Unraveled
Author: Jennifer Estep
Reviewer: Jen Twimom
Rating: B
What I’m Talking About:
Picking up after the secret-revealing conclusion of the previous book, Bitter Bite, Gin is determined to discover more about the mysterious Hugh Tucker, the Circle, and the extent to which her mom was involved. When Finn receives notice that his recently departed mother left him the Bullet Pointe resort and amusement park, Gin realizes it’s a trap set by Hugh. But Gin isn’t one to run from a fight, so she and Finn, along with Bria and Owen, head to the quaint resort for fun-filled vacation.
Unraveled is yet another exciting, action-packed adventure for Gin and her friends. How Ms. Estep can keep writing fresh and thrilling stories for Gin is beyond me! Yet here we are, the fifteenth book in the Elemental Assassin series, and at just one chapter in, I was not only totally surprised, but utterly hooked.
What I liked most about Unraveled, is the almost standalone feel of the story. Gin and her core group travel away from Ashland for a vacation, all the time knowing it would be a trap. The change in setting, along with the smaller cast of her usual characters, gives the book an independent feel and a nice break from the craziness of Ashland. And although Gin’s purpose is to discover more about the secretive and malevolent group, the Circle, the story focuses more on a wild-west themed treasure hunt and showdown. Although, in the end, thanks to Fletcher’s own scavenger-type-hunt for clues, Gin begins to unravel some of the mystery; however, this overall storyline is far from over. Which in its own right is exciting because we haven’t really had a larger, over-arching nemesis for Gin since Mab.
The only thing that bugged me, just a wee-little-bit, is the use of dreams to reveal important truths to Gin. While I mostly enjoy the flashbacks that make up Gin’s dreams in the series, sometimes (this being one), the dreams frustrate me because they come off contrived. In this case, Gin discovers that her understanding and the memories of her mother aren’t all she thought them to be… that Gin actually saw Hugh and others in her youth. It irritates me that these memories were buried so deeply, and that in the past weeks, with all the time spent around Hugh and Deidre, that she never once remembered anything. The timing of these dreams is just too convenient.
All-in-all, Unraveled is an adventurous thrill-ride, taking Gin on another dangerous journey. As always, Gin must fight her way to the end, but she has her friends by her side, creating a bit of safety and warmth amongst the chaos.
My Rating: B, Liked It
About the Book:
As the current queen of the Ashland underworld, you would think that I, Gin Blanco, would know all about some secret society controlling things from behind the scenes. I might be the Spider, the city’s most fearsome assassin, but all my Ice and Stone elemental magic hasn’t done me a lick of good in learning more about “the Circle”. Despite my continued investigations, the trail’s gone as cold as the coming winter.
So when Finnegan Lane, my foster brother, gets word of a surprising inheritance, we figure why not skip town for someplace less dangerous for a few days? That place: Bullet Pointe, a fancy hotel resort complex plus Old West theme park that Finn now owns lock, stock, and barrel. At first, all the struttin’ cowboys and sassy saloon girls are just hokey fun. But add in some shady coincidences and Circle assassins lurking all around, and vacationing becomes wilder—and deadlier—than any of us expected.
Good thing this assassin brought plenty of knives to the gunfight…
Release Date: August 30, 2016
Publisher: Pocket Books
Series: Elemental Assassin #15
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format(s): paperback (400 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: Publisher
Purchase Info:
Amazon
Reviews in the Series:
Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #1) – Audio review
Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #2) – Audio review
Venom by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #3) – Audio review
Tangled Threads by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #4) – Audio review
Spider’s Revenge by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #5)
Thread of Death by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #5.5)
By a Thread by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #6)
Widow’s Web by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #7)
Deadly Sting by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #8)
Kiss of Venom by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #8.5)
Heart of Venom by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #9)
The Spider by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #10)
Poison Promise by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #11)
Black Widow by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #12)
Spider’s Trap by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #13)
Bitter Bite by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #14)
Unwanted by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #14.5)
I agree with what you said about the dreams, but for me they are niggles I can easily ignore. 🙂 I really enjoyed this one and love that she got her own wanted poster. Yee Hah! LOL
I agree… I do mostly enjoy the flashbacks. It was just something about this one that bugged me just a little bit more than normal. However, it didn’t impacted my reading enjoyment at all. This series is so amazing.
I feel like I’m peddling up a cement creek because I’ve only read books 1 & 2 but I have book 3 on audio, but like I’ve said before the Charley Davidson and Kate Daniels series has been occupying my thoughts as far as urban fantasy goes.
All three are great series. Just work you’re way through them!
I agree with Jennifer… you are listening to some great series, so stick with those for now. This series is also great on audio – I’ve listened to some and read some. You’ll find time to listen someday!
So many books…
But all so surprisingly good. I’m not tired of these stories at all!
I’ve felt the same way about the dreams. I guess part of it is that I rarely remember my dreams and they never give me information about my past. I like the look back, but it isn’t realistic. It is consistent to Gin’s story though. She’s always been having dreams to give more information about the current situation.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Rabid Reads
I agree, it’s very consistent. But sometimes it just annoys me more than other times. I think because this changed some of the fundamental things she knows to be true, it bugged me more.
I seriously need to get back to this series! I binge read through book 5 and that felt look a satisfying stopping point so I took a break and haven’t made it back. Good to see you’re enjoying it, this late in the series!
Yes, the first five books are a complete set, then they switch more to standalone stories. You could easily pick up a few and read, then take another break, but I bet you wouldn’t want to!
Yeah sometimes the dreams seem too easy. Dreams don’t always equal memories (in the real world anyway). I did enjoy this one like the others though. I can’t wait to revisit it on audio at some point.
Like I said to Melanie, I think it’s that these dreams changed so much about her memories. Make sense? But still, love this series!!
[…] Reviews in the Series: Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #1) – Audio review Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #2) – Audio review Venom by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #3) – Audio review Tangled Threads by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #4) – Audio review Spider’s Revenge by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #5) Thread of Death by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #5.5) By a Thread by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #6) Widow’s Web by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #7) Deadly Sting by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #8) Kiss of Venom by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #8.5) Heart of Venom by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #9) The Spider by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #10) Poison Promise by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #11) Black Widow by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #12) Spider’s Trap by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #13) Bitter Bite by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #14) Unwanted by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #14.5) Unraveled by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #15) […]