A Deadly Race Against Time: Read Our Review of Zero Days by Ruth Ware

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.

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?

This is an unputdownable and heart-pounding mystery from an author whose grabs hold at page one and never lets up. Think Mr. and Mrs. Smith meets The Fugitive.

Zero Days kicks off with an adrenaline-kicking, suspenseful action sequence, and escalates from there. It’s a race against time as Jack tries, against all odds, to find her husband’s killer and clear her name before she’s traced by the law. Ruth Ware has created a deeply sympathetic lead in Jack Cross.

It’s no small feat to be hailed as a modern-day Agatha Christie, but New York Times bestselling author Ruth Ware has earned her place well and truly. Ware has a strong plot and an ear for naturalistic dialogue, hailing from a deep understanding of the quirks and mannerisms of her characters. Like Christie, her prose is rich in cleverly-crafted detail, as is her excellence at a final twist in the climax.

Ware dedicates the novel to her Dad ‘who was paranoid about online security before it was fashionable’ and this theme is at the heart of the novel. If you’re a penetration specialist – able to hack into just about anything to check security, you’re aware of the dangers of someone hacking you. How can you ever feel secure? Again, like Agatha Christie in her time, Ware has selected a relevant world to set her drama in.

Zero Days is pacy, action-packed and relatable with a fabulous and likeable protagonist dealing with the highest of stakes. This is a captivating and technologically timely read.

Buy a copy of Zero Days here.