DEADLY STING - Jennifer Estep
Elemental Assassin Series, Book 8
Pocket Books
ISBN: 978-1-451-68899-3
March 2013
Urban Fantasy

Southern City of Ashland - the Present

Gin's foster brother, Finn, has decided she must go to the opening of the museum exhibit of Mab Monroe's possessions. Gin, once known as the assassin Spider, killed her archenemy Mab, who had murdered Gin's mother and sister and tortured her youngest sister. Mab, a fire elemental, had controlled the criminal underground of Ashland. Now every mob boss, gangster, and ne'er-do-well in Ashland is trying to claim Mab's power over crime, which is far-flung and lucrative in Ashland. These criminals are also unsuccessfully attacking Gin for the notoriety to be earned killing the Spider. Finn chooses a fitting dress for Gin to wear to the formal event. Gin is ambivalent about going, but will do anything that takes her mind off the estrangement between her and her former lover, Owen. She understands his ambivalence about their relationship. It doesn't stop her moping.

Needless to say, when the woman rumored to be the assassin Spider attends any function in Ashland, people are bound to whisper, shudder, or stare. And who does she run into at the event but Owen…and his date, who is wearing the same red dress as Gin. Finn is upset—how dare the clerks sell him the dress as the one and only in Ashland when it clearly isn't? From this point events inevitably spiral out of control. That same red dress will lead Gin into tragedy, robbery, a hostage crisis, and extreme, seemingly insurmountable danger.

DEADLY STING has the same electric tension, tricky situations, and high kill totals as the previous volumes. Poor Gin seems to take two steps back for every foot forward, and her luck varies between unbelievably bad to miraculously good. Her quips and shrewd perception, however, keep readers snickering but hooked until the unexpected twist ending. Readers can start this series with this book. Although DEADLY STING shares many of the same characters and refers to past stories, readers won't be lost. Gin's interesting psyche, her particular integrity, and her unusual talents will soon turn urban fantasy fans into confirmed arachnophiles.

Robin Lee