Web of Lies [Mass Market Paperback]

Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep
Urban Fantasy- May 25th, 2010
5 stars

Web of Lies starts out fast, furious, and fun. This book utterly delighted me with its wonderful cast of characters and cool urban landscape filled with: power, danger and corruption. Although it helps to have read the previous book in this series I feel that new readers will still be able to start with this book although I would highly recommend reading the first just for the added enjoyment! The main character Gin holds nothing back as she risks her life and her heart for those she cares about and for those she feels under appreciated. As a heroine Gin has her own sense of morality and prefers being solo but always seems to find herself with a colorful cast of characters that made this 2nd book well worth the wait. But because this is the 2nd book in the proposed 5 book series, it is a transitional book and the ending is left somewhat uncertain.

Gin was the infamous Spider, the most dangerous and ruthless assassin for hire. In her last assignment her mentor was murdered and she was framed for his death. Gin was able to take her revenge for his murder and prove her innocence. At the end of the book 1 (Spider's Bite), Gin decides to retire, but we find in Web of Lies that she was not meant for inaction because trouble has a way of finding her.

Now the new owner of the Pork Pit restaurant, Gin has just started her early retirement. But her restaurant is robbed by a pair of young hoodlums. One with powerful connections that could mean big danger for her! Her life is further complicated when an old friend of her mentor asks for protection from an unscrupulous dwarf who wants their land.

I especially liked this book because it delved more into Gin's past. This 2nd book is more emotional than the previous book. This is largely due to the death of Gin's mentor, Fletcher. Not only does she miss his solid presence but Gin has inherited his restaurant and a mysterious picture of a sister she thought murdered. This book also includes important flashbacks that include Gin's early years with Fletcher and his son Finn. Gin is also uncertain if she should look for her sister and if she should pursue a relationship with the super uptight but sexy cop Donovan. To complicate matters further, another man is trying to worm his way into her affections.

I felt the 2nd book was as amazing as the first, it just focuses in a different area. In the first book I loved the non-stop action as Gin tries to discover the mystery behind her set up and find revenge for her mentor's death. In this book she is trying to settle into retirement but she finds trouble from all sides. As a transition book it leaves many questions unanswered. I felt this story brought a great depth to Gin and I admired the heroine even more. (As a nosy reader I love finding out more about characters I love and what shaped them into the person they are today!) Jennifer Estep does not give Gin the easy way out of her difficulties and as Gin struggles to make sense and find her own justice I felt part of the journey. Usually I like to have a book wrap up most of the loose ends but in this case I completely happy to have a 5 book series because I feel this main characters deserves it and I don't want to let go of her too soon! This series has a lot of space to expand, and each book brings more intriguing characters that add to a crew of friends that make this series all the more lively.

This series is not to be missed! If only for the loveable and Interesting characters. I especially enjoyed the dwarves Jo-Jo and Sophia and the charming and irreverent Finn. I can't get enough of this series!

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

I will begin by saying I actually like the main character. She is fairly well developed. However, this writer treats the reader like an idiot, as if we have the retention capacity of a goldfish. She repeats information over and over and over. I'm not sure if she is just trying to fill pages or what but I don't need a full description of characters and elemental magic every chapter. I GOT IT the first time. Must you describe Mab Monroe in minute detail every time we see her even if we saw her 2 pages ago???

Also, her obsession with repeating phrases over and over and over. And, worse even than that, her obsession with the eyes. Everyone's eyes when they meet are "gray on gold" or "gray on violet" or whatever on whatever. She says this a zillion times. It was stupid the first time and doesn't get better with age. They are called mother's darlings and are supposed to be eliminated in the editing process.

I read the first three books in this series hoping she would improve. I love to find a good series and try to give the author a couple books to get in the groove, but book three just proved identical to 1 and 2 and I cannot take her ridiculous, repetitious, overbearing writing style any more.

I really enjoyed the first book, but I didn't think this one was as well done. I just glanced over the previous reviewer's remarks and I know I'm going to be the odd man out here, but I found myself scanning this book more than reading it. I thought there was way too much exposition (probably about 1/2 of the book could be considered a review of the previous novel). How many times did the heroine have to point out to us that she was with Fletcher for 17 years. That she was an assassin for 17 years? That her family died 17 years ago? She must have restated her family's death at least 10 times. She described her scars on her hand (circle with 8 lines, by the way it means patience) over and over. There were soooo many things that were repeated. Even little things. Did she have to refer to her restaurant as her "Gin joint" everytime she talked about it? Then, everytime Det. Caine showed up, there was the corney, "mmmm."

I was becoming more and more annoyed with the characters the more I read the story. Det. Caine became a wussy bore. I know the reason why she made him so unlikable, but it totally ruined the character of Gin, too. What reader want to see the heroine throw herself on a man that doesn't want her, again, over and over.

If you took out the repetition in the story it would probably have cut 2/3 of the book. I think that is a fair assessment of how much room the actual storyline (plot) took.

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