Review given in return for a copy of the book, through Library Thing’s member give away scheme.

[rating=4]

The blurb that came with the book gave away a fair chunk of what the main plot was going to be, so I didn’t go into the book expecting much in the way of surprises in that line. Thankfully, I was wrong. Wired is a techno-thriller with a modicum of philosophy on the nature of intelligence and altruism. Substantially more there than expected.

While there were a few stylistic choices I would have made differently, I’m not a published author. I wouldn’t have used the male lead’s full name the first time it comes up in the chapter. Really minor, which you might have guessed by the rating. The lead characters are fleshed out well, without going into too much detail. The supporting cast is detailed enough, without blurring the line between them and the leads. Might not sound important, but too much minor detail slows down the pace of a book, which impacts negatively on the ‘can’t put down’-ness. Unfortunately, I’m now running on a little less sleep than I’d have preferred. Damn you, author who forced me to keep reading 😉

The science isn’t detailed, though when it’s as speculative as this, that’s not a bad thing. You just have to accept the one premise, and it all flows from there. And there isn’t a large info dump, which would slow things down. In fact, the required info dump is handled very well, avoiding a pacing issue which might have occurred.

The only place the pacing suffered was just at the end, and it was pretty much unavoidable. It wasn’t bad enough to jar me though.

All in all, I’d recommend it, to fans of the genre.