Web of Lies

Elemental Assassin, Book 2

By: Jennifer Estep

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

"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, Im beginning to wonder if Im 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."

©2010 Jennifer Estep (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“The second chapter of the first-person ‘Elemental Assassin’ series is just as hard-edged and compelling as the first. Gin Blanco is a fascinatingly pragmatic character, whose intricate layers are just beginning to unravel. Estep has truly hit the jackpot with this outstanding series!” ( Romantic Times)

Excellent Series & Narrator

This is a well written series. Interesting characters that draw you in. For me, audiobooks can be made or ruined by the narrator. Lauren Fortgang does a wonderful job! I highly recommend this series!

Love the characters and world

I gave the story 4 starts because of the time she takes to catch you up on the world and previous books. This is not necessarily fair of me because I am currently on the 5th book in the series after 2 week marathon listening. But it is repetitious.
There is also the formulaic obligatory sex scene.
Not a huge fan of those but it is telegraphed and very easy to fast forward over.

This book and series is good enough to suck me in and make me want to listen to the next to find out what is going to happen next. In my eyes it is kind of hard to give better praise than that.

Better than the first

I enjoyed this book much more than the first one. Gin is badass! I only have one complaint. The Caine/Gin fiasco. I hated it in the first book and I hated it here. I respect Caine for staying true to himself and not brushing aside his morals and values just to be with Gin. I never understood her determination to be with him when he was so clearly not the right person for her. At all! They didn't even get along, it was just attraction. So I lost a little respect for her through her interactions with him and the way she acted when he was trying to make a good decision for both of them. Didn't like it all. Hopefully that is truly taken care of now. I'm thinking the next book is gonna be a good one!

:)

Where does Web of Lies rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

up there :) maybe not the best, but I'm finding the series worth the cover price.

What three words best describe Lauren Fortgang’s performance?

Slow, with character

"Slow" is because there was a time or two when her drawling-take-forever-to-get-a-sentence-out pace acted like nails on chalkboard.

"With Character" because when she was in a more natural pacing, the drawling tone worked, and, especially with the first person narrative, she managed to make it sound like it was written to be performed, not just read.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Love this series!

The story of Gin Blanco continues. She's a real likable assassin. I love this series and can't wait to listen to the next book. The narrator does a great job too!

Excellent!

Fantastic audio book with spice, heat, action, violence. Gin really does bring out the violence. Yet as an assassin she should. I simply love Owen and I think Donovan is an idiot. Gin wants the idiot but for the life of me I can't figure out why. Bring on Own and Bria.

I really like this series

Fun stuff with a consistency that's important to such books - the characters don't suddenly jump in with bizarre powers you never suspected before as has happened with other books I've read.

Fantastic

Such a fun series!! So glad I came across it. The humor is the best.

Loved It

Any additional comments?

Great narration. I like to list this first as it can make or break a story.

Loved this story. Easy listerning and very entertaining. Will be impatiently waiting for any new books in audio from this author.

I really enjoy it when readers with similar reading interests list their favourite authors and series. It really helps me find new authors too follow. Mine are Charlaine Harris, Jeaniene Frost, Jennifer Estep, Faith Hunter, Molly Harper, Ilona Andrews, Kresley Cole, Deborah Harkness, Nalini Singh, Coreene Callahan and Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Happy Reading

payback time

Great book. 4.5 stars.

In this book, Genevieve Snow aka Gin Blanco come out of Assassin retirement, which was how the last book ended.

A woman, Violet Fox, came to the Pork pit looking for the Tin Man (Fletcher's assassin moniker) and it lead them to Warren T. Star, Fletcher's old best friend, who was in trouble. The desire to protect the Fletcher's legacy and loved ones lead Gin to defend them. With her wing man Flynn, JoJo and Sophia, Gin set up a her plan to deal with Tobias Dawson (a stone elemental) and through it she learns about his partner, the fire elemental who killed her family.
BTW, the fire elemental's identity was not a surprise at all. But I look forward to Gin and the fire elemental's showdown.

We finally saw Donovan Caine make a choice about the future. I admire that the author allowed Donovan Caine to remain true to his morals and values. Usually in books like this, the male protagonist adjusts their morals after some incredible sex. Or they look the other way, compromising their position in order to make being with the woman okay. So Bravo for Jennifer Estep and Donovan Caine. At least he was honest with himself, Gin is who Gin is. She is an assassin and won't change. HE had to make a choice on whether to accept Gin for who she is and what she does AND slowly kill who he was inside...or walk away. I don't know how the author will evolve Donovan, but he chose and he will regret it.

On the other hand, Owen Grayson, he is an intriguing man. He definitely is everything Donovan Caine isn't. A man who sees life in shades, not black and white. I look forward to seeing where the author goes with this triangle. He gives Gin "options".