Review: Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep

Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep

Buy It Now: on Amazon.com

Description: My name is Gin, and I kill people.

They call me the Spider. I’m the most feared assassin in the South — when I’m not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don’t use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I’m out for revenge. And I’ll exterminate anyone who gets in my way — good or bad. I may look hot, but I’m still one of the bad guys. Which is why I’m in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I’m battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction…especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

This review is based on a review copy received from the publisher.

Finn’s Review:

I have to be honest, I didn’t finish this book. I tried and tried, and I just couldn’t. The gritty, urban fantasy is right up my alley. It actually made me sad that I couldn’t finish because the first chapter blew me away. If I could write a book review simply based on the first chapter alone, this book would have gotten five stars. But, as the story progressed, things went quickly downhill for me. Ms Estep has a wonderful writing style and as I said, the first chapter sucked me right in – which is what you want to do with your readers. Hit ‘em hard right out of the gate. However, my problem with the story didn’t have to do with the characters, the author’s writing style or even the storyline. Instead, it had to do more with setting.

The book takes place in a metropolis in western Virginia known as Ashland, Virginia. And this is the first time I was dramatically jolted out of the story. See, I’ve lived in southeastern Virginia all my life. I regularly pass through the real Ashland, Virginia, which is only about an hour from where I live currently, just outside of the capital of Richmond – on the eastern side of the state. In fact, I stop in the town quite often because there’s an eatery there that is awesome. It’s a small, quiet town with a population of around 7K people. See, it’s my familiarity with the town that threw me.

But I was willing to forgive author liberties – changing up cities/towns is nothing new. I read further along and was jolted from the story once more when the two main characters were discussing why the identification card they were holding was a fake. They spoke about how the ID had the incorrect city seal for the city. Virginia license statewide only have the state seal with nothing marking the city in which you live, except your address under your name. Believe it or not, I even took out my license to double check – that’s how much it threw me. I know it’s simple things, but it was enough that I put the book down.

These inconsistencies pulled me from the story too much to make it an enjoyable read for me.