something I'm really looking forward too.

The other important thing that happened was the introduction of Owen Grayson. He finds Gin interesting, and he likes her. He's handsome, mysterious, clever, protective of his little sister and he's also persistent. I personally think he's a better match for Gin than Donovan, so I guess we'll have to see what happens with him in the next book.

This was a great follow up of the previous book, Spider's Bite. In some ways, I liked this book better. The worldbuilding keeps being very interesting. We find some important answers to some questions raised in the last book. Gin takes a lot of risks in this novel and I can't wait to read what are the consequences of her actions.


Memorable Lines:

A bullet smacked into one of the storefront windows.
The sharp, sudden burst of sound caught the girl's attention. Her head snapped toward the front of the restaurant. "What was that -"
That was all Violet got out before I darted around the counter an threw myself on top of her, forcing her to the floor.
"Oof!"
We hit the ground hard. I knocked the wind out of the girl, but I didn't care. Until I figured out what she wanted with the Tin Man, Violet Fox needed to keep breathing.


Previous Book:
Spider's Bite - Review


Next Book:
Venom - September 28th 2010


Rating: 1/2