Heart of Venom - Jennifer Estep - review

7:00 pm 5 July 2013

Vengeance is so sweet when it's bloody and absolute. In Heart of Venom, a rabid dog is finally put down by Gin. This latest book in the series brings an old villain, Harley from the past. He is not someone the Spider ever tangled with, instead he's someone the Tin man punished. Sophie is the focus of this book and it's a bitter reunion between her and her rapist.

Harley and his crazy sister Hazel come in like gang busters to steal Sophie and kill Jo-Jo. There is no way Gin will allow this crime to go unpunished. Even though Gin thirsts to rush in and dole out her brand of justice, she doesn't storm up Harley's mountain retreat half cocked. With a little help from unexpected friends, Gin's plan is put into action.

It seems as if each book in this series becomes more and more bloody. For a bloodthirsty fiend like me, this is satisfying feast. Gin methodically takes out each thug working for Harley. Ms. Estep does a good job with balancing the fights. Gin doesn't easily win each battle. She takes quite a few brutal hits and it's questionable if she is going to be able to make it out of this one alive. What I enjoy most about Gin is that she isn't stuck with just weapons or magic. She can improvise and change the game up to suit her needs. This makes her smart and high on the cognitive skills which pleases me immensely.

Amidst the fighting, Ms. Estep still squeezes in a bit of heartbroken romance. Nothing like near death and sacrifice to make a person reexamine their heart's desire. It seems a love match is finally on the mend. And yet, this isn't all that is added to this turbulent tale. Mab's heir makes their move and is now on Gin's radar. I didn't think the series could last after the death of Gin's arch nemesis. It is good to be proven wrong. This urban fantasy is recommend for retribution revelers.

*provided by Edelweiss

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