Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Elemental Assassin #7
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Elemental Magic, Assasins, Vampires, Giants, Dwarves
Overview:
Once an assassin, always an assassin. So much for being plain old Gin Blanco. With every lowlife in Ashland gunning for me, I don’t need another problem, but a new one has come to town anyway. Salina might seem like a sweet Southern belle, but she’s really a dangerous enemy whose water elemental magic can go head-to-head with my own Ice and Stone power. Salina also has an intimate history with my lover, Owen Grayson, and now that she’s back, she thinks he’s hers for the taking. Salina’s playing a mysterious game that involves a shady local casino owner with a surprising connection to Owen. But they call me the Spider for a reason. I’m going to untangle her deadly scheme, even if it leaves my love affair hanging by a thread.
Review:
I am very fortunate to received the advance E-ARC of this book (in pdf format) from miss Jennifer Estep herself and was able to finish reading before the official release which is today. Widow's Web basically revolves around the Owen and Eva past lives (which is a good "change" in the series since the previous books are mostly focused on Gin and her personal struggles). This story also introduces a very cold-blooded antagonist which virtually mirrors Mab Monroe's and to make matters worse: She was Owen's former lover (Talk about a battle for this dudes love).
As with the all the previous books the "signature Jennifer Estep story structure" is still intact (Meet the Antagonist ->Help The Victim -> Gin Got beaten by the main antagonist -> Healed back by Jo-jo Devereaux ->Kills the antagonist in the finale) to which I am getting used to and still loving it. Even the the catch phrases are still there (The count downs, "Crack, Crack, Crack") although I personally missed my favorite phrase "Sloppy, Sloppy Sloppy".
Overall, I love the direction that the author takes in the series as we are able to transition from the post Mab Monroe era. I would hope that the author brings in another "bad ass" series antagonist that would span several books rather got killed in one book (I would assume Jonah MacAllister is that very person to which I would hope so).