Blood might be thicker than water, but venom is stronger than just about anything … First Trust bank. Lots of people have grudges against Mosley, but the more I investigate, the more Mosley’s problems seem to be connected to some of my own, especially when it comes to the Circle, the evil, shadowy group that is secretly responsible for much of the crime and corruption in Ashland.
But when another blast from my dark and deadly past as the Spider comes to light, I wonder if I’ll be able to survive this dangerous new enemy, who has a burning thirst for revenge that will only be satisfied with one thing: my death.
Jennifer Estep is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.
Jennifer is the author of the Elemental Assassin series, along with the Kill the Queen, Mythos Academy, Black Blade, and Bigtime series.
more
It is just great how after so many enjoyable books in this series, the multifaceted heroine still grows and develops. The world built is not just black and white, instead we get to delve deeper, and struggle with the realisation that even the worst characters may have some redeeming features. I love this complexity, which is so much more like real life.
Gin is just starting to settle down after the events of the previous books but of course things just cannot stay quite no matter what. Mosley is the main target this time but it is rather difficult to pinpoint the why no matter how much they all try. At least until the underestimate Gin and she manages to figure it all out in time as the past collides with present. Another fantastic addition to this incredible series!! Well written, captivating, fast paced, full of magic, and so very much more. I totally loved it so I give it 5/5 stars.
I’ve read almost all of the Elemental Assassin books and have enjoyed them all.
Awesome! I recommend ALL of Jennifer Estep Spider Assasin books. Cant put them down.
First let me say I love Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series. Gin Blanco is a great protagonist. Her stories are always vivid and exciting. I’ve come to really like all the characters in her stories, even down to Hugh Tucker, Gin’s nemesis.
That being said, this volume left a little bit to be desired. It seems the stories are becoming a bit predictive. While the characters may be expected to be the same from book to book since they are all part of the same group, it seems someone from the same group of villains pops up each book setting up a kill or be killed scenario for Gin to do what she does best. I know it must be very hard to write something new each and every time you put out a new book with the same characters, and Jennifer does this very well. Usually. This one wasn’t quite up to her standards. But, she did leave us a surprise. She left us with a doozy of a cliffhanger. That was the Jennifer Estep I’ve come to know and love.
So, I’m giving this 4 stars rather than 5 because this one isn’t quite up to her usual standards, but, she also gets 4 stars rather than fewer because her standards are so high that to drop a little with them, big deal.She’s still an amazing writer whom I will come back to again and again. I still love the Elemental Assassin series, and I still love Gin Bianco. And I’m definitely waiting on pins and needles for the next one because that one is going to prove to be outside the box.
The latest Elemental Assassin book in the seiers has Gin finding out more about the Circle while saving Finn’s boss. Good read in the UF genre.
In this book Gin is still reeling mentally and emotionally from her harrowing confrontation with the Doll Maker but her bonds of friendship with her gang are stronger than ever. However her paranoia has reached a new level, she sees the Circle’s hand in almost everything and even though her friends always support her, they cannot help but question her physical and emotional state; even though most of her suspicions are always solid. Even more so, when someone is targeting her friend and brother’s boss, Stuart Mosley but she has no clue why. Saving him from danger drags her into a new web of lies, deceit, suspicion, mystery and danger. She also gets to revisit some painful memories and regrets as a new enemy emerges with ties to her past and is out for revenge. And let us not forget about Hugh Tucker, the Circle’s face man, making serval coincidental appearances that turn out to be anything but. Continual suspense, danger, new mysteries and clues to Mason’s, the leader of the Circle, identity come to light in this installment of the Elemental Assassin series. There are a few shocking discoveries that I cannot wait to see how they unfold in the next book.
*I received an advanced reader’s copy from the author and I am voluntarily providing my review.
3.75 stars–VENOM IN THE VEINS is the seventeenth full-length instalment in Jennifer Estep’s contemporary, adult ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN paranormal/ urban fantasy series focusing on Gin Blanco aka The Spider aka The Assassin –the reigning Queen of the paranormal Underworld of Ashland. VENOM IN THE VEINS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty although I recommend reading the series in order for cohesion and backstory.
SOME BACKGROUND: Years earlier, Gin lost her mother and her older sister to a deliberate fire started by a fire elemental, a fire ordered by the notorious group known only as The Circle. Fostered and mentored by Fletcher Lane, Gin would become the fiercest elemental assassin the Underworld would ever know.
Told from first person point of view (Gin Blanco) using present day and memories from the past, VENOM IN THE VEINS brings together all of the familiar, and not so familiar characters in a show down between the present and the past. The Circle, a secret society of supernaturals responsible for much of the crime and corruption in Ashland, continues to haunt our story line heroine as sins from the past come full circle in the search for something Gin knows nothing about. When Ashland’s First Trust Bank owner Stuart Mosley is targeted in what appears to be a random abduction and robbery, Gin’s mind goes into overdrive as she sets out to discover the reason behind the attack against a man she has called a friend, a discovery that is laced with revenge, guilt and a familiar party. Sins from the past are revealed in the present such that Gin must face down a powerful enemy with vengeance on her mind as a high-stakes auction is only the beginning of a battle for control.
Gin’s intrepid friends and family (step-brother Finn, sister Bria, officer Xavier, boyfriend and lover Owen, Gin’s assistant/ vampire Silvio, dwarves JoJo and Sophia) return to assist our heroine as she must battle not only her guilt but with a vampire avenging the death of the mother she loved. We are introduced to Alanna Eaton, a vampire whose mother Amelia was killed, years before, by our heroine in a fight to the death. A cannibal vampire like her mother, Alanna is not above using The Circle, in her need to seek vengeance against our story line heroine. Vampire Hugh Tucker and the mysterious Mason make a cameo appearance to set up the next arc in the Elemental Assassin series
VENOM IN THE VEINS is a familiar story line in that Gin’s past has come back in more ways than one. Look a-likes, including mothers and daughters, are a persistent theme throughout the series, a theme that will continue with the reveal of what’s next for our story line heroine. The over-use of familiar phrases, specific to the author, are easily recognizable throughout the series. The series arcs, premises and situations in which the heroine struggles are similar in context and plot. VENOM IN THE VEINS is a dramatic and intense instalment in Jennifer Estep’s ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN urban fantasy series.