4.5 Stars 
 To say I was pleasantly surprised by this book would be an understatement. From the very first page, I was sucked into this futuristic, and fairly believable, world the author has created for us. The tagline on the back cover is this: 
 "A gritty, high-stakes adventure set in a futuristic world where oil is scarce, but loyalty is scarcer..." 
 That pretty much sums it all up. Nailer is a boy working for the light crews on the old shipwrecks, scrounging copper and other valuable salvage for a pathetic wage. The conditions are horrible to work in, his (and everyone else's) employment is always hanging on the line, and he never quite knows who he can trust. Throw in a horribly abusive father, and you've got a kid that is clinging to the Fates that he'll get out of the life he's in. After a "city killer" hurricane, Nailer and his one true friend Pima find a fancy-pants clipper ship wrecked out of sight. They rescue a girl from the ship, and find she's worth more money than they can even imagine, being the daughter of a big-time company that runs some of the trades. 
 For a moment, luck is on his side, and he and his friend have found the girl who will change their lives, worth a substantial reward... enough to change his life for the better. But of course, things don't always go as planned.... 
 I found the writing in the book captured me in a way that only The Hunger Games has been able to do. Maggie Stiefvater, author of The Scorpio Races put it perfectly in her review of the book by calling it "invisible prose". And it is just that. You don't feel like you're reading words in a book, but instead the story is just happening around you. I was captured and the only thing stopping me from reading this in its entirety the first night I had it was the fact that I'd had four hours of sleep each night for the last week, and still had to get up for work in the morning. 
 The characters were well fleshed-out. I was terrified of Richard Lopez and his amphetamine-induced rages. I loved Tool and his odd loyalty to no one in particular. Nita wasn't a floozy like many other pretty girls in books. Nailer wasn't overcome with her beauty and rendered incapable of operating normally. In fact, their relationship (or lack of) was incredibly refreshing in the typical sea of crap instalove in many books. He saw her as his meal ticket, and only his morals as a human being softened his determination in getting paid. Of course, he gets to know her better, spends time with her, and a little attachment grows. But a good attachment. 
 The world was vivid and the author's method of writing painted it effortlessly, balancing action, dialogue, description, flashbacks, and inner thoughts perfectly to create a well-rounded novel. 
 There were a lot of kick-ass girls in this book too! Not one woman in this story was weak or dependent upon men. 
 Even though the book is technically YA, it read as an older YA book (thankfully!). There was swearing. There was violence. There was drug use. And even though Nailer was only about 15, he acted much older, which I'd expect in his world. The prose I believe was the only thing that could give away the fact that this isn't an adult novel. 
 What kept me from a 5-star rating though? Somewhere a little after halfway, the story started to drag a little. There were a lot of boats, and there was a lot of working, and a lot of well-written action, but it lacked a little bit in some interesting down time. Never lacking so much that I was in danger of losing interest, but I guess I was craving just a smidge of the typical romance that I usually criticize. 
 I've heard there were other books to this series... after this review I'm definitely looking for them! And considering this was the author's first YA book, I will seek out his adult novels as well. What a fun read!