Tangled Threads

Elemental Assassin, Book 4

By: Jennifer Estep

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

"I'd rather face a dozen lethal assassins any night than deal with something as tricky, convoluted, and fragile as my feelings. But here I am. Gin Blanco, the semi-retired assassin known as the Spider. Hovering outside sexy businessman Owen Grayson's front door like a nervous teenage girl. One thing I like about Owen: he doesnt shy away from my past - or my present. And right now I have a bulls-eye on my forehead.

"Cold-blooded Fire elemental Mab Monroe has hired one of the smartest assassins in the business to trap me. Elektra LaFleur is skilled and efficient, with deadly electrical elemental magic as potent as my own Ice and Stone powers. Which means there's a 50-50 chance one of us won't survive this battle.

"I intend to kill LaFleur - or die trying - because Mab wants the assassin to take out my baby sister, Detective Bria Coolidge, too. The only problem is, Bria has no idea I'm her long-lost sibling... or that I'm the murderer she's been chasing through Ashland for weeks. And what Bria doesn't know just might get us both dead."

Listen to more in the Elemental Assassin series.

©2011 Jennifer Estep (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Estep has truly hit the jackpot with this outstanding series!" ( Romantic Times)

My green eyes rolled back again.

An okay series but the author repeats description and the narrator is very monotone so sometimes I find myself nodding off. Gin is a very inept assassin, she barely manages to scrape out of the situations she gets herself into, all without any preplanning at all on her part. She is just lucky she has an air element to patch her back up, otherwise she would have been dead long before now. On a positive note the love interest is much more interesting and likable than the first. Anyway I bought the whole series with a sale, on a whim that I would like it and as to date it is touch in go. Good enough to continue since I paid good money, but one I am more reluctant to listen to. I know that I may get negative reviews for my opinion but then again I might save someone from making the same mistake I did by buying the whole thing. Always listen to the first book before buying the whole series, even if they are on sale.

Mmm... Owen

It's getting harder and harder not to spoil during these reviews but here I go....

Gin has stepped up her game on the take down Mab Monroe front. She is taking out Mab's men left and right and now Mab has brought in Elektra, an out of town assassin, in hopes of taking out the Spider.

The assassin's name hints at her elemental power, electricity. And Gin gets a few shocks from Elektra. But have no fear, Gin is the still the baddest ass assassin in Ashland. With her ice magic becoming just as strong as her stone and she is learning that she just might have what it takes to finally take out old Mab.

Gin and her gang (Finn, Jo-Jo, Sophia, Rosalind and Xavier) work on helping free an innocent little girl that Mab's men have taken while trying not to get themselves or the little girl killed.

Gin and Bria work together again and secrets are found out.

On the romance side Owen is back. Mmmm... Owen. He could not be more perfect for Gin. He doesn't guide her by her past and is front and center to help her with her present.

Gin might be a "retired" assassin but the bad guys of Ashland better look out cuz the Spider is now doing her job for free and she is every as bit as dangerous if not more.

Still loving this series and now that I've gotten then review out of the way I can power through the next book, Spider's Revenge.

assassin vs. assassin

Tangled Threads is the fourth book in the Elemental Assassin series. In the fourth, installment Gin is close to telling her long lost baby sister that she's alive. She has kept the secret that shes. Broad long lost sister. She knew if she told it would put Bria in danger. That was only one reason though. She was afraid her sister wouldn't except her, after all she was the Spider, an assassin, while Bria is a cop. The story line gets better with each book and this one don't disappoint. Its everything, action, humor, and heated romance. These books are absolutely brilliant.

The story gets better with every book!

I really enjoy this series. Gin Blanco is a loveable assasin. It's best to start at the beginning with Spider's Bite so you can really get into the book. Gin gets stronger with each book and this one does not disappoint. I highly recommend the series.

4.5 Stars

Tangled Threads is book 4 in the Elemental Assassin series. It is Urban Fantasy set in Ashland, Tennessee, USA. The main character is 30-year-old Gin Blanco/Genevieve Snow. She is a stone and ice elemental. Her assassin name is The Spider, but at the end of book 1, Gin retired. Now more than anything she is working cases to help people, pro-bono, and is not taking contract kills anymore. Tangled Threads takes place at Christmas time. In this book, Gin goes up against a powerful assassin named Le Fleur, who was hired by Mab Monroe to kill both the Spider and Gin’s sister Bria. There is also a new love interest. So far, this has been my favorite book of the series. The only thing that isn’t working for me is the continued theme of the bad guys being into and threatening child grape. I can understand that being in one book, maybe even two, but to have that many bad guys into that kind of thing just seems like lazy writing. It’s like the author knows that she doesn’t have to explain or even show how the bad guys are bad, just use the child abuse reason and there is no question they are bad and only one sentence is needed to prove they are bad. I hope that we can move on to other things as the series progresses. The narration was good as usual. Overall, I give this book 4.5 stars.

