Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

Finally! I've been reading this book for over a week - only because of the business of stuff as it was a really good read.

I bought this book and then read it because of Nath's review here. And hey, I do like assassin stories and this one had some twists.

Cindy Blurb: Gin is an assassin called The Spider and a woman assassin is just odd enough to be almost undetectable. Gin's handler is an old guy named Fletcher who took her in after her family was murdered when she was uh, 12? somewhere around there. Fletcher has a son named Finn and these three people create a small unusual family.

There are other 'members' of the family but they have smaller roles so yeah.

On her latest job Gin gets double crossed and realizes that somehow someone has figured out who Fletcher and Finn are and that they are in danger. From here the story explodes with precision and emotion.

And there is a cop. Of course there is. Cause who else would an assassin or a cop fall for but each other? Conflict in copious amounts. Tons.

Like usual I don't want to spoil the story for anyone. I should also mention that the paranormal has a place in the story as there are vamps and such but as much as there was 'magic' it was more about Gin and her life than about the world she lived in.

For those who don't like assassin stories stay away. Gin is an assassin and has no qualms about killing people. Okay, she won't kill kids or puppies but other than that, if you need her services she figures you've done something real bad. And let's face it, that just wouldn't be the absolute truth but it's how Gin sees it and maybe she does so to survive.

There is also lots of blood and gore in the book. Not as gory as Laurell K Hamilton's Anita books but enough for me to look at the spine and wonder if I was reading a paranormal romance or straight fantasy. I'm thinking in the end, straight fantasy with some sex.

I bring up LKH because the writing did remind me of LKH in her good days. When I said precise earlier I meant in the telling of the story. Exacting details of almost every move made.

The only problem I had were repetitive bits of information. The first time an author tells me where all a person's knives are stored on their body, I don't really need to know again. This information was repeated just a few too many times. I think Gin should name the placement like 'the cross of knives' of something. Change it up. Cause I already knew where her knives were going.

I'm also not great with loads of description and well, let's just say there is not a lot of dialogue in the book.

Oh, and I'm not in love with Donovan Caine (the cop). He's too breakable for lack of a better description and I wonder how he would survive Gin and her life. He was a bit too much of a carry along character than one that did anything to move the story. I'm thinking he's a good card to play for Gin but other than that, I'm not sure I like him. Too one dimensional at the moment.

I'm going with a B- cause I did want to know what would happen next and it kept me occupied on the one too many trips to Home Depot during Bobby Week.

Now, I want to read a really sexy story. I'll have to rummage through the TBR pile and see what I have.