This is a cleverly-written story. Actually, it's two stories. Its short chapters dot about between characters making it fast-paced. It also makes you think about modern technology and how it affects us in ways we may not want it to. I'm not paranoid yet, but I may be getting there. This a good story well told.

Extremely well written work great characterisation, this appears to me one story until about halfway through when there is an enormous plot twist. From there the story becomes more complex but believable, unlike authors like Baldacci where there are always some flaws or discrepancies. I read it on Kindle on holiday, and after telling my daughter about it she started and is 39% through on day one after 6 hours!

Ten people have been selected - five professionals and five ordinary folk - to test the latest spyware and, in an apparent effort to reduce terrorism, they will try to remain at large for 30 days while every effort is made to track them down. The winner still at large at time zero wins $3 million.

The first part of the book is exciting, covering the various efforts to elude capture and the methods employed to catch them - quite reminiscent of Richard Bachmann (aka Stephen King)'s 'The Running Man'. But there the similarity ends, as one contestant, Kaitlyn Day has a very different agenda and reason for winning. The Project's backer, Cy Baxter, also has his own agenda and prize, with multi-million government contracts up for grabs if he can prove his technology will stand up to this sort of test.

The result is quite an exciting chase, with some clever evasion techniques, and then the book turns to make the reader think about spyware and how safe our data is and whether governments should be allowed the level of intrusion into our lives that is becoming the accepted norm. A good read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One of ten contestants, Kaitlyn Day has two hours to go off-grid and disappear and thirty days to elude the Capture Teams in place to find her and the others. If she manages to elude them, she will win $3 million in cash; if Cy Baxter and his team track every single contestant using the ground-breaking piece of spyware he’s Beta testing called FUSION, he will win a $90 billion-dollar contract with the CIA to develop FUSION and revolutionise surveillance.

From the blurb, you know Kaitlyn isn’t part of the Beta test for money, and the actual reason she is taking part had me more than desperate to see her win. You can see her desperation from the very beginning of the book in the choices she made prior to the test and the planning she put in place to do everything she could to win. I was more than taken aback finding out about the person within the book helping her, and it was upsetting seeing the lengths they went to for her and their own beliefs about the spyware.

As well as the action and premise, the characters are also a massive draw to this book, as you get to see inside the minds of people experiencing heartbreak, determination, moral challenges and courage.

The spyware definitely had me thinking about how private my life really is, as there were some shocking ways people could be monitored by the Capture Teams. You wonder if all these measures could potentially end up in place in the future… or even if any of them already are.

This book was made better by showing chapters from the POV of some of the other contestants being caught, as some of them were professionals, so reading about how they were captured despite measures that sounded perfect to me was really intriguing.

It reminded me a lot of the TV show “Hunted”, but obviously with a lot more at stake.

Thank you to NetGalley, Anthony McCarten and Macmillan for this DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Going Zero was a brilliant idea for a book. There are twists throughout the story and I really felt immersed in the stories of the zero’s, especially the main one. I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t say much more. The ending made me really quite sad and I think the message of the story is an important one.

Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for this eCopy to review

I found this book very scary in that Government surveillance like this could be all too real in the very near future.

10 people 5 professionals and 5 armatures have to avoid detection for 30 days (go zero) to test America's new security system a partnership between the CIA and Fusion a tech firm. It was very frightening the amount of information that they had at their disposal to track the 'zeros' down, especially the off mode TV.

Most zeros were caught very quickly, with just a few staying undetected until near the end. However, Kaitlyn Day a librarian (my only issue about the book was Cy being incredibly negative and stereotypical about Librarians) was able to avoid detection. The book explores how she was able to do so and why she is doing it

The book was very readable, a fast paced plot and good character development. It did get a little repetitive in the second half of the book, I would have liked more in depth accounts of how the other zeros prepared, avoided detection, and were caught. Also I felt the ending was a little rushed and not quite as satisfactory as I thought it could have been

Apologies - too long ago since read to give any meaningful feedback. Thank you very much to @Netgalley for the early copy of this book.

"Thriller" is a genre that promises to keep readers on the edge of their seats, and this definitely delivers. From the very first page, the tension is palpable, and the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways, making it difficult to put the book down.

The characters are well-developed and the author does an excellent job of keeping the reader guessing as to who can be trusted and who is hiding something. The pacing is spot-on, with just the right amount of action and suspense to keep the reader engaged. The writing style is gripping and evocative, making it easy to visualise the scenes and feel the emotions of the characters. The author's attention to detail and ability to create a believable world adds to the overall experience of the book.

Overall, this is an excellent example of the thriller genre. It's a page-turner that will keep readers guessing until the very end and is sure to satisfy fans of the genre. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a good suspenseful read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, and no significant gaps between words. Some text written has been typed in red and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This book reminds me of a tv series and could be based on it. Ten random people have been selected to disappear for a month and if they succeed they receive three million dollars. The only issue is that they are up again a spyware company and Cy Baxter is the creator and he will not lose under any circumstances in this head. This is why he has the best minds in their field searching. If the company succeeds in finding all ten within the allotted time the agencies in the States will pay him shed loads of money as they will be able to track everyone with the spyware software. What he did not bargain on with Kaitlyn Day. Kaitlyn’s husband went missing on a secret service (she thinks) mission to the Middle East but she cannot get any answers from any agency and she sees this as an opportunity to find out what happened to her husband. Cy Baxter is not a good man and he gets really uptight when Kaitlyn is the only one who is evading capture, always one step ahead. This makes him unhinged and he becomes a nightmare to work with. Kaitlyn is extremely resourceful continues on her mission to find out about her husband’s disappearance. I really enjoyed this book and it is definitely worth a read. All I would say from a personal point of view is that it freaks me out that this could be happening to a degree as we know it is with facebook etc and it kept resounding in my head for a few days. On saying this it is an interesting book to read and a gripping story.

