Short Story Review – Thread of Death (Elemental Assassins, Book 5.5) by Jennifer Estep (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 714 KB
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: January 31, 2012
ASIN: B006L9B6PC
Stand Alone or Series: 5.5 in the Elemental Assassins series
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is a novella that takes place after the events of Book 5, Spider’s Revenge, and before Book 6, By a Thread. It was a good novella that further ties up events from Spider’s Revenge, and starts out a new story thread for book 6, By a Thread.

Gin has somewhat recovered from the debilitating battle with Mab in book 5. She has been outed as the assassin the Spider and has decided to attend Mab’s funeral to make a point and judge the lay of the land now that Mab is gone. The story is told from multiple viewpoints; Gin’s, Mab’s lawyer Jonah, and Kincaid’s. Things kind of go to hell when the funeral attendees are attacked by an unknown attacker.

This was a good transition novella and leads up to Book 6, By a Thread. Gin is trying to get some closure around Mab’s death and figure out what is next for her. The city’s power structure is struggling with the abscence of Mab and everyone is scrambling to see who fills her spot. Some mysteries around Owen are brought up and these hint at the storyline we might see in Book 6.

This was a fun read and it was great to read about Gin, Owen, Finn and other again. Definitely recommended for fans of the Elemental Assassins series; probably not the best place for people new to the series to start.

After the novella there was an excerpt from By a Thread (which I didn’t read because I want to wait until the book comes out).

Overall a fun addition to the series. Recommended for fans of the series; not the best place to start if you are new to this series. Can’t wait to see what By a Thread brings!