The Spider

Elemental Assassin, Book 10

By: Jennifer Estep

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

For the first time, the full origin story of Gin Blanco's transformation into the fearsome assassin known as the Spider - book 10 in the red-hot Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. In a prequel tale, Gin Blanco goes through her paces on the way to become the most feared assassin in the Ashland. Her mentor, Fletcher Lane, is not going to go easy on her - if she’s going to become a fearsome killer, she has to learn to use her elemental Stone and Ice powers alongside old-fashioned human street smarts.

©2014 Jennifer Estep (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Great story

Christine Hvam portrays the part of Gin Blanco/The Spider so well that I can’t stop listening books by her. I may have read most of the elemental assassin books, but this is the first time that I’m hearing it read and it is far better than I thought it would be.

too chatty but still good

Gin takes a trip back in time when a mysterious package arrives with white stemed roses. She tells Owen of one of her biggest regrets as the Spider and how they met for the first time years ago. Although a bit chatty, this was a good back story, well worth the telling.

a prequel story

With this book, we jump back in time to when Gin was around 20 and starting her career as the assassin “the Spider.”This was a wonderful book because we can see how much Gin has grown as an assassin. She isn’t an experienced assassin at this point and that shows. She makes mistakes and people get hurt.

In this one we also see that Gin does regret some of her kills. She is a strong woman and a deadly assassin, but this book just reinforces that she still has feelings and regrets. I liked that we are getting to learn about some of her regrets and how she has dealt with the guilt of those actions.

This book was also wonderful because we finally get to see Gin interacting and learning from Fletcher. Fletcher was a wonderful father figure for Gin and I really wish we could see more of these memories with him. Also, Finn definitely hasn’t changed since he was a kid. Still money hungry and obsessed with his looks.

This was a wonderful prequel book that was filled with a lot of little easter eggs. I loved seeing the growth of Gin’s character throughout this book and how it has impacted her as an adult. I can’t wait to see what is going to happen next for Gin.

Too Coincidental

Would you listen to The Spider again? Why?

Yes, I think it is a very interesting situation and I like to root for the underdog myself.

What other book might you compare The Spider to and why?

I have no comparison

Have you listened to any of Lauren Fortgang’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

As far as I can remember other than this book and the previous books in this series I do not believe I have listened to any other books narrated by this individual.

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

I just did. These are not very long books so I usually listen to each one while I work and it is over by the end of my shift.

Any additional comments?

It is very Coincidental that most every important character has been there in the past for Gin in one way or the other. All of the important people in her life fell into this rendition.

Excellent history

A fun trip down memory lane of "The Spider". Especially the cross history of Owen and Xavier. It's a leading story to Book 11. I'll be honest, Gin has been through some of the most roller coaster emotions any one person can go through. It's nice having history for everyone.