San Francisco mom Lucy Hamilton discovers that spies who come in from the cold get only temporary relief in Beth McMullen’s new book, Original Sin. Hyperion will release this first title in McMullen’s Sally Sin Adventures on July 12, 2011.
Lucy Hamilton believed she had given up her former identity as Sally Sin along with her nine-year career as an agent for the USAWMD (United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction) when she married William Wilton Hamilton II. Lucy told Will that she once worked as a government analyst, but he knows nothing of her true past.
Lately Lucy has been directing all her energy into raising her three-year-old son, Theo. One could argue that Lucy’s past experience with the evil that men do has made her a shade overprotective of Theo. She does put his daycare center under constant surveillance, and she repeatedly breaks in to her own home to discover if Theo’s babysitter is alert enough to catch her in the act.
These pastimes are abruptly interrupted by the discovery that former USAWMD agent Ian Blackford, who had been reported dead, isn’t. Once considered the agency’s “golden boy,” Ian later became a dealer in illegal weapons. He and Lucy have had a complicated history, typified by Ian’s habit of kidnapping and then releasing her. The USAWMD believes Lucy can locate Ian.
Simon Still, Lucy’s former boss, thinks Ian is involved with the Blind Monk, another criminal Lucy encountered during her days as Sally Sin. Lucy fears the danger the Blind Monk – who is neither blind nor a monk – could pose to her family. That risk causes her to take on the assignment of finding Ian despite her fear that her past will be revealed in the process.
In Original Sin, Beth McMullen offers her own twist on the theme of the reluctant spy, a staple of many mystery novels. Neither the lure of danger nor the excitement of the chase provides the reason for Lucy’s reentry into the spy game. She is motivated solely by her need to protect her husband and her child.
McMullen has also seeded this first Sally Sin Adventure with a number of possibilities for future books in her series. Most intriguing is the question of Lucy’s real identity, a matter more complicated than just the contrast between her two roles as Sally Sin, spy, and Lucy Hamilton, wife and mother. Scenes from Lucy’s childhood reveal a mystery surrounding Lucy’s parents, who she thought died in a car accident. Are they still alive? And are they truly her parents? Readers will eagerly seek future developments to Lucy’s story.
FTC disclosure — An electronic version of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
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