Early Review: Spider’s Trap by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #13)

Spider’s Trap (Elemental Assassin #13)
Jennifer Estep
Published: July 28, 2015 (Pocket Books)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it will reference events from the previous book. If you haven’t yet started the series, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Spider’s Bite.

Even before I started Spider’s Trap I stopped and thought about how much I was looking forward to reading it. In Black Widow, Jennifer Estep ended another story arc for Gin with the death of Madeline Monroe. I was excited to get back into this series, with all the now familiar associated characters, with a kind of fresh start, so to speak. I felt like there was a plethora of paths Estep could take her characters on towards the next story arc, and I was eager to jump in.

Spider’s Trap begins with Gin begrudgingly tending to her duties as the new Queen of Ashland’s Underworld. During a somewhat clandestine meeting aboard the Delta Queen someone plants a bomb that disrupts the fun negotiations. Of course Gin can’t let that stand, but when she investigates she gets a nagging feeling of familiarity with the attacker, but she just can’t place it. I mean don’t people know by now not to mess with Gin and her friends? Gin, however, has no problem living up to reputation as the Spider.

I’m going to be honest right now: I don’t always like the obligatory flashback episode that inherently occurs in each story. Despite it being a way for Estep to keep Fletcher around (whom I love), and regardless of the fact that they in some way relate a similar-type situation to what Gin is facing in the present tense of the story, I tend to lose focus at these parts. Spider’s Trap has maybe the first flashback where I was engaged the entire time. I think this is because the events in the flashback directly correlate to what is going on in the main storyline of the book. I don’t want to say too much about it because I rather enjoyed figuring things out along with Gin, and if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy this too.

I was really happy that some of the things that bothered me in Black Widow were better here. Namely, I talk about Owen. I felt like the last maybe 2-3 books he’s been somewhat sidelined. I think it’s safe to say that, no matter what, readers know that this is Gin’s series through and through, so there’s no harm in letting Owen step up a bit. I love his character so much, I was happy that he got to show a little muscle in Spider’s Trap. Hopefully, this trend continues.

For the most part, I feel like events in Spider’s Trap act as a catalyst for Gin ultimately discovering the power she can potentially have at her disposal in her new position within the Ashland underworld. Due to events in the book, we see Gin shift from begrudgingly accepting her power to embracing it. By the end, Estep clearly tells us where we’re going next in Bitter Bite and I can only think Gin may have more cause to use her new-found associations outside of her regular group of friends.

Spider’s Trap was another solid story in one of my auto-buy series.

Sexual content: sex