Original Sin by Beth McMullan

I received an advanced reader’s copy of Original Sin: A Sally Sin Adventure by Beth McMullan from Hyperion. I was not required to write a review, positive or otherwise; however, overall I thought it was an interesting secular spy thriller.

Known as Sally Sin in her former life as a spy, Lucy tries to keep a lid on the ghosts of the past while juggling a diaper bag and play dates for her three-year-old son. Besides staking out her son’s preschool, she seems to be succeeding in leaving her past in the past. Until her former boss turns up to inform her that she will be the bait to lure her archenemy out of hiding. Through a series of flashbacks, the reader gains a glimpse of her adventures as a spy and understands the love-hate relationship she shares with her nemesis Ian Blackford.

Okay, I have to point out the mistakes I found. This will probably not change anything--sigh--but too many years as an English teacher led me to this point. On page 18, lead should be led in the following clause: “which might have lead...” On the top of page 32, there are some problems with punctuation/capitalization: “The one thing you never understood,” he said. Is that...” There should be a comma after he said and another quotation mark with a lower-cased i to restart the dialogue. On the top of page 97, McMullan writes, “In my room, I lied down on my bed.” Lied should be lay. On page 111 there should be a question mark in the first line instead of a period after insane. Again lied should be lay page 154. Also on page 154 in the last paragraph there is an extra comma that should be deleted after “victory,.” Final mistake I saw was on page 172 when she writes brief case instead of briefcase. Is this information necessary in a review? I don’t know. I just know it jars me out of the fictional world the author creates when I find mistakes. My teacher-trained brain gets so bothered by the errors that it takes me a while to start enjoying the story again.