Spider's Revenge [Mass Market Paperback]

It gets pretty repetitive as Gin struggles to take down Mab and keep everyone she loves safe in the fifth installment. It started with a bang--it also ended in a somewhat satisfying way--but unfortunately, the 300 or so pages in between all of that seemed even more redundant than usual.

I really enjoyed the last 2 books, so I was actually looking forward to this one, but the thing is, I was already going into this book expecting a 6th grade reading level and a certain amount of redundant filler. I mean at this point, I am no longer expecting any character development, and I've already resigned myself to the fact that all the characters are reintroduced in a tedious fashion with every new book. I was willing to ignore all of this in the name of mindless entertainment...but wow...I really found myself struggling to get through this one.

The characters were reintroduced multiple times here. Seriously, Mab, for instance, was reintroduced to the reader (backstory and all) about 3 times! I mean, there was just WAY too much rehashing going on. Like even more than usual--and not just a rehashing of events from the previous books (as usual Gin is dishing out the same old details of her family's fiery death over and over again ad nauseam), but a rehashing of events that had already happened in THIS book, as well. As if the reader needed to be caught up on the events of the previous chapter.

There were also all these long, drawn out (and totally nauseating-cue-the-heartfelt-sitcom-music) conversations and scenes between the characters that were completely redundant. Gin's friends would be all, "Gin, we want to help you take down Mab because we care about you," and Gin would would be like, "Really? You care? You want to help me take down Mab?" Her friends would reiterate their desire to help again and again, and Gin would agonize for a few pages before finally giving in. This whole scene, by the way, was blatant filler, because even if you don't count the previous books, Gin has already been agonizing over these very same things, in this very same fashion throughout this whole book already. But it gets even worse if you can believe it! Not even a page later the same scene starts ALL OVER AGAIN and repeats itself, as if the author has forgotten she's already written it! Probably, the editor gave up trying to read these books a while ago, but I still can't help feeling annoyed and cheated, as this is only ONE example of the many scenes that was repeated throughout the book.

The really sad thing is, once again, I liked the way things ended and I'm ashamed to admit that I even found myself wanting to read the next book, as the excerpt was actually more entertaining than this book... I still can't bring myself to give this book anything more than 2 stars though, as I can only conclude that I'm some sort of masochist.

I gave this book a 3-star rating, because it is not possible to give it 2.5 stars. Please be advised that there may be minor spoilers in this review...

I have enjoyed the Elemental Assassin series so far, and I was eager to read Spider's Revenge (where we finally see a showdown between Gin Blanco and her nemesis, Mab). I grabbed the Kindle version on the release date, and spent the evening curled up with it. Unfortunately, I found myself disappointed with this installment in the series.

Ms. Estep fell into a common trap - in an effort to make the latest book in the series still function as a potential "stand-alone," she spent a great deal of time summarizing the prior books and re-introducing characters. As a reader of the series, I find too much exposition distracting, because I actually remember the prior books. Recaps of the backstory that appear in multiple places just give me large blocks of useless text to skip past instead of adding to my experience. Also, like many other authors who use the exposition tool ad nauseum, Ms. Estep took shortcuts - using the same phrasing OVER and OVER in a cut-and-paste fashion, rather than finding new and original ways to recap the storyline or re-explain a concept (e.g., describing the Spider as patient, Jo-Jo as a "drama mama," the stones' "muttering," the "five-point" placement of Gin's knives, Gin's reaction to Mab's fire-power and Jo-Jo's air magic, the after-effects of experiencing Jo-Jo's healing, the connection of many vampires to the sex trade, etc.).

I also found myself increasingly impatient with the world-building and character development. If you have a dwarf that heals every injury, character injuries become meaningless (no sacrifice/suffering element) and the suspense that comes from "danger" to the character dwindles away. If you set up characters who need assistance from the hero in prior books, it begins to seem a little silly to suddenly have them playing "back-up" to the hero in this one. If you give a character a reputation as the best assassin out there, it seems a little ridiculous to have her miss her mark twice and then have to get into a face-to-face duel with her target. And if you want a character to be neurotic about being unloveable, give her more than one (very brief) bad relationship in her past to obsess about. Otherwise, just let her be hung up on the deaths of past loved ones and debating whether or not its worthwhile to get attached, instead of routinely (yawn!) being surprised that the supporting cast loves her and would prefer not to see her die...

Ms. Estep also made the mistake of cramming in past characters and places, rather than providing new and original characters and scenery. It is not necessary for bit players from prior books to make an appearance in every installment -- especially if their appearance doesn't eally move the story forward! Some locations (like the Pork Pit) may be essential aspects of each story, but it is nice to give the readers some variety in settings when you can. For example, it would be refreshing to have a "meet" go down somewhere other than Northern Aggression. Doing so gives the author a new place to describe and it spares the reader yet another description of the ice bar, the mention of the new ice elemental bartender, and the wholly-unnecessary reference to the ice-elemental bartender from a previous book.

Finally, it's a minor quibble, but I found myself annoyed by editing errors like the ones that resulted in misuses of the word "peak" for "pique" and "peek" in various places...sigh.

With all of that said, if you liked the previous installments, this is worth a quick read, especially if you can find it in a used bookstore or library instead of shelling out $8+ for it. It has a quick pace, a couple new and potentially interesting characters, a few genuinely funny or touching scenes (like the one between Fletcher & Gin) and it bring the original "revenge" story-arc to a conclusion.

I will cautiously hope for more from future novels by Ms. Estep...but I will probably not rush into purchasing them.

Summary of book-The self described best assasssin fumbles and bumbles attempts to kill her arch enemy while hiding in plain sight- wash and repeat. Hired bounty hunters cannot find her while she attacks with only a mask and hides in plain site. And you know that if you bleed in the snow leaving a trail all the way to your car, then drive slowly to safety making no effort to hide your trail, leave the car the in the drive, not one trained bounty hunter can find track you. Really?
In between the fumbles and bumbles have the main character describe her heart as black every other page and you have an unfortunately boring book.
Then the ending- big shoot out at her house and all those bounty hunters and her enemies know who she is, where she lives and works...but she is safe because most of them are dead, scared or fighting among themselves at the end. Really? When there is a mulit million dollar bounty on her head???
This book quickly annoyed me and I began skimming in the middle looking for anything, just anything different or unusual. Nope. I am sorry to say I was happy when it was over.

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