Gabriel Danis Danis itibaren Kruševo, Montenegro
Nailed was everything I expected it would be: a light, fun read. I enjoyed the plot, though it was a bit predictable. One may identify with Mandy's character, since she wants to build houses under a field in which males usually work, and she is good at asserting the fact that there should be no difference in the way the opposite sexes are treated. For example, I admired her for being bold about her clothing choice when working at the construction (a bathing suit with shorts) and how she defended her right to wear it. Clearly, she is not afraid to speak up. We find much more about her as the story progresses: how she has never had a boyfriend, how she has a romance-novel-loving best friend named Cam, etc. (it is so funny that Cam had to be the one to tell her she's in a love triangle) That is the main part of this story: the triangle's development. We know Boston is taking a break from relationships, having broken off an unpleasant one, and that he loves to read. A.J., a bit older than Mandy, was gluttonous and funny, but he also had a similar problem with an earlier relationship. With all three characters working at the construction site, the "triangle" was so fun to read about. Again, I thought it was obvious whom Mandy would choose, but her character developed well with little realizations along the way. However, the other two points of the triangle did not seem fully drawn out. I felt that there should have been more to their stories.
I was very disappointed in this book. Sorely tempted to only give it two stars, but gave it three for creative characterization. I did enjoy it, but there were a few problems. First, for a supposedly stellar spy, Sally is incredibly inept. Vague references to her amazing exploits, but every detailed bit of history shows her as clumsy and ineffectual. Second, the constant shift in tense gets old. Seems as if it should have been two books, or one book in two parts. Next, the language also got old. Yes, lots of folks have a vocabulary make up primarily of 4 letter words, but they have little value in good literature. I enjoyed the book, and really enjoyed Sally Sin, but was frustrated because it could have been so much better. The mix of new mom & spy was well done, but the mom part was much better than the spy part. It was hard to believe she would have survived so long, being so incompetant. I don't think she was ever able to hold onto her gun for more than a few minutes, for whatever reason. We have two primary villains, both of whom really are bad people, which for some reason are running around loose for years, causing untold numbers of civilian casualties. Makes no sense. A very frustrating book. Ms McMullen really needs a good editor.