Zero Days
By: Ruth Ware
Narrator: Imogen Church
Simon & Schuster Audio
ISBN: 978-1982155292
Publisher: Gallery/Scout
Publication Date: 06/20/2023
Format: Other
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
The New York Times bestselling “new Agatha Christie” (Air Mail) Ruth Ware returns with this adrenaline-fueled thriller that combines Mr. and Mrs. Smith with The Fugitive about a woman in a race against time to clear her name and find her husband’s murderer.
Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect—her.
Suddenly on the run and quickly running out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the real killer in this unputdownable and heart-pounding mystery from an author whose “propulsive prose keeps readers on the hook and refuses to let anyone off until all has been revealed” (Shelf Awareness).
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My Review
The queen of psychological thrillers, Ruth Ware, returns following The It Girl with her latest action-packed tech thriller—ZERO DAYS, a security expert is murdered and his wife is a suspect. She will stop at nothing to track down the killer.
How can you hide when the enemy is everywhere?
Married couple Jacintha Cross and Gabriel Medway operate Crossways Security, a London firm that stress-tests security systems.
Jacintha "Jack" Cross is a penetration tester (or pentester) cybersecurity professional who executes targeted, authorized attacks on IT infrastructure, applications, or forms of physical security to determine vulnerabilities.
Gabe, her husband, does the same for cybersecurity. They are the best in the business. She checks for penetration, and he hacks computer systems.
One night after a routine assignment, Jack finds her husband murdered. She is distraught and does not report it immediately but does so. Then she goes to stay with her sister. The cops suspect her as their #1 suspect. So she goes on the run while trying to find her husband's killer.
Gabe had found a back door vulnerability in a popular app that would be worth a lot of money to governments.
Often this is called "Zero-day." A broad term that describes recently discovered security vulnerabilities that hackers can use to attack systems. The term "zero-day" refers to the fact that the vendor or developer has only just learned of the flaw, which means they have "zero days" to fix it. A zero-day attack takes place when hackers exploit the flaw before developers have a chance to address it.
Zero-day is often written as 0-day. The words vulnerability, exploit, and attack are typically used alongside zero-day, and it's helpful to understand the difference:
With the help of her sister and Gabe's oldest friend, she is able to escape capture and begin her investigation, determined to find her husband's killer. Shocked, she receives an email that Gabe recently took out a million pounds life insurance policy, and she was the named beneficiary.
Jack does not care for the police or trust them after she was in a previous abusive relationship with a cop. But who would want to hurt Gabe? And who in her life can she trust? Motive?
Jack is tenacious, clever, tough, and a fearless heroine. Readers will enjoy this fast-paced action spy-vibe thriller.
ZERO DAYS is a bit of a departure for Ruth with her usual Gothic atmospheric locked-roomed settings; however, the well-developed characters are there, with plenty of twists, turns, and suspense—for fans of David Baldacci, Greg Hurwitz, and Harlan Coben.
If you enjoyed The Fugitive, Duplicity, or Mr. and Mrs. Smith, you will like Zero Days.
Thank you to #GalleryBooks and #Netgalley for my ARC of this book—opinions are my own.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 20, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
Praise
“This is Ruth Ware like you’ve never read her before. A pulse-pounding opening launches you into a cat and mouse game of deadly intrigue that will push Jack Cross, Ware’s new, superb heroine, to her absolute limits. A rocket ride that will satisfy the biggest thriller addicts out there.”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci
“Ware's latest thriller will not disappoint, different as it is from some of her earlier books . . . The action and tension are relentless from the opening to the conclusion, which will astonish, but certainly not dismay, readers, who will be captivated by this very original and very real protagonist. It has been said that in Ruth Ware’s books the pages just turn themselves. She has been heralded as ‘the new Agatha Christie’ for good reason.”
—Booklist (Starred Review)
About the Author
Ruth Ware worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language, and a press officer before settling down as a full-time writer. She now lives with her family in Sussex, on the south coast of England. She is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail (Toronto) bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood; The Woman in Cabin 10; The Lying Game; The Death of Mrs. Westaway; The Turn of the Key; One by One; The It Girl; and Zero Days. Visit her at RuthWare.com or follow her on Twitter @RuthWareWriter.
