Review: Deadly Sting (Elemental Assassin #8) by Jennifer Estep

Title: Deadly Sting

Series: Elemental Assassin #8

Previous books in this series: Spider's Bite (#1) | Web of Lies (#2) | Venom (#3) | Tangled Threads (#4) | Spider's Revenge (#5) | By A Thread (#6) | Widow's Web (#7)

Short stories in this series: Poison (#0.1) | Web of Deceit (#0.2) | Spider's Bargain (#0.5) | Web of Death (#1.5) | Wasted (#2.7) | Tangled Dreams (#3.5) | Tangled Schemes (#3.7) | Spider’s Nemesis (#4.5) | Thread of Death (#5.5)

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Adult, urban fantasy

Publication date: March 2013

Published by: Pocket Books

Source: Library book

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Synopsis:

Red is definitely my color. Good thing, because in my line of work, I end up wearing it a lot.

Most people shy away from blood, but for an assassin like me— Gin Blanco, aka the Spider—it’s just part of the job. Still, it would be nice to get a night off, especially when I’m attending the biggest gala event of the summer at Briartop, Ashland’s fanciest art museum. But it’s just not meant to be. For this exhibition of my late nemesis’s priceless possessions is not only the place to be seen, but the place to be robbed and taken hostage at gunpoint as well. No sooner did I get my champagne than a bunch of the unluckiest thieves ever burst into the museum and started looting the place.

Unlucky why? Because I brought along a couple of knives in addition to my killer dress. Add these to my Ice and Stone magic, and nothing makes me happier than showing the bad guys why red really is my color

My rating: ★★★★★
In this installment of Elemental Assassin, Gin goes to this gala to check out all of Mab Monroe’s stuff being put on display. Not willingly, mind you. Finn begs her to come with him, and Gin being the awesome sister that she is, agrees to go with him. What she doesn’t expect is to run into trouble at the museum. This poor assassin just can’t catch a break. But too bad for the thieves that decided to hold up the museum, because they just messed with the wrong assassin. The Spider.

Gin Blanco. The Spider. Notorious Assassin. Polite to a fault.

The book starts off with Finn taking Gin shopping to get a dress for the gala. But also because he’s a good brother and wants to cheer her up after the Owen thing in the last book. But Gin is like me, she doesn’t like shopping. Lol.

“Come on, Gin,” Finn wheedled, holding the pump out to me. “At least try it on.”
I rolled my eyes, took the shoe from him, and hefted it in my hand. “Lightweight, nice enough color. Not the worst thing you’ve shown me today. And that skinny stiletto would make a decent weapon, if you took the time to snap it off the rest of the shoe and sharpen the end of it.”
Finn sighed and took the pump away from me. “Have I ever told you how scary it is that you think of heels in terms of their possible shiv potential?”

I love them and their relationship! Lol. Finn is the absolute best though!

As for the Owen thing, well things are still rough between him and Gin after she did what she did in the last book (which I still believe was the right thing and Owen is being and idiot! But I also understand...) It didn’t make things less heartbreaking when Gin ran into Owen though. In this book we see how much he still cares about her, but he is just having a hard time dealing with what happened to Salina, and it was just frustrating! But they’ll work things out... they have to! After all, they had a really sweet talk that nearly made me cry.

Even assassins could have their hearts broken.

My poor Gin. She doesn’t deserve this. And obviously Gin is still feeling down, but what I love about her is that when trouble comes around and she has to take care of some bad guys, she genuinely enjoyed it and it made her happy. I love that this is what makes her happy. You do you Gin. Lol. Sassy Gin is the best Gin. Lol.

I shut the security-center door, stepped over the giant’s body, and went on my merry, murderous way.

I think this might just be my favorite quote of book. Lol. I could almost imagine her skipping over the body, on her merry way, as she said. Lol. And of course, she is as badass as always. You know, she...

Her kills were amazingly gory and I loved it! It totally feeds the horror fan side of myself. Lol.

Another thing I loved about this book was that it mostly takes place in just one day! That was pretty cool and oh so action packed! Gin lurking around the museum trying to save the day was just the best! It was very suspenseful!

A couple other things I loved:

-The food, always the food. I just love the way that Jennifer Estep always describes the food in her books so deliciously. I NEED to try Gin’s triple chocolate milkshake! She even makes onion rings sound good! And I don’t even like onions! Lol.
-Gin uses her magic in a new and interesting way. It was these small things that required finesse, instead these huge blasts of magic. It was very cool seeing her use her magic in a different way.
-Gin messing with McAllister there at the end was amazing! I cannot believe the way she toyed with him and then did what she did! It was amazing! And so funny!
-At the museum, Gin spots a statue of a Nemean prowler. As in the mythological creatures that appear in Mythos Academy, my other favorite series!! I love these little Easter Eggs Jennifer always leaves around for us—they’re so fun!

So yeah, I really loved this book! It had so much action and suspense and I just absolutely loved all the sneaking around! It was awesome from start to finish!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! :)