Review: Venom by Jennifer Estep

Title: Venom
Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Elemental Assassin #3
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: September 28, 2010
Publisher: Pocket
Edition: Paperback
Blurb:

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.

This book is about consequences. After the events of the last book, Mab and her goons are looking for the assassin that killed her lawyer's son and an associate. Because of that Roslyn, the vampire that helped Gin, now is in trouble and needs Gin's skills to get rid of him. But it's easier said than done because this guy is powerful, resourceful and really hard to kill.

I loved seeing Gin evolve from the simple assassin she was in the first book to the complicated revenge driven retired assassin she was in this book. She has to deal with the aftermath of the events from the previous book and that includes the effect it had on her the departure of the Detective Donovan Caine. I never liked the guy and I was glad he was gone, especially since now Owen Grayson is in the picture. Gin has some doubts concerning him and it was interesting seeing her deal with her insecurities and how much Owen really understands her. We get to know the connection between these two and I think that deep down they just match. We also see Gin use her elemental powers more easily, although she keeps being stubborn about trying to develop them.

Another point that was raised in the previous book was Detective Bria Coolidge, also known as Gin's thought dead little sister. We start to get to know her and we can see the similarities between the two sisters, especially concerning the investigation into their family's death. They're both looking for justice, only they use different methods. I liked how she tried to help people even though realistically she can't and how because of that she has become Mab's target. It was also interesting seeing her interact with Finn and I think there's a possible romance in the air.

As for the other characters, Finn keeps being Finn and the sisters are the same, although we do get some new information into their pasts. I really wanted more interaction between Gin and Mab, but unfortunately there isn't much of it, and I really hope we see some sort of fight between thse two in the future, especially after how Venom ended.

This book had non-stop action, plenty of character development and answered a few questions that were raised in the previous 2 novels. I read it in one sitting and now I can't wait to read Tangled Threads. This series just keeps getting better and better!


Memorable Lines:

“I do hope you’ve learned your les­son this time, Ms. Blanco,” Mab said in a pleas­ant voice. “Because Jonah’s right. Next time you cross one of us—any of us—you will die. And I promise you that it will be far more excru­ci­at­ing than what you’ve expe­ri­enced here tonight.”

A bit of black fire flashed in her eyes, back­ing up her deadly promise. Mab Mon­roe smiled at me a moment longer, then turned on her boot heel and van­ished into the cold night.

Previous Books:
1. Spider's Bite - Review
2. Web of Lies - Review

Next Book:
4. Tangled Threads (April 26th 2011)

Rating: 1/2

* I received an eArc of this book from the author for review.