Rogue scientist • technologically enhanced • deliciously attractive
Heron Farad should be dead. But technology has made him the man he is today. Now he heads a crew of uniquely skilled outsiders who fight to salvage what’s left of humanity: art, artifacts, books, ideas—sometimes even people. People like Mari Vallejo.
Gun for hire • Texan rebel • always hits her mark
Mari has been lusting after her mysterious handler for months. But when a by-the-book hit goes horribly sideways, she and Heron land on the universal most wanted list. Someone set them up. Desperate and on the run, they must trust each other to survive, while hiding devastating secrets. As their explosive chemistry heats up, it’s the perfect storm…
Tether Series:
Wanted and Wired
Perfect Gravity (November 2017)
Visit Vivien Jackson's website for more information
Review:
I really expected to love this book, in theory it contains everything I look for in a fun sci-fi romance and I should have enjoyed every minute of it but unfortunately it just fell flat for me. Vivien Jackson has some really interesting ideas and I'm sure there could be a great world in here somewhere but we never quite got to see it in all it's glory. This book managed a rare combination of giving you both too much information and also too little, the story is bogged down by lots of new technologies and different terminology but most of it is never explained in enough depth for readers to understand it. We know there has been some kind of environmental disaster but not what caused it, we know that Texas is now considered a country completely separate from the rest of the United States but we don't know why. I never really got a good picture in my head about what life is like now and I had so many questions that never seemed to be answered.
I could probably have looked past all of that if I'd loved the main characters but unfortunately I struggled there too. Mari is a mercenary who is willing to take any job as long as the price is right, she works alongside Heron who is her handler. It's Heron's job to get her any background information she needs, make sure she has all the equipment required and to get her safely into position and back out safely after the job is completed. Everything goes to hell for the two of them when they are hired to destroy an android version of a well known politician, they believe that the real man is safe and they're targeting an imposter but the job was a complete failure and they're now on the run for murder.
The story had lots of action and that's probably the main reason I kept reading. Mari and Heron were both okay characters but neither of them were particularly memorable and getting both of their points of view was like being stuck inside the heads of a pair of horny teenagers. Practically every other thought either of them has is how hot their partner is and how desperate they are for sex and I was constantly rolling my eyes and wishing they'd just get on with it already. The chemistry between them felt forced and there wasn't much in the way of actual romance between them.
I am kind of curious to see whether the world building improves as the series continues but none of the side characters introduced particularly caught my attention and I'm not sure if I'm interested enough to try reading future books. I think it's probably a case of this series just not being a good fit for me.
Source: Received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
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