by Ruth Ware
SYNOPSIS
Her husband has been murdered and she’s the only suspect. What should she do?
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.
It soon becomes clear that the police have only one suspect in mind – her.
Jack must go on the run to try and clear her name and to find her husband’s real killer. But who can she trust when everyone she knows could be a suspect? And with the police and the killer after her, can Jack get to the truth before her time runs out?
REVIEW
Jack and Gabe work as penetration specialists, hired by companies to test the security (both physical and technological) of their sites. They make the perfect couple, a husband and wife team, each with their own specialist areas and both equally as competitive, constantly pushing each other to be better. However, after one of their planned assignments, Jack arrives home to find Gabe dead, and the police are suspicious. They don't believe the timeline of events Jack has presented to them and she becomes their number one suspect. Determined to prove her innocence and find Gabe's real killer, she manages to evade the police and starts an investigation of her own.
I am a huge fan of Ruth Ware and for a while now I didn't think anything could take the place of my favourite of her novels, The Turn of the Key, but then I read Zero Days which is so completely different in style but is an absolutely brilliant 'race against time' thriller. There is no padding here at all, every single page is used to build up the tension as Jack attempts to clear her name, and like many of the best action thrillers, the level of frustration was off the charts. As things don't go her way or when evidence appears which has been specifically engineered to frame her, it was almost unbearable to read on.
Zero Days is incredibly tense, and even though the theme of modern technology has been hinted at in some of her previous novels, the focus on cyber security in this story gives it that hallmark modern twist on a more classic crime story - something that this author obviously excels at.
Ruth Ware was recently shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award with her novel The It Girl but I'm going to call it now, I have a feeling that Zero Days is a strong contender to actually win the award in 2024. It's got suspense, it's got action but it's also got emotion which isn't always present in this type of action thriller - Gabe's murder, Jack's determination to find his killer and also Jack's relationships with both Cole and Hel as they all try to work through their grief under shocking and unexpected circumstances.
Zero Days is incredibly fast-paced, it's a book you have no choice but to race through and I enjoyed every second of it. I'm sure this will not only appeal to existing Ruth Ware fans but also open up her novels to a new selection of readers w!o enjoy more action packed suspense thrillers. An easy five stars from me!
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.
Thanks to Random Things Tours - @RandomTTours, Simon Schuster UK - @simonschusteruk and Ruth Ware - @ruthwarewriter for the opportunity to read and review.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK Genre: Thriller
ISBN: 978-1398508392
Pages: 352pp
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