By coincidence, I have just read a second book on the dystopian future that is headed our way and Going Zero has been just as good and very well deserving of its 5 Stars.

Imagine a world where social media tracks your every keystroke, interest, friend, photograph and comment. Add in a society where there are CCTV cameras on every corner and then wire in 5G mobile phones to the mix and then have all of that information fed into a government/private consortium backed and developed AI system and you have the premise of this book.

If it sounds a little familiar, it is because much of this is already with us and is developing as time passes.

The plot is that 10 random people are chosen to do their best to evade this "net" in what is being called a Beta Test.

No more clues, other than to say that this is a book that needs to be read and thoroughly digested and that there is a real sting in the tail/tale.

I loved this book and all the ideas of going zero from the characters, some were intelligent and some not so much so I think it showed their personality really well. I liked the story and the motives of the main character too. The book it's still in my mind even after a few weeks of reading it.

What an interesting concept…..This is an engrossing page turner with striking imagery and breakneck twists. The author has a crisp writing style which guides readers through this layered and innovative thriller. It was a treat to read.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this story. It starts off with a competition, 10 members of the public must 'go zero' and hide from being found for a month to win a big prize. You think the story is going in one direction, but there are some twists and turns along the way that ramp up the action and the story.
I will definitely read more by this author.

I loved this book - it's a techno thriller with a fast pace and great characters, and I suspect it's not so far from the current state of surveillance than we'd care to believe.

The initial concept is similar to the TV programme 'Hunted' in which 10 people must go off-grid to avoid capture by specialist teams. There is much more to it though - the 'game' is actually a test of a system which scours all connected devices in real time to find likely matches using facial recognition, gait analysis, psychological profiling and the phone / internet history of both the hunted and all their known contacts, past and present. Scary stuff!

Cy Baxter is the tech billionaire running a social media company called WorldServe - which also links to other more nefarious activities - and is in cahoots with various government security agencies. He wants his test to be a success as it will gain him even more power, money and data. The main 'hunted' character is Kaitlyn - a Boston librarian with no apparent skills in avoiding detection. She is expected be the easiest capture but proves more resilient and resourceful.

The book covers daring chases, close calls and hairy escapes. The book is thrilling, engrossing, well plotted and clearly a lot of research has gone into it. The ending is great too! A 5* read for me and highly recommended.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advance e-copy.

What an exciting book !
I loved the premise of this book although the more I got into it, the more paranoid I felt. A great book but try not to think too much into it or you won't sleep again.

A terrifying reality check of the age we live in. A harmless game where several Americans go off the grid for 30 days the winner enjoying a fortune in prize money. A covert deal between the CIA and a huge information gathering conglomerate to test an innovative surveillance system potentially lethal in the wrong hands. A cat and mouse chase between a meglamaniac and woman on the run. Her prize not the fortune offered but to right a wrong that spreads links through the highest of political circles and depths of man’s corrupt ambitions. A fast paced hugely traumatic conclusion that cannot fail to strike fear into every person living in innocent ignorance of the beast unleashed on society in the age of information technology. The joy of reading a book that drags the reader out of everyday complacency into the terrors of a new and dangerous world. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Thoroughly enjoyable fast paced thriller set in the world of espionage and giant social media companies. The characters were well written and very easy to become invested in.
Quite the plot twist, not near the end as usual with thrillers but midway through and the twists and turns kept coming.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy for review purposes.

Neither remarkably good nor remarkably bad.

An interesting premise...parts of it a bit too close to real (just how many devices ARE listening right now?).

I think it would be more enjoyable for readers of speculative tech fiction. For me this was not a thriller and there was not enough character development to keep me happy. The computer tech jargon became confusing at times and I glossed over this on occasion, however found the off-grid activities interesting.

A very interesting concept especially with similar programmes on tv at the moment. Can technology find a person who is trying to stay hidden and is the inventor all he seems to be? A good read and well written.

Do you ever get that feeling that a book is just trying too hard? Sadly, that was the case for me and Going Zero. It had an intriguing premise that promised mystery and thrills. While it was trying to deliver on this, I felt like the characters got lost along the way as I never really connected to them. It followed multiple perspectives throughout, mainly focusing on Kaitlyn and the manic tech billionaire Cyrus Baxter – the man intent on catching her. Both lead characters had their own mysteries swirling around them. I was definitely more sympathetic towards Kaitlyn and did want her to successfully evade capture. Still, I felt there was something crucial lacking in her character. Kaitlyn had less of a personality and more of a dogged drive. This meant in a book all about the power and scope of technology, it was missing a human touch. My heart just wasn’t in it.

The majority of the other perspectives the book followed were of other ‘Zeroes’ like Kaitlyn who were all attempting to go incognito to varying degrees of success. I did find these interesting but part of me wished they were expanded on to prevent them from just feeling like entertaining “filler”.

I did like piecing together the clues to try and guess the inevitable big reveal. When it did occur, the major plot twist was unexpected but made sense to the plot. Surprisingly from this point on, the pace slowed and I found myself losing interest. The novel’s few remaining action sequences were the only things dragging me across the finish line. The ending itself was rather abrupt and I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed.

OVERALL: Despite its intriguing premise and layered mysteries, the novel was fundamentally missing characters that I could feel a connection to and left me wanting more.

Would I recommend?… If you prefer books that are plot-driven and don’t concern themselves much with characters, you might have better luck than I did