Snared
Author: Jennifer Estep
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: B
What I’m Talking About:
With clues left by her late mentor, Fletcher, Gin and Silvio have started identifying the members of the devious Circle. They discover the “easiest” mark is Damian Rivera, a trust fund prince with a huge drinking problem, and Gin starts surveillance on the man, looking for any clues as to the identity of the mysterious head of the Circle. Meanwhile, Gin’s friend Jade comes to her asking for help locating her missing sister. As Gin digs deeper into both situations, she uncovers a serial killer is loose in Ashland.
Once again, Ms. Estep had me glued to my Kindle as I took a ride with my favorite assassin. The Elemental Assassin books are always full of high-octane action, and Snared is no exception with its race against time – serial killer plot. While parts were fairly predictable, I found the energy surrounding Gin and her situation strong, and it pulled me in right from the start. I enjoyed learning more about the Circle and Gin’s own past.
With that said, there are a few things that bugged me this time, more than usual. I genuinely enjoyed Snared, so I don’t want you to think otherwise as I list these issues, but I feel like it needs to be said. These are character flaws and/or plot devices that have started becoming repetitious, making the books predicable.
First: Gin is an extremely intelligent woman; one of the smartest heroines out there. She also relies heavily on her gut instincts. So when she “hears” something or feels an ominous presence and then just walks away, saying it’s nothing… it frustrates me. We ALL know it is something, so why doesn’t Gin go with her gut instincts?! And she always seems to have facial recognition amnesia. That whole “something is off but I can’t figure out what” thing happens too often.
Second: The dreams. I know the dreams are Gin’s “thing,” guiding her as if Fletcher was still around. But at this point, I find them disappointing. Too often, after recalling nothing about a significant memory from her youth, things that Gin *should* have remembered or never forgotten, she suddenly remembers something HUGE from her childhood that is just too coincidental in solving her current case. It’s just frustrating to see it over and over again, uncovering these secrets that Gin didn’t know she knew all along.
Even with my frustrations over repetitious behaviors that seem to dumb down Gin and the issues with her memory recall, Snared still entangled me. I liked that I figured out the plot right from the get go, yet Ms. Estep made me second guess my hypothesis over and over as the clues surfaced. I loved watching Gin figure out who the bad guy is and how she brings them down. Snared had many layers, and Gin uncovered a few secrets that brought her a little closer to discovering how to end the mysterious leader of the Circle.
My Rating: B, Liked It
About the Book:
If you don’t know Gin “the Spider” Blanco, you don’t know dangerous female heroines.
Irony 101—The Spider herself snared in someone else’s web…
Another week, another few clues trickling in about the Circle, the mysterious group that supposedly runs the city’s underworld. Gathering intel on my hidden enemies is a painstaking process, but a more immediate mystery has popped up on my radar: a missing girl.
My search for the girl begins on the mean streets of Ashland, but with all the killers and crooks in this city, I’m not holding out much hope that she’s still alive.
A series of clues leads me down an increasingly dark, dangerous path, and I realize that the missing girl is really just the first thread in this web of evil. As an assassin, I’m used to facing down the worst of the worst, but nothing prepares me for this new, terrifying enemy—one who strikes from the shadows and is determined to make me the next victim.
Release Date: April 25, 2017
Publisher: Pocket Books
Series: Elemental Assassin #16
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format(s): paperback (384 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: Publisher/Edelweiss
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)
Unraveled by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #15)
Nice Guys Bite by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #15.5)