Release-Day Review: Wanted & Wired by Vivien Jackson (Tether #1)

Wanted & Wired (Tether #1)
Vivien Jackson
Published: April 4, 2017 (Sourcebooks Casablanca)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars

After Texas seceded and formed into the Texas Provisional Authority (TPA) splitting with the United North American Nations (UNAN), the country is spiraling into chaos. Mari survived the riots that left many dead, and now she makes her living as a mercenary for hire. With her current partner Heron looking out for her; they’ve had a pretty successful track record.

That is, until a job goes wrong. Now, they’re both on the run, but from whom they have no idea. Is it the TPA, UNAN, or is it someone from either of their mysterious pasts? Can they really even trust each other past this undeniable attraction they each have for one another? Regardless, they’ll have to work together to stay off the radar and figure out who’s out to get them before it’s too late.

I really loved the setting that Vivien Jackson has going on in Wanted & Wired. It feels like a dystopian sci-fi where the world has almost imploded upon itself (the worst is still yet to come), but they have this amazing tech. It took me a little while to get familiar with the terminology as Jackson doesn’t use anything so mundane as cyborg or android, etc. No, we’re graced with mech-clones, nanites, free-fae, technocrat, whole-organic, and post-human to name a few. To be honest, I’m still grappling with use of these terms even at the end of the story.

I think it’s because the worldbuilding seemed a bit off for me. It’s how Mari projects information. It seems at times to be a bit distorted and like you’re missing pieces. Well, turns out, there’s a reason for this, everything becomes clear by the end of the book. Obviously can’t reveal anything for spoiler purposes, but I look back on this book with new eyes, and want to do a reread ASAP.

It’s for this reason, as well, that I liked Heron’s point of view better than that of Mari. Heron is post-human. Meaning he once started out as whole-organic, but when he was injured in the riots he was enhanced in order to save his life. Now, he’s got this kind of omnipotence about him. He’s, for all intents and purposes, as good as a walking computer. But it’s his care and devotion to Mari—and hers for him—that’s the most telling about his character. Heron is quite a different hero from what I’m used to reading and I rather like that. I wouldn’t call him an alpha necessarily because honestly I think that Mari is more the alpha or lead than Heron, but he’s not a beta either.

This leads me into one of the bigger aspects of the book. The sex. Or maybe I should say the chemistry-filled, teasing romance leading into sex. Working together for a number of years now, both Mari and Heron have developed feelings for one another. Feelings that neither has admitted to the other, yet it is literally constantly on their minds. This is another aspect with a potential reason given towards the end, so suffice it to say, I was not really prepared for how much the relationship would overtake the story. Vivien Jackson certainly knows how to amp up the tension big time, yet still balances it pretty well with the main story arc.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wanted & Wired. The disjointed way things start out and progress keeps me from giving it a higher rating, but I’m confident that, being more familiar with the world and what to expect writing-wise, the next books will get better.

Sexual content: graphic sex