Review
"This is my fav book series. What could get better than this? WE NEED MOVIES ABOUT THESE KINDS OF BOOKS!!! I loved everything about it. Would recommend to anyone who loves dogs as much as I do!!! - Lucky Tyson, Amazon "It's not often a book comes along like this... one of the best written books of the year!" - lovesgreatreads blog"Phenomenal first book for this new author. The story was filled with thrills that had me turning pages so fast I was scared the book would catch fire." - Goodreads review"Reminiscent of film, with the chapters stylized similar to scenes, but with in-depth character emotions. The writing is smart and creative, and somehow Ho depicts the villain in a sympathetic light... Wanted is a gripping action adventure with friendship, danger, and second chances." - Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite
"Good clean fun and it really does draw you in... characters are very strong and memorable. I can't wait to get my paws on the sequel." - arkhamreviews.wordpress.com
"A fast paced, action-packed and emotional story... I would definitely recommend to teens and adults, especially those who are also fans of the Maximum Ride series. It isn't kids who can fly but I believe it's just as good." - nightmarepoet.wordpress.com "This was a fast action paced story filled with love, friendship, and determination to protect those that you love. A heart-warming, suspenseful story." - Teresa, Reviewer" "Wanted is fast-paced and page turning. I was able to read it in a flash, and was wonderfully impressed with it. Exhilarating... and if there were to be a sequel, I would most certainly read it." - foxbookandbramble.blogspot.com
"What happens to Chase and Sully? What makes Bandit so special that it takes a SWAT team to retrieve him? What kind of virus is Bandit carrying? You will have to read "Wanted" to find out where this story goes. . . and you will NOT be disappointed." -quitterstrip.wordpress.com
"As a guy who likes to read YA books occasionally, I also really like that this book wasn't about a girl torn between two guys as is so often the case, but rather three unloved individuals coming together to form a family. Wanted is an excellent read." - Goodreads review
"Anyone who loves a good Story and loves animals would love this book. Started the story around midnight and couldn't put it down. Up all night. But well worth it." - Goodreads review
"The author was excellent in her use of visual imagery and I felt like I was running around with Sully and Chase. It was a quick, but fast paced read and I enjoyed every minute of it. Excellent first book!" - Goodreads review""This book really has it all - love, loss, hate, friendship, family, action, adventure, fight scenes. It really keeps you hooked from beginning, through all the twists and turns. An awesome story!" - Lolah "This is a must read for any animal lover. When I reached the end I wanted MORE!" - L.D. Ricard
From the Author
THE DOG
He had been running now for days.
The hot asphalt stung his cracked soles and the burning sun pounded onto his thinning frame, but he knew he couldn't stop. He had to get away.
A battered blue truck thundered past, and he flinched. No matter how often it happened, he still wasn't prepared for the rush of sound that roared into his ears. Where he was from, there were no cars. No vehicles of any kind.
He lifted his nose to the wind and welcomed the heady sensation of another new smell to add to his collection. Juicy, with a hint of smoke. He licked his lips, mouth watering in anticipation. Crossing onto the sidewalk, he moved towards the aroma, to where an overweight man in a greasy apron cooked on a stand. Meat patties sizzled on the grill.
He hadn't eaten since the escape, and now his stomach protested painfully. He padded up to the man and gave him a hopeful look, but clapping eyes on him, the vendor grabbed a broom and started shaking it in warning. "Get lost, you filthy beast!"
Red from the heat of the flames, perspiration slid down his wobbly chin and landed with a plop an inch away from the meat. When his target failed to move, he glared down at the optimistic hopeful and--WHAAM! Steel-capped boots lashed out onto his rump.
The sharp stabbing pain shocked the brown and white dog who had never felt anything like it in his life.
He blinked back tears and howled.
CHASE
Everyone loved sunsets. Everyone, that is, but me, Chase Ryder, to whom sunsets signaled that yet another hard night was approaching.
In the leafy upmarket park surrounding a man-made lake, wealthy couples strolled hand-in-hand admiring the mottled orange sky. I stirred, waking from my nap beneath a towering oak. Oaks were best as they provided plenty of foliage to protect against sudden showers and prying eyes. There was also the added bonus of load-bearing lower branches that someone nimble could scramble onto should trouble come calling... and you should know, trouble had me on speed dial.
I stared at my reflection in the water. A button nose and blue eyes gave the illusion of innocence. My mouth was plump; a little bigger than I'd like, but at least I'd never need collagen. The shoulder length hair would be a glossy chestnut if it weren't hanging in one big, greasy streak.
My stomach emitted a low rumble. I slipped a hand into a pocket and retrieved the last of my money, a hundred bucks or so. All that's left of my stash. It might seem like a good amount, but I'd already been on the road for eight months. In that time, I learned to only spend when I absolutely had to. If only I was rich, I wouldn't be in this mess.
I looked around at my surroundings. Yummy mommies with Pilate's-honed bodies bouncing designer-clad babies on tanned knees. The only hunger they knew was self-inflicted. I compared my figure to that of a passing cyclist, frowning when I realized that the only difference between us was our ages.
