Sunday, July 13, 2014

*Early Book Review* Poison Promise (Elemental Assassin #11) by Jennifer Estep

**I received this book from Edelweiss / Pocket Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

*My Thoughts*

In the Eleventh installment of the Elemental Assassin series, Poison Promise, it's Gin Blanco's birthday and Jennifer Estep won't let her personal day go by without plenty of intrigue, suspense, action, bloodshed, romance, surprises, along with a villain who knows a whole lot about the infamous Spider.

Once again, Gin kicks ass, takes names, puts her life on the line for others, and ends up in yet another deadly web of deceit that could take away everything that she loves if she's not careful. It is very interesting to me how Estep portends a possible future where Gin doesn't have the luxury of having people to rally around her because people NOW know that if you mess with someone she loves, it automatically triggers a response from Gin at the risk to her own life.

Estep shows readers a different side to Detective Bria Coolidge. Bria is on a deadly mission to bring down Southtown Vampire King Beauregard Benson. Benson has brought a new drug called Burn to Ashland, and doesn't care who he hurts as long as he shows a profit. The drug has different affects on everyone from humans, to vampires, to elementals. Bria's own stubbornness, determination, unreasonable actions, and desire for payback, puts Gin in the crosshairs once again. I should say that I was a bit slap happy when it came to Bria and the fact that she nearly pushed everyone to their breaking point. But, I understood her need to bring the big bad down once and for-all after losing someone she promised to help. It's just too bad that her actions came with near deadly consequences for others, including Gin.

For months now, Gin has stood back and waited for the undesirables to come to her before eliminating them one by one. It has been a year since her mentor Fletcher Lane died. Since then, she has faced one deadly challenge after the other, including killing the person responsible for her mother and older sisters deaths. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised when Gin made her presence felt in a major way. Her very public fight with Benson, was a shock because Gin has always done things under the cover of secrecy and darkness while letting everyone guess as to who the real Spider was. Time will tell how this all plays out since she definitely painted a bull's-eye on her own back.

I love so much about this series. I love that there are apparently PIG PINS (Pork Pit) that show a pig holding a plate of food that waitresses wear! I mean, come on, I want one now! I like how Estep flashbacks to Gin's teenaged years when she was living off crumbs, sleeping on cold streets, being at the mercy of others, and learning how to become an assassin. Goes towards her overall character and why she is so determined to save innocents by taking cases Pro Bono.

Poison Promise lures you into the newest chess game piece, by bloody piece and then hits you upside head with the unveiling of who MM Monroe really is, and the reason why she is in Ashland. The ending leaves enough suspense to ensure that you return for Black Widow which releases in November. It will be interesting to see how Gin handles the twisted new axis of evil that is full of hatred towards her and knows her weaknesses. Who will survive, and who will walk into the final sunset when the series ends? Only time will tell.

Author - Jennifer Estep
Title - Poison Promise (Elemental Assassin # 11)
Published by Pocket Books
Releases: July 22, 2014
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format: E-Book 416 pages





2 comments:

  1. Wow, book 11 already? So I'm about 7 books behind now =) Glad to see you're still enjoying the series.

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    1. Oh, absolutely! This has to be my personal favorite series now that others have ended.

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