Spider's Bite, Jennifer Estep, Pocket Books January 2010

This book is the first in the new Elemental Assassins series by Jennifer Estep and was quite the change from her previous books. This book is the epitome of Urban Fantasy and for me was an excellent read. It starts off fast and doesn't slow down, I mean there are two murders in the first chapter of the book!

Her name is Gin Blanco, but they call her The Spider, she is the most feared assassin in the South. She is a stone elemental which means she can manipulate and control stone but she prefers to kill using knives. She lives up to her reputation by killing the doctor that she is hired to kill in an insane asylum and then throws in the rapist orderly "pro-bono" and walks out of the place without looking back. When she returns to the BBQ restaurant that she works in when she isn't killing people, her handler and mentor, Fletcher Lane, has another job waiting for her. Kill Gordon Giles, an accountant who is embezzling from the company he works for. Seems like a pretty routine job until she is double crossed by the air elemental who hired her and they torture and kill Fletcher. She teams up with Donovan Caine, the only honest cop on the force, and the man who has vowed to bring her to justice for killing his partner. With the help of Fletcher's son, Finn, and some dwarves with some very helpful powers, they might just be able to figure out who double crossed Gin and killed Fletcher.

Along the way we learn more about Gin and her powers. We also learn that at the age of 13 a fire elemental murdered her mother and older sister and burned Gin's rune necklace into her hands leaving behind not only a scar but pieces of the metal. Gin also believes that by collapsing the house to escape she kills her baby sister. She barely survives on the streets when she is taken in by Fletcher and he teaches her the family businesses...BBQ and killing.

I really enjoyed this book and felt that the world building and the story itself blended together very well. I love the fact that Gin is a strong, kick-ass female that makes no apologies for the job that she does. While the sexual chemistry between Gin and Donovan is hot I am still not sure how I feel about a possible relationship between the two. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Web of Lies, and if there is ever a Gin Blanco Cookbook I am sooooo buying it.

I give Spider's Bite 5 chocolate dipped strawberries!!