Venom

Elemental Assassin, Book 3

By: Jennifer Estep

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

"It's hard to be a badass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family, which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most.

"To the public, I'm Gin Blanco, owner of Ashlands best barbecue joint. To my friends, I'm the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker - Mab's right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists.

"At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I'll take my chances. Then there's Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland's finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I'm a cold-blooded killer... who is about to save her life.

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

Critic reviews

"Estep has really hit her stride with the gritty and compelling Elemental Assassin series. She surrounds her fascinating and complex heroine with a cadre of supporting players, each of whom are intriguing in their own right. Brisk pacing and knife-edged danger make this an exciting page-turner. Kudos to Estep, who is rapidly heading toward the top of the urban fantasy genre!" ( Romantic Times)

Go Gin!!!

I really enjoy this series as well as the narrator. Great interaction of characters!

You Go Spidey Girl

Venom is another great Elemental Assassin book. Hands down, the best of the first 3! I love JE's writting style. It was almost painful when I had to put it down. Lots of action..lots of drama..lots of romance..certainly this book lacks in nothing..can't wait to get to the next one!

So much potential...

Any additional comments?

This is one of those books where if the editing had been tighter it could have been great. The idea for the plot was good and character motivations made sense. I love the banter. It was also great to see Gin slowly get over Donavan and move on to a better guy- Owen. So that was all the good stuff, plus I think the narrator does a great job with all the various character voices.

Now for the bad. The flashback memories are getting old, repetitive, and they're badly timed. We know the gist of Gin's past. Please, no more! I understood why the first fight scene went the way it did and thought the author explained Gin's reasoning for holding back well enough. It was the final fight scenes where I had a problem. Gin had swords she hardly used, and she failed to use her magic when the situation definitely called for it. The whole thing played out badly, but having said that, I did like how the author set things up for the characters to go after Monroe next. I only hope that part plays out like it should.

So I'm not entirely pleased with this installment, but I will give the next book a chance. The foundation is there if the author can just stop doing the awful flashbacks, repetitive backstories and explanations, and let her characters play to their strengths instead of giving lame excuses for letting the bad guys hurt them. I really want this series to find its stride because it could become amazing.

a great book

As usual Jennifer Estep delivers an engaging and captivating story. With strong doses of both sex and violence this book is not for everybody, but if you can handle it it will keep you entertained and glued your earbuds.

Amazing book in series a must read!

Performance --- amazing
Story-- Double amazing
Characters- love them
Love interest - drool worthy

Let get the D*mn book.

once again

very entertaining couldn't put it down all 3 books enthralling. keeps you hanging on every word. Jennifer Estep knows what she is doing. cant wait for the rest of them to be published. NOT TILL 2011 NNNNOOOOOO to far away

could not get enough of GIN

Loved this series, got all four audio books at once and was done in 3 days, I just couldn't stop listening. Lauren Fortgang was a wonderful narrater, I loved her voice, make the book easy to listen too.
Good storyline, lots of visual words, which some don't like, but I do, it adds to the story for me.. Gin's fight contuine on in this book, but many great suprises lie in book 3, that shocked me, some were so not expected...
Hoping for book 5 sooooooon...

The Spider fights back

Gin is back on the offensive in this book. We get a lot of great character and world building. We learn about a lot of Mab's background and what her motivations are. We learn about her organization and how they behave as well. We meet Gin's sister Bria as well. There's some really good drama there. Lot's of good interactions with the Deveraux sister, along with some of their secrets. This is a good book and a great series. My wife doesn't care for it, so we won't listen to anymore, but I'll definitely continue to read the books. It's really good urban fantasy.

gets better and better with each book

gets better and better with each book. love the characters and the storyline. easy to follow while listening and doing other things and moves pretty quickly.

Love the story line but repetitive

I started reading this series and got in to it, but now at book three I am getting tired of the repetitiveness. The author keeps reminding the reader of stuff that has already been said. I am used to it in the beginning of books but when it keeps going on throughout the book it is obnoxious. I feel like it is a paper that someone has to write for their class and it has to be a certain word count so they add more fluff. I think it’s time to find a new series.