I thought this book was great fun, and pretty hard to put down. The idea was good, and I did feel strongly that I wanted the main character to succeed.
My only small gripe was the ending, which I found unsatisfying and somewhat over-descriptive, although I can see why the author did it.

This was such an entertaining read. The idea of the CIA having all of these technologies at their fingertips is slightly terrifying, especially as it isn't beyond the scope of reality and most governments probably have capabilities beyond our ken. Having a competition to test those capabilities and seeing people's strategies was brilliant. But then things get complicated and that's when it became impossible to put the book down.

Captivating concept, masterfully executed. GOING ZERO is a cinematic masterpiece, it was one of those rare books where I thought about it constantly and woke up at 2am just to finish it. Perfect for fans of THE CHAIN, THE SOCIAL NETWORK and COLD STORAGE, this should be top of your 2023 TBR pile.

I was a big fan of the Channel 4 TV series ‘Hunted’, so the premise of ‘Going Zero’, featuring a competition where contestants try to disappear to test private and government tech was really intriguing.

I loved the first half of the book where the competition is in full swing. The book is really well paced and although there are 10 contestants, they are introduced slowly so you never felt overwhelmed. The fact that they are introduced as both their names and numbers during each chapter also really helped it not to get too confusing. There are some characters that are introduced and lose the game in one chapter and some that are around throughout. I thought the characters were nicely varied and there were some really funny moments in this part of the book.

The chapters are headed up with the location of the characters, but they change locations often (they are on the run after all!). I think perhaps using their ID Number would have been less confusing, particularly as someone who doesn’t know American geography very well.

The chapters are also interspersed with the perspective from the hunters, led by Cy Baxter, who’s a bit of an Elon Musk type character. He’s not particularly likeable and we see a real darker side to him start to come out as the game progresses. The latter half of the book then turns into a bit of a techno-thriller, full of hacking and politics and meetings. I must admit that I didn’t really enjoy this half as much as I had enjoyed the first half. I knew that something darker would be happening, but I was hoping for something else rather than what was presented. The ending seemed a bit far-fetched and was a little disappointing. I’m aware that this is very much a personal preference though!

Overall, Going Zero is a brilliant premise and has a perfectly paced and gripping first half, but I was less enamoured by the second half of the book. Thank you to NetGalley & Pan Macmillan for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A plot driven thriller that appears at the start to be a cat and mouse chase between an ordinary citizen and a tech corporation determined to prove the invincibility of its surveillance systems to the government by selecting ten individuals to detect and capture within 30 days of “going zero”. Kaitlyn Day, however, is no ordinary citizen, and remains at large as each and every one of the others get detected and captured. As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that Kaitlyn is not simply motivated by the money but has another mission in mind. Not only does this story have a great plot and engaging characters, it also provokes thought and debate about state surveillance and whether it is possible to be truly free in such a tech dominated society. A great book club choice for all those reasons.

With thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review this novel in advance of publication.

Breakneck thriller: pacy and fun. Really got under my skin by the end and I'm now very paranoid about data privacy. Excuse me while I put some tape over my webcam. Fantastic read!

A great read.the characters were interesting and the story was intriguing. Will look out for more by this author.

I found the basic premise of this book very troubling. What if it actually happens, or worse still, what if it already is happening?
It takes the basic premise of the U.K. Television programme Hinted to a completely new level, making it on a par with George Orwe!I's and the plot as1984.
The book is extremely well written. The research that has gone into it is clearly meticulous. The pace is fast and the tension level is almost constant.
The characters are utterly believable and the plot has some clever twists and turns.
I summary, I cannot recommend this book highly enough, it's simpi!y a great read.

A fast paced, technological thriller with some thought provoking elements. For most of the novel, there appeared very little danger for the protagonist and the final couple of chapters seemed rushed. However, the writing was concise which befits the authors calbre. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Going Zero is a timely super-high concept thriller about the creeping privatisation of the state and surveillance. It's a really fun, escapist thriller, that's also terrifying and thought-provoking in what it says about society and our future. Read it before the movie comes out!

I love the TV show 'Hunted' where members of the public, or occasionally celebrities, go on the run with the aim of evading capture for several weeks and winning lots of money. Consequently, for about the first third of 'Going Zero' the plot seemed rather obvious. Yes, people do stupid things and get caught. Yes, some are smarter than others.

But as the plot progresses, it becomes clear that there's a lot more to this book than just a rehash of a familiar format. The chasers are not playing within the law and not all of the chasees are who or what they seem to be.

In an era when the tech gazillionaires have almost unlimited power and ambition, it's easy to believe in the baddies and their lax interpretations of the law. And when we find out why the thorn in their side is looking for something other than the $3 million prize, things get very interesting.

