Are you ready for WIRED?

When reading a good book, you would think that you need to truly relate to and care for the characters. But every so often, a great book comes along that makes you cringe and not feel any sense of empathy for the characters. This is how I felt at the beginning of Wired. The characters are people we all might recognize: so full of flaws that they cannot ever be redeemed. But this does not stop you from getting wired into this book.

The two main characters are both quite unloving, even though some may prefer one over the other (depending on gender, world view and part of the novel you are at). Mary Elizabeth and Charlie, married for years and even high school sweethearts, are polar opposites: Not just in the opposites attract way either, but more like the this is the end quality that usually comes right before a divorce. They seem to be almost torn to shreds in regards to how their relationship is holding up. And it gets even worse.

At first I hated the characters. I did not think I would come to feel for them or like them, but the author did a truly amazing job of showing how the hero and heroine can be human beings with many faults that others might not like them for (and might even hate them for) in real life. But this allows an authentic portrait to be shared with the reader.

This novel explores it all: what love and loss and betrayals and the breakdown of a relationship looks like. What fear and hate and hiding things and lying can do to a person.

It shows that even when there seems to be no more hope, that the characters still find strength from somewhere to hang on to and courage to keep going and to make the right choices, even if they are the hardest choices of all.

Real life is never easy and the novel does not take the easy way out either. It shows that in order for love and truth to win out, you have to be brutally honest, even if it hurts and you cannot let go of the ones you love. Sometimes you will push away the ones you love. You will do horrible things. But the fight cannot be taken out of these characters. They win you over with their raw humanity, their weaknesses and their ultimate strengths that bring about healing and before you know it, you are somehow rooting for them. Because they are human.

Nothing is tied into a neat pretty bow, so to speak, in that everything is real and given to you straight, no punches held back. There are resolutions made that are satisfying, yet realistic and leave you with the glow that maybe something good came out of everything after all, just as you hope it does in real life.

This is a novel that showcases raw honesty and real humanity including the flaws, evil and all. But it also holds the hope of coming to terms with your life, making the right choices for yourself, and learning to be honest even when it hurts. This is a must read for all fans of suspense, intrigue, murder mysteries, action, and real relationship portrayals with some romance thrown in too. But it also has characters that you might not like at first but who come to the front of everything standing strong and beating all odds in their own way. Characters that you will not forget.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tour Notes:

Enter to win 1 of 3 free paperback copies of this novel on the official Wired blog tour page. The winner of the give-away will be announced on Wednesday, October 26 – be sure to enter before then! Just can’t wait to read Wired? Pick up your copy in the Kindle, Nook, or iTunes stores or visit Smashwords with the coupon code AK95A to receive a discounted price (just $2)!

Don’t forget to vote for my blog, BookwormCastle in the traffic-breaker poll for this tour. The blogger with the most votes wins an Amazon gift card and a special winner’s badge. I want that to be me! You can vote in the poll by visiting the official Wired blog tour page and scrolling all the way to the bottom.

Learn more about this author by visiting her website, Facebook or GoodReads pages or by connecting with her on Twitter. You’ll definitely want to check out Martha’s Mystery Blog–each week a new short thriller is serialized Monday through Friday. The entries are nice and short, easy to read via smart phone or tablet. It’s all at www.MarthaCarr.com.