Tangled Threads

In this installment of Elemental Assains, Gin Blanco our favorite assassin has declared open season on Mab Monroe. As Gin has been steadily taking out Mab’s minions, Mab has fired back by sending the best assassin LaFleur after the Spider. Meanwhile Gin is also fighting an emotional battle with her feelings for Owen Grayson and her sister Bria.
This book is really predictable but I still think it was quite good. I like watching Gin start to work on her emotions and start to accept that she has people to lean on. I also think the author does a great job integrating the emotions with the action and it does not feel like it ever drags.

Overall my issues were minor one of them was the believable factor for example Finn who has these amazing sources and is an incredibly talented handler listens to a bartender for information yet does not suspect it could be a set up?? Another minor issue is how everyone knows Gin is the spider, except of course Mab because she is to stupid to recognize her voice. Last but not least is the constant repetition, I know the spider is the symbol for patience, I do remember what happened in the last three books please do not keep bringing it up.

Despite these issues perhaps it is because I listened to this as opposed to reading it and Ms. Lauren Fortgang (the narrator) just smoothed it all out, but I did enjoy listening to this one. While I was never scratching my head trying to figure out what comes next I did enjoy watching things unfold.

Love the characters and world

I understand this whole series takes place over just a few months in the characters lives but I wish she would stop with the references to the idiot ex-boyfriend who never accepted her for who she truly was, the relationship was mostly mental in the first place. The author is incredibly consistent with world continuity but some of that continuity needs to be dropped.
I actually like how the author has a sub-story running through the series about Gin's past. Every book you get a continuation dream telling you a little more about the tragic "Death of her Family" event.

I gave the story 4 stars 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 very repetitious and annoying.
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.

Emotions, grrr.

So, this listen was part of a road trip. The same way I used to worry about mix tapes and CD burns, I now download a ton of books and marathon read as I drive. It's perfect. What wasn't quite as perfect was my thinking I'd listen to one Elemental Assassin after the other. I downloaded five.

Threads is the book where Gin has to deal with a lot of feelings. New feelings developing between Owen Grayson and herself. Old feelings regarding the baby sister she thought was dead and isn't, but has shown up in Ashland. Bria is a police detective. She took the opening left by Gin's last lover, Donovan Caine, and she's here to go after Mab Monroe, same as her big sister.

Oh, boy.

Can Mab handle the two Snow sisters? Well, we don't find out. Mab hires an assassin of her own to take out the Spider, the local assassin who had declared war on her and is toying with her by killing her men.

Will we ever find out? I think we will, and I will enjoy reading that story. Now, what I didn't like and the reason I didn't get through all five assassin books, (because it certainly wasn't the lack of miles to cover.) These books are repetitive. The nice thing is you can pick up any one of them and not be left out or left behind. It's all there. The bad thing is if you're reading the series in order, you've heard half of this before. Stop already! And that's why I'll be putting at least five books between each one of the remaining stories. They are good. I love Gin's character and the action is non stop, but the repetition is overwhelming back to back. Take a breather and come back.

Loved it!

Wow! They just keep getting better and better. Jennifer Estep's talent is amazing. I've read other books where the author has tried to make a assassin the good guy but they've all fallen short. With this series you understand the heroine's motive right away and cheer her on till the end, which is usually somebody's death, but don't worry, they always deserve it.

It's the beginning of the end...

If you could sum up Tangled Threads in three words, what would they be?

Shocking, Exposing, and Dangerous

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gin-not just because she is the main character but because I wish I could be a little like her sometimes, well except the killing part. She is just so comfortable in her skin and what she is, what she has done, and the reasons behind all her decisions. But of course, being a playboy like Flynn could have been fun before the wife and kids. HaHaHa

What does Lauren Fortgang bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Lauren's voice is easy listening but still brings the story to life. She does a great job of moderating her voice for each character making it easy to follow who is speaking even if you may have missed it in the beginning of the paragraph or speech.

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

Yes, in fact I listened to this book in two separate long drives and it kept me alert and interested the whole 10+ hours. If you are going on a long trip or have a couple long drives ahead of you and you like urban fantasy I would grab one of these books and listen all four have been great.