For a 'woman written by a man' protagonist, I found her very compelling and believable. I liked the people I should like, and despised the baddies as well as appreciating those who found themselves in the in-between zone.

It's a great book with enough reality to make it scary and enough sci-fi to make you think "What if they COULD do stuff like that?" It's well worth a read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy.

This was very fast paced and exciting, and I enjoyed it a lot. The main characters were well described and it well plotted. The concept is entirely believable and overall I’d recommend this.

This was a great concept, with a fast paced, techy thriller giving the reader a real roller coaster of a ride through the book. My only criticism would be that I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable, which made it a bit of a slog by the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review of the book.

The premise of Going Zero seems fairly simple at first. Testing out the limits of a new data sharing collaboration "Fusion" between a private tech giant and America's government, 10 "Zeroes" are chosen. These Zeroes have to evade pursuit for 30 days. If they do, they win $3 million. At first it seemed like the stakes weren't that high; I mean winning 3 mil is a big motivation, but I was worried there wouldn't be much for these zeroes to lose.

On the contrary, as the story moves forward things unravel that make it clear that there is very much at stake to lose - both for Fusion and it's creators Cy and Erika, and for one Zero in particular. The complexity increases and the thrills really ramp up. This is a high tech survival story, with heavy undercurrents of futuristic commentary on privacy data and surveillance states. It's a fast paced book, very easy to read, and very hard to put down once you've picked it up.

I'd recommend it to anyone who likes thrillers or action books with a political / societal slant.

I thought the premise to this thriller sounded brilliant - it reminded me a bit of the TV show Hunted, but on a bigger, more dangerous scale.

By nature this was an incredibly fast paced book which made it easy to binge because right from the off something is happening! I liked that the story got straight to it, the build up at the beginning took you straight into the action. I enjoyed the switch between perspectives of those on the run vs those trying to find them. It was nice to check in with the side characters and their evasion attempts even though they weren’t the main focus it kept my attention well.

The premise as well as being exciting was also certainly thought provoking - living in the modern age with so much reliance on technology really does then make you think about how much of your data is out there and the morality of what’s done with it! I think the underlying motivation of the female main character was definitely an interesting one - it brought a bit more action to the second half of the story too, but it was the evading capture section that interested me more. There were some key moments in the story that were really clever too that I hadn’t anticipated at all.

Overall a fast faced and decent read. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

Relentlessly propulsive, this tech-y thriller was pretty exciting and as I was reading, I kept imagining it would make a great action movie. It wasn’t until I read the ‘about the author’ section at the end that I discovered he is already a famous screenwriter, so the rollercoaster movie vibe makes sense.
It’s definitely topical and grim if you read it as prophetic , but certainly an entertaining read.

The author can undoubtedly write well and the book does make you think about how big companies and technology invade our lives however i did feel the book was overblown and the plot was too similar to a previous book. I felt I had read it before. The characters felt distant and I didn't really connect with them. Whilst I'm sure there is a lot of fact in the book it felt too unbelievable. I was disappointed

Oh wow this was one hell of a rollercoaster ride which had my heart beating 10 to the dozen all through the book !
The basis of the story is ten people have been chosen to go off grid and evade capture for 30 days if successful the prize is $3 million and the book mainly follows the character Kaitlyn Day in her attempts at outwitting a whole heap of surveillance whichever way she turns. I have to say the book is so much more than just that plot line with a massive twist that blew my mind.
This was such a well written story and quite disturbing and fascinating at the same time and I now realise it’s by no means easy to just disappear no matter how careful you think you are being someone or something is always watching.
So a very different and addictive read full of interesting details and one that I would highly recommend.
My thanks to NatGalley and Pan Macmillan for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

An absolutely gripping thriller (and probably worryingly accurate). This has got a Netflix miniseries written all over it

The concept of this book sounded really exciting: ten people are issued a challenge set by a big tech guy working with the CIA to disappear for 30 days. If they can stay hidden, they’ll win 3 million dollars. But they’ll be using all of their scarily possibly not that futuristic tech to find them - not just advanced facial recognition but they can even spy on you through your TV. Half of the book is dedicated to hunting and finding 9/10 of these people, but the problem is there’s no real danger - nothing bad happens to them (we assume) when they’re found - they just don’t win the money. So the stakes aren’t quite high enough for it to be as exciting as it could be, until the real plot kicks in halfway through the book. This is just a little bit late in the game to really hook a lot of readers. It’s still an enjoyable high tech thriller, written by an author most famous for his screen writing, but I feel could benefit from a bit more suspense in the first half of the book.