Heart of Venom (Elemental Assassin Series Book 9)

Summary: An evil from Sophia's, Gin's dear friend, past has shown up and caused havoc. Gin is to the rescue, to try to save the family she has and keep them as close to her as possible. Can she stay alive long enough to resolve her issues with Owen? Can she keep her family and friends alive? Review: The Elemental Assassin series is in my top 6. And this book had the potential to be the best book in the series. Rather, it turned out to be my least favorite. As usual, the magical elements and the violent elements were top notch. Just when you think Estep can't make the violence bloodier and more gruesome, she does. Unlike most urban fantasy novels, Estep doesn't shove the supernatural elements down your face. Rather, In a world where humans have magical abilities based on the four elements (ice, stone, fire, and air), and other random supernaturals roam freely, the magical elements are always subtle and are dealt with careful craft. Human firepower and magic are just as powerful as each other. I am glad we got the story of Sophia's past. The past was horrifying and heart tearing. Sophia lived through torture of not one, but two serial killers. She was raped, put on fire, beaten, and everything terrible that can be imaginable. Again, I am impressed by our author's ability to subtly send us a message, without grossing us out. The violence was, in general, upped in this book not just from the abusers, but also Gin's tactics. We see a much crueler side to her. And, Owen and Gin's relationship got resolved, one way or another. (view spoiler) And to be honest, other than the short bursts of abuse we saw at the hands of the villains, The whole book felt a bit, incomplete; almost like a novella. I wanted to see more emotion from Gin and Owen, more action from her friends and family, even more of a story from Sophia. I really wanted to see more of Jo-Jo's emotions regarding the whole situation, but after Gin came back empty handed, she seemed almost normal. I am most disappointed by the deteriorating of Finn and his relationship with Gin. Finn shows up less and less in books, and he barely gets any recognition for being her right hand man, her brother. He has been more of a sibling to her than Bria has, yet she crows on and on about Bria. What about Finn? We fans LOVE FINN! I thought this book had so much potential to be the best in the series, and I was disappointed in it. Still, ignore my harping, because it was a pretty good book. In a series where I rated all the books so far 4-5, this is still a winner. And for those who are fans of this series, you should at least read this for continuation of the Gin/Owen drama. Sex: kissing, sex scene Violence: A lot of violence, and torture. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Quote: "I did it," the guy finally said. "I did it! I killed the Spider! Woo-hoo!" Okay, I thought the woo-hoo at the end was a little much, but I let the giant enjoy his moment of victory. It was going to be the last thing he ever enjoyed. Next Book: The Spider, out this Christmas Eve 2013. It's a Prequel to the whole series. I was a little disappointed it wasn't a new story, but then I read the teaser chapter. Now I'm intrigued

This is another of the better books in this book series. As usual there is a bad guy for Gin to take out. This time however there is a nice twist in that it is an old “acquaintance” of Sophia and Jo-Jo and as the story progresses we get to know the background story of the Goth dwarf, why she have her raspy voice and why she always takes care of the “leftovers” after Gin’s various adventures. As usual Gin and her friends leaves a trail of bodies in Gin’s normal “bad-ass” style. During the process Gin and Owen also comes to a conclusion of their little differences since a few books back. I still fail to grasp why some people keeps harping about how bad Owen is since that episode. I cannot help wonder if they read the same books as me. Otherwise this book follows the same style as previous books although as a whole I felt this book was one of the better ones. Finn, Bria and now also Philip adds to the fun as usual and the whole mix ends up being a quite enjoyable read. I am certainly looking forward to see where the M.M. Monroe thread will lead although unfortunately, from what I understand, the next book in the series is actually a prequel.

Well, here we are and Gin is at it again. This is a great story in that we, the followers of the series, get to learn much more about some supporting characters who are essential to Gin's life. In this case it is the Deveraux sisters, and most particularly, Sophia. For years we have heard about her raspy voice and her skill at making bodies disappear. In this novel, we get to re-live the hell that made Sophia who and how she is. Estep does this by means of having the person who had tried to kill Sophia, only to see her rescued by Fletcher, has returned to finish the job. He's not really quite up to the task, but he brings his psychopath sister with him and they are both Fire Elementals. Fortunately, Gin is both a Stone and Water Elemental and is up to the task of taking on the challenge put forth by the villainous siblings. They do manage to kidnap Sophia again, but not to worry, Gin is on the case. This story also helps us get to know other characters who have mostly remained in the background, specifically Phillip and Owen. I'm not going into great detail about this book, there are other reviews that you can read for that. What I do want to say is that there are two things about this novel that set it apart from its predecessors in the series: one is that while the novels usually start with someone trying to kill Gin, the fight at the beginning of "Heart of Venom" is the funniest little piece that Estep has written, in my opinion. Second, and this is a warning for those with weak stomachs: without doubt, this is the darkest and goriest of all the novels and shorts in the series thus far. As a result the reader comes to understand Sophia (and love her all the more) and her quirks in the most compassionate of ways. Great read, please read the earlier books or you will miss a lot in this one.

The further I get into the elemental assassin series, the more I come to realise Gin's ability to act like a total idiot. And if the fix to that is increasing the stupidity of her enemies, then I'm done with the series. The good Backstory of Sophia gets worked on, she's an interesting character. The bad Gin's behaviour as the best assassin keeps slipping, but every time she gets punished for it, her enemies act like total morons.

Another actioned packed, suspense riding, emotional roller coaster from Jennifer Estep. This was a brilliant book in the series and my favourite book so far. Mostly we are told more about Jo-Jo and Sofia and the book mostly focuses on the past of Sofia and her nemeses Mr Grimes. There is very little of Finn and Bria, but more of Gin and Owen together which is nice. Its a dark road for an assassin, but there is nothing that Gin won't do for her family. Gin helps Sofia when she is captured again by the monster that took her all theses years ago and battles through high odds of surviving, however Mr Grimes and his sister still live. Gin and her family make plans to face Grimes on their own turf and a battle ensues, where Owen shows he will do anything for Sofia and Sofia manages to battle her demon and come up the better. Another compelling read.

und immer wenn man denkt es geht nicht mehr... kommt doch noch mal ein Bösewicht her. Diesmal einer aus der Vergangenheit Zwergen Schwestern und kein all zu Guter. Nicht schlecht... auch wenn diese "Gin muss von ihren Freunden wieder gerettet werden" Masche jetzt allmählich alt wird. Ich find es trotzdem gut.

As usual an exciting read

Best book in the series so far. I like learning about secondary characters. Sophia is by far my favorite character next to Gin. This is one kickass book. High on action, low on romance...yay!! Obviously I'm more into the stomp then the romp and this story is all about the stomp. Kind of sad that I read it so fast. But it was just that good. Thanks for an awesome read, Jennifer Estep.