REVIEW: Snared by Jennifer Estep

In Snared (Elemental Assassin #16) by Jennifer Estep, Crime is nothing new to assassin–and the newest queen of the underworld–Gin Blanco, aka The Spider. But even after years of tracking down the lowest of the lowlifes, nothing could have prepared her to come face to face with a serial killer. Dubbed The Dollmaker by local police, the man terrorizing young blonde women in Ashland makes a mistake when he targets someone within Gin’s circle of friends. And if there’s one person who can bring him down, it’s The Spider.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Gin?” Owen asked, his gaze dropping to the bloodstains on my clothes.
“I’m fine.” I grinned. “Most of it’s not even my blood.”
He shook his head. “Only you would look at it like that.”

But in Gin’s pursuit of a killer, she also learns some shocking details about her past and just exactly who was there the night her mother and sister were murdered years ago. Continuing her search for the truth could potentially harm her loved ones. And there’s likely to be even more death and destruction before it’s all said and done. But Gin doesn’t have a choice but to push forward, picking out the lies from the truths, and keeping a wary eye out for the Circle to make a move against her, Owen, Finn, Bria, Silvio, and the rest of her tight-knit group.

“I’m not going to stop. I will never stop until I find out who every single member of your cursed Circle is. I will kill them all, one by one, until I find your boss. And then I’ll kill him too. Consider that my warning to you.”

Snared was one action-packed moment after another as assassin Gin Blanco was on the trail of a deranged serial killer. And this time the crimes hit a little too close to home, involving a friend’s sister and with possible ties to members of the infamous Circle.

“All these photos, all these women. You’re saying that this girl tonight, and all the rest of these poor women are connected…” My voice trailed off for a moment. “You’re saying that there’s a serial killer in Ashland.”

With every new book Jennifer Estep introduces into her Elemental Assassin series, we get to know Gin better and realize just how tangled her tragic past truly is with the Circle and the local crime bosses in Ashland. And even though it’s a complicated, ever-evolving plot (or maybe because of it) I just love how Estep writes these books. Gin is unapologetic for being such a ruthless assassin, bringing down the most evil of criminals. The scenes are intense, gory, and can be quite brutal. But there’s always two things to count on to bring the tone of these stories up a bit: a wonderful sense of family and Gin’s dark, dry-witted humor. That combination, along with the awesome secondary characters, works for me every time, making this one of my go-to urban fantasy series.

Quite a lot happened in this installment as Gin and crew investigated local murders. And as with previous books, Gin’s dreams revealed more and more about the night her mother and sister were murdered and about who was involved. Some of the details were shocking while others were simply heartbreaking. I really liked that Finn, Owen, Sophia, Bria, Silvio and the rest of her friends and family were there for Gin as always and were a huge help in solving the case. And I might have kind of figured out who the Dollmaker was fairly early on, but the other bits as to why and who else was involved was a little harder to determine. Estep did a nice job with the suspense and with drawing out the full details until the very end.

Exciting, eye-opening, and full of surprises and revelations, Snared continues the gritty storyline that fans can’t get enough of. One thing is for sure, though: Gin might have come out on top this time, but she’ll be in for the fight of her life as she tries to dismantle the Circle.

Book Info:

Publication: April 25th 2017 | Pocket Books | Elemental Assassin #16

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.