Originally from "The Paper City" Holyoke in Hampden County -- one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts -- I'd come here thinking I would receive more charity in affluent Greenwich, which had seen Mel Gibson and Meryl Streep among its wealthy residents, but these people, so caught up in their self-made dramas, barely noticed me. I'd totaled less here than if I'd stayed home.
I frowned as a shadow fell over the water, obscuring my face. Strange. The shadow didn't encompass the whole park, just me. Too late, the danger signs came into my head as a hand clamped down on my shoulder. The nails were ripped and blackened with dirt. I noticed the smell next, pungent, like raw sewage mixed with a brewery.
"Spare some change?"
I spun around to find myself gripped, vice-like, in the arms of a guy who was maybe seventeen. His glazed eyes focused on the money in my hands. I looked at his arms -- yup, mottled with needle tracks. I scanned the area quickly, searching for help, but help wasn't coming. Note to self: if trees are leafy enough to shield you from prying eyes, they'll also shield the nasty druggie who has you in his grasp.
I froze in terror.
The druggie eyeballed the money in my hand and snatched it from me. He hesitated then, doubt clouding his eyes, but when he realized we were isolated from the rest of the park, they narrowed shrewdly. "That it, or you holding out on me?"
Without waiting for an answer, his hands started patting me down. Here's something you should know about me: no one, but no one touches me without my consent. Instantly, a surge of white-hot fury broke through the fear. I screamed into his face.
"Don't you touch me!" and struggled like a wildcat. He was startled but much stronger than he seemed and moved like I was nothing but a mild annoyance. As he reached into my pockets, I saw my opportunity and plunged two fingers into his windpipe, slamming the palm of my other hand under his nose, snapping the weak cartilage there. Eyes wide with shock, he released me instantly.
Groaning in pain, he sank to the ground, hands around his now bloody nose. Fallen, he looked much younger. Not much bigger than me and nothing like the terrifying beast I'd thought he was. I swooped in and snatched my money back.
Shooting a quick prayer to the YouTube gods of Krav Maga, I grabbed my backpack and got the hell out of Dodge.
SULLY
I tossed aside the thin sheet that covered my body and glanced at the bedside clock's digital display: 1:47. Those seemingly innocuous numbers filled me with a sudden, though expected, weariness. I stared up at the ceiling and sighed.
Every night, the same goddamn thing.
As I rolled over to stare out of the window, a stray beam of moonlight caught the wedding band on my finger.The ring glinted, a tiny spark in the inky blackness, but I ignored it, the same way I ignored the framed picture that was currently lying face down on the vanity table. I didn't need to see it to know what it contained; the image was seared into my brain.
Taking care not to disturb the empty side of the bed, I picked up my watch, absently running my fingers over the engraved inscription on the back. "To Sully, with love and thanks from the Bauer family". The watch was a gift from a grateful family whose beloved cat I had saved. Although my actual name is Jake Sullivan, no one but my father calls me that, and anything that helped distance myself from that tool was a good thing in my mind. I slipped on the watch, grabbed a pair of tracksuit bottoms from the floor, and tugged them on.
Moments later, I jogged out into the dark. With my mussed brown hair, week's facial growth, and sweat encrusted gym clothes, I knew I wasn't quite the poster boy this prestigious neighborhood insisted upon, but to hell with it. There were extenuating circumstances.
The barren streets were silent, but in their own way, welcoming. Out here, in the dark, I could let the full range of my emotions run riot.
And tonight it was anger.
They say grief comes in seven stages, but for me, they alternated each night. Days were tough, especially the sunny ones that taunted me with how life could have been. On those occasions, I stayed away from parks and beaches, anywhere that might prove too nostalgic. The memories would flash up, stabbing like a knife in the chest even now, almost a full year later.
Things were changing, though. I was beginning to find the odd moment to be grateful for: the scent of freshly cut flowers, a traffic-free Route 83 during an emergency callout. Little by little, I was learning to cope... but as soon as my head hit the pillow, the demons would come.
Placing one foot in front of the other, I stared up at the stars and wondered how much longer it would be before I would get used to sleeping alone...
About the Author
A proud geek and video gamer, and champion of complex female protagonists, Jo brings her page-turning screenwriting style to books to weave well-crafted, suspenseful stories with twists you don't see coming. A self-taught screenwriter, Jo's writing life began when she created the ground-breaking, critically acclaimed CBBC action fantasy television series, "Spirit Warriors," which introduced leading actress, Jessica Henwick ("Game of Thrones," "Star Wars: The Force Awakes") to the screen. Granted the biggest budget ever given to a CBBC show at the time, it was nominated for "Best Children's Programme" at the 2011 Broadcast Awards, with Jo herself, going on to win the Women in Film & Television's "New Talent" Award in 2010. Jo even made history for being the first East Asian person - man or woman - to have created a British television drama series. Since then, Jo has worked with some of the most acclaimed producers in the world with several television shows and movies currently in development. Her debut novel WANTED, Book 1 of the Chase Ryder series won the YA Sci-Fi category for the 2018 Readers' Favorite Book Awards. It is her dream now to bring her book series to screen and she believes she can make it happen with her readers' help! Jo lives in London and hopes one day to travel across America in a super kitted out, Zombie-apocalypse-ready RV, with her lovely fella, Matt, and three equally lovely kitties. Sign up to her mailing list for updates, book release details and offers at www.johoscribe.com
