Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep
Gin has been on her own since her family was tortured and burned in a fire. She is eventually taken in by a BBQ restaurant owner and he teaches her the skills to be an assassin. She easily masters her craft and becomes known as The Spider. Soon she finds herself in trouble after a routine job doesn't go as planned, and she must fight, once again, to survive. She'll do whatever it takes to find the person responsible for turning her life upside-down.
This one was a little tough for me to rate. I really enjoyed the main plot. I felt for Gin and her struggles growing up alone, being taken in and taught to survive. She's made a life for herself and has a new "family" that cares for her. However, there were a few things that prevented me from connecting to the story. There were a couple of scenes that contained some steamy tension between Gin and a police detective. While it was good in theory, the scenes were so scarce and felt forced. I just couldn't believe what the author was trying to portray. The other main issue that got to me was that there were several phrases repeated. In almost every fight scene, or scenes where she was preparing for a fight, I was reminded everywhere she places her knives. Same places, every time. I found myself skimming those places because I knew what they were going to say. My initial thought was to rate Spider's Bite a 3, but ultimately I went with 4 because I did like how independent and confident Gin was. She made a great protagonist and I can see her skills as an assassin only getting better throughout the series.
