WEB OF LIES (Elemental Assassin #2) by Jennifer Estep-a review

WEB OF LIES (Elemental Assassin #2) by Jennifer Estep

WEB OF LIES is the second novel in Jennifer Estep’s Urban Fantasy series Elemental Assassin focusing on the Elemental Assassin for hire –The Spider. Gin Blanco is the recently retired assassin, who begrudgingly stepped away from the profession for which she has been trained for over a decade. But a vendetta against a friend of her one-time mentor brings Gin out of retirement and once again onto the front lines of murder, mayhem and the mob. Only this time, several people are hoping The Spider dies, including a one-time lover who cannot get past-the past.

As Gin’s mentor, Fletcher Lane aka the Tin Man, had trained her well, but following his murder, Gin had decided to retire. Fletcher had raised Gin after her family was murdered by a Fire Elemental, and when he died, a few secrets about her past died with him. Running the Pork Pit in the corrupt town of Ashland kept Gin busy but an attempted robbery by the son of mob lawyer Jonah McAllister once again put Gin in the eye of the storm. And to complicate matters, both Jonah and his son would just as soon see Gin dead then press charges against the delinquent male.

Meanwhile a young woman comes looking for the Tin Man-that name was only known by those who associated with the assassin and who ever was looking for the man did not know he was dead. But when shots are fired into the Pork Pit, Gin goes hunting for who ever was aiming at the café. Only this time is wasn’t at Gin but at the young woman at the counter. Tobias Dawson was sending a message to Fletcher’s old friend Warren Fox and his granddaughter was the target. Tobias wanted his land.

Detective Donovan Caine returns as Gin’s former lover. Unable to handle the pressure associated with being The Spider’s man, Donovan continues to treat Gin like she has the plague, until the night his hormones take over and Gin hopes that the man she thought she once loved, would see that she was not his enemy. But ego and the law eat away at Donovan when as one of the detectives trying to clean up the corrupt Ashland Police Department, Donovan can no longer step aside and let Gin continue to kill for hire. Donovan’s feelings about Gin are raw and ugly, but when he walks away in disgust after finding her alive following a cave-in at the mines, Gin knows the pain of rejection and the heartache that accompanies a fall.

Gin needs a way to get close to the man hoping to kill Warren, but the only way was through a major soire at Mab Monroe’s. As the leader of the Ashland mob scene, Mab held all the cards as it pertains to the criminal element and its’ control. But something about Mab was familiar to Gin and the information hidden by Fletcher would hold the clues to the murder of Gin’s parents and the sister she once thought was dead. Only now, Mab is involved with the man gunning for Warren and the lands rights that he owns. But when Tobias Dawson is no longer in the picture, Gin will find she has become the target of two of Ashland’s most powerful criminals.

Along the way, we are introduced to Owen Grayson. A wealthy businessman, whose sister witnessed the attempted robbery at the Pork Pit and by the end of the story Owen has purchased the mines and lands in question and the sparks of a potential new relationship are looking up for the woman known as The Spider.

WEB OF LIES is another welcome storyline in Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series. Gin’s numerous losses of family and friend, is only highlighted by the tears that refuse to fall when the pain of rejection hurts almost as much as a broken jaw. Jennifer is a gifted and powerful writer that will keep you on the edge of the proverbial seat until the final chapter.

LINKS TO ORDER:
Amazon Kindle
Amazon paper books
B&N Nook and Paper books
KOBO

Reviewed by Sandy