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)

Familiar Ground

The story moved the series forward a bit, but you do have to wade through a lot of familiar ground to get there.

Redundant verbiage to a fault!

Great characters. Great plot. Great story line. Painful detailed ramblings in narration. Explanations of all past items from previous books in excess and without context. "Circle with eight thin rays. A spider ruin, my ruin...the symbol for patience."

If we like your books and read the series why must the authors tell the entire first book(s) in every new one? If reminders are needed make them subtle not weighed and heavy in long streams of consciousness mid action.

I want to love these. I hope this one was a fluke. I love the action and the characters.

Getting repetitive

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Author just repeated way too much or first 3 books. I understand she wants readers that pick up book 4 to not be lost by what happened in the first 3 books. But it just become too much a repeat of the other books. I'm done with the series.

Could you see Tangled Threads being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

no

love the story but...

I love the story in all the books so far, but why do we have to hear Silverstone knives every minute. knives are ok, but to be that descriptive every few sentences is a bit much. and coffee. ya only need to describe it once in a while. not every time he takes a sip.

Repetitive

In general the basic story is fine. Not great but able to keep my attention. BUT I don't think the author reads her work because she repeats herself over and over and over AND over. One tends to roll their eyes and want to fast forward though a third of the dialogue.

Stepping stone for the series.

This is the fourth book in the series and I would consider this book a stepping stone in the series. This book is used to move characters into alignment for the last installment of the series - the big battle. There are changes and specific events that needed to occur before the battle and this book does those things. That's not to say the story isn't good and there are important things and changes not only for Gin, but those around her. This book is like the big training scene for any Rocky movie with a serious dash of trouble with the assassin Elektra LaFleur added in. I enjoyed the story and would not recommend it as a stand alone book, but as a continuation of a great series.

Tangled

Assassin Gin Blanco finds herself in a fantastic web. Does she or doesn't she confess who she is to her sister? Will her heart ever melt for Owen? How will she survive a super power of an elemental? And will a shocking revelation rock her world or will she overcome? All of these questions and more are addressed in the edition of the Spider's tale. Many adventures, plenty of blood shed, and some steamy intimate scenes makes this story interesting and captivating.

Too much repetition, needs better magic theory

What did you like best about Tangled Threads? What did you like least?

Like the narration by Lauren Fortgang

Any additional comments?

I like coming into a series after a lot of the books have been written so I don't have to wait a year or longer for the next book. When it has been a year, one sometimes needs some review of the characters. However, by the 5th book, not so much. Few avid series readers would start in the middle of the series. I think Estepp could have easily copied and pasted a third of the book, in each of the last 3 books. Thank goodness audible has the 30 seconds forward feature. I have started listening to book 5, Spider's Revenge. I used the skip forward a lot.
I like the character of Gin. I understand that though she is a hardened assassin she has been emotionally stunted by her past and her guilt. But she seems too excessive in her lack of self-knowledge, way too hard on herself. I understand that the two honest, upright, cops who mean so much to her come into her life at a critical emotional turning point in her life. But really it's annoying.
The stupidity I found the most annoying however is her inability to reason out the actions of her enemies and lack of simple technological gadgets like ear pieces & mica too communicate with Phinn (sorry, not sure how his name is spelled since I'm listening to the books) who is stationed up high backing her up with his snipers gun. They have night vision googles, silverstone vests and lots of money. For some one spending lot of money on her knives, who doesn't want to rely on her magic out of fear, I'd think she also have a few more gadgets.
Along those lines, I would think for an assassin with patience who has been trained to plan and prepare, that when her she makes breakthroughs in magic usage she would make more effort to understand how she can control it. Especially, if she is going up against people who are really strong and your afraid of it failing you. Fear of it isn't a good enough reason to ignore it so completely. I mean she seems to lose her knives often enough. She's been told by JoJo, it's growing stronger that it can help her beat Electra. JoJo has insights into the future. Really, she couldn't have gotten where she is without training in her skills, looking for all her possible advantages. She is smarter than that. I would have liked seeing her train herself, or practice magic abilities a little. You've been told this newly strengthened ability saved your life and this brave tough person with family to protect doesn't spend a little more time trying to understand it. I feel like the author hasn't got a clear understanding to the possible science behind the elemental magic she has created for the series. We hear the same limited theory being repeated every book without any advancement.

Despite all my negative thoughts above I like the basic story line, like the characters. I like the suspense of what will go wrong what will go right. I get that little tingle of anxious suspense. I just want more new info and a lot less repetition. I've already heard those books.

Good series

What did you love best about Tangled Threads?

Good book for sitting on the deck with a mojito and getting into your imagination. I enjoy the supernatural aspect of this book and the girl power though the main character sometimes gets on my nerves with her martyring.

I’m a fan of the series...

....and while some parts of the book were a bit slow, the stage has been set quite well for the next book. Seeing Gin’s personal life expand and grow will allow for more character development and future plot lines for Ms. Estep to explore.
I anticipate the upcoming showdown in Spider’s Revenge quite a bit, so let’s see if the Spider delivers....