WIRED – Julie Garwood
A Perfect 10
Berkley Books
ISBN: 978-0-525-95446-0
July 2017
Romantic Suspense

Boston, Massachusetts, the Present

Allison and Charlotte Trent were four and eight when their parents were killed in an accident and they went to live with their only relatives, Aunt Jane and Uncle Russell. It wasn't a happy arrangement, but Charlotte protected her young sister as well as she could. At least she could love her. She was the first to recognize that Allison possessed a very special mind that never saw a puzzle she couldn't solve. There was Cousin Will, also, terribly spoiled by his parents. The girls got away from the house as soon as possible.

Charlotte is married and has severed all ties to the aunt and uncle. Allison was able to move out when attending Boston College, but is still in thrall to the nasty pair. She had caught the eye of a local designer and does the occasional job modeling for him. Aunt Jane demands Allison's paychecks to hire a lawyer to get Will out of trouble.

Allison shares a house near campus and spends her spare time on her computer creating programs and solving problems. She's not above doing a little hacking . . . only to help, of course. (When she saw a news program about the hacking of a corporation with a chain of senior homes, she traced it all back to one bank, hacked it and sent the millions to the FBI.)

Allison's very best friend is Jordan, married to FBI Agent Noah Clayborne. The women can spend hours together absorbed in their laptops. Allison attends a symposium Jordan gives where she catches the eye of another agent, Liam Scott. She and Jordan are soon invited to the new FBI cyber unit in the area. Allison is a little spooked; what she does isn't exactly legal, even if she never uses her talents for gain.

The upshot is that the FBI wishes to hire Allison to find a leak. She refuses, even though she is weirdly attracted to Agent Scott. She's way too busy for men, and she's nervous about her hacking.

I was so happy for the chance to review a Julie Garwood novel. She's long been a favorite, and WIRED is a super read. The characters are deeply portrayed; the plotlines are riveting, and it's an all-around engaging book I can't praise highly enough, thus the RRT Perfect 10 award. Give yourselves a treat. Get WIRED.

Jane Bowers