Too Much of a Good Thing
This is a difficult book to evaluate. I enjoyed Ms. McMullen's sense of humor and was chuckling while I was reading it, but I reached a point where I was satiated with the incessant humor and needed a break. Since I was interested in the story, like spy novels and wanted to see how it ended, I eventually finished it. I believe this is a good first effort. This type of book is difficult to write.
Rated of 5
by Sally G. (Saint Johns, FL)
Original Sin
Beth McMullen is a California resident and that is all I can tell you or….shoot you. This is her debut novel about Lucy Hamilton; spy, stay-at-home Mom to Theo, and wife to Will a tree hugger. We meet Lucy crawling around her backyard looking for something or someone her intuition has alerted her senses. We learn that her paranoia is because she had been a spy by the name of Sally Sin. This fell a little short on the comic side for me and I was not thrilled by the flashbacks, as they seemed a little contrived and not flowing. It is a good story and has well described characters especially Ian Blackford her former handler. I think future novels will be better. This is reminiscent of Jane Doe on Hallmark Mysteries.
Rated of 5
by Helen M. (Petaluma, CA)
Unbelieveable
I hung in there and read the whole book but for me it was just unbelievable. Lucy and Sally are way too far apart. She has a husband and child and is a spy? Each character could evolve into a great subject for a book but I just could not grasp that they worked together. So, sadly, instead of laughing, which I would have loved, I was puzzled.
Rated of 5
by Linda Z. (Corydon, IN)
Original Sin
I had a hard time getting into this book and understanding where the author was going with the plot. It did not make a lot of sense to me. She had some clever jabs at the spy organizations but her main focus was not realistic. I would assume there is going to be a sequel but I think I shall pass on it.
Rated of 5
by Katherine Y. (Albuquerque, NM)
Fun Idea, Terrible Execution
I selected this book based on my enjoyment of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. The concept of this book seemed to hold the same promise for humorous crime solving. Given the large publicity campaign cited on the back of the book, I can't believe the publisher didn't spend a little more time working with the author on the actual text. The author fails to follow one of the first rules of writing which is to "show, not tell." In her telling of this tale she manages to make being a mother sound boring (and the three-year-old sound like a total brat) and then she makes being a spy sound boring. When she tries to deal with events in the past and in the present in the same paragraph - it is very confusing and a light book of this type really should not require re-reading to sort out when something occurred. Finally, the main character's husband actually says, "Lucy, come to California, move into my house, and marry me. If you don't, I think I might die." Every smart woman who would laugh if a man said this to her should avoid this book.
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Full Story
of 5
by Jerry P. (Santa Rosa, CA)
of 5
by Helen M. (Petaluma, CA)
of 5
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