This book almost became a DNF but for the fact I had given up on a book recently and didn’t want to do it again so soon.
The opening few chapters are what put me off. I found them indeed tedious and had me wondering what demographic was this book aimed at as it certainly didn’t appeal to me, an avid reader of almost everything.
Jack and her husband Gabe are hired by companies to see if they can break into their offices, buildings etc undetected and hack into their security systems. They are among the best in the business and it was this detailed report in the first few chapters of Jack breaking in and Gabe following via a computer at home, that had me ready to close the pages.
However after this job Jack arrives home to find Gabe dead, his throat has been cut. Jack soon becomes the main suspect and when an insurance policy turns up with her as the beneficiary to a million pound and only recently taken out, she knows she has to run and try and work out who has done this. Along the way she falls on top of a metal spike while scaling a wall and as this becomes infected, it’s a race between the infection killing her and her skills to find the killer.
There are clues in the book to point you in the right direction as to who might be involved, but not the why.
It’s a shame I didn’t like this book and I am pleased to see others did as it’s always personal opinion.

#ZeroDays. #NetGalley

I love everything this author writes. I found the technology aspect interesting and the plot was fantastic. She is a brilliant storyteller and weaver of threads. Superb!

Incredibly complex mystery with really good characters. Computer stuff was a bit above me but the story was compelling.

This is quite complex for those of us who don't understand the intricacies of technology and hacking, but by midway through the book that doesn't really matter. The gist of how high the stakes are is enough. This is a fast-paced thriller, full of gasp aloud moments. At times I had to put it down, so high was the tension. The reader knows more than the MC so at times I was so invested that I was willing her not to make some of the decisions she did. The plot is gripping but I loved the characters - Jack and Hel particularly, but they are all very well done. A great read.

After having only discovered this author in the last few years I am loving her books and was really pleased to receive an advanced readers copy of her latest title that is due to be published in July.

‘Zero Days’ introduces us to Jack & Gabe, a husband and wife team who work together, hired by companies to break into buildings, checking security systems and figuring out any flaws that may exist. They are proud to be the best in their field and have clients queuing up to utilise their services. When a routine job suddenly goes wrong Jack knows something isn’t right, a feeling that proves right when she returns home to find her husband dead. Not only that, but the police have one suspect they are closing in on fast - her. With no option but to go on the run to prove her innocence she needs to figure out just who she can trust to uncover the real killer.

This is a fast-paced, captivating, thrilling rollercoaster of a read that has you gripped from the very first sentence. There is no slow preface into this, right from the start the pace is rapid, the descriptive prose setting the scene, giving the emotional connection with the characters straight from the off. I flew through the chapters wanting to know what happened next, feeling every emotion with Jack along the way, figuring out the twists thrown in her path. I wasn’t sure about all the technical elements at time but this doesn’t take away the enjoyment of the book, I did figure out quite early where the plot would go but, without giving anything away, an unexpected twist in the ending is nicely done and worth the emotional rollercoaster of thrills to get there. Yet another great read by this author.

Jacintha is on the run from the police for a crime she didn’t commit.
She will stop at nothing to prove her innocence and is determined to find out who committed the crime and is framing her.
Jacintha is a great character and I was routing for her all the way.
A fast paced thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

As ever, Ruth Ware pulls out another excellent pychological thriller. Would certainly recommend and am looking forward to her future books.

Compelling, Edgy, Entertaining..
Hailed as the best penetration specialists in the security sector, Jack and husband Gabe are top tier professionals. When life takes an unexpectedly tragic and horrific turn, Jack finds herself on the run and the police just a step behind. In a step away from this author’s more usual genre, yet written in familiar slick style, this is a ruthless rollercoaster ride, bubbling over with breathless suspense, galloping action and tension mounting scenes with a superbly well crafted cast of characters populating a tightly plotted narrative. Compelling, edgy and wholly entertaining.

Fantastically good! I read this in two sittings and spent whole time in between desperate to get back to it and discover the outcome. I loved Jack & Gabe's relationship, their jobs added a cool original slant to the genre, and I felt every tense, harrowing moment of Jack's quest for the truth. The punishment inflicted on Jack's body and her determination to keep going had me willing her on. Great protagonist, pacey twisty plot. Damn good read!

Another gripping book by Ruth. However I did suss out who did it about half way through the book and started telling at the main character because it took them soooo long to figure it out. I did however like the aspect that the main characters jobs was to infiltrate businesses and see how well their security was. Which was something I didn't know was a job until now. It was good. But not my favourite Ruth Ware book.

Without going into too much detail - I didn't know anything about the plot before I started reading the book, which is how I like it - Zero Days is about a woman on the run, suspected of a terrible crime and desperate to clear her name. Jack Cross (Jacintha) has to use all her skills, ingenuity and resilience to survive as her situation steadily worsens, and the police are always just one step behind.

This is all-action stuff, which isn't always something that necessarily appeals to me, but it was really enjoyable. I was rooting for Jack the whole way, even if her decision making was occasionally questionable. But entirely understandable in the circumstances.

I liked the use of the Talking Heads song, This Must Be the Place, too - very evocative.

A rollercoaster ride and a very well executed concept. I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy!

A totally gripping and absorbing thriller from start to finish. You never quite know what's going to happen next or who to trust!

In Ruth Wares usual fashion, Zero Days is tense, gripping and compulsively readable. I felt that the ‘who’ reveal came a little early and was quite easy to guess but the ‘why’ was interesting and really well fleshed out.

So, the trouble with Ruth Ware’s books is that they are just so immensely readable that you just can’t stop turning the pages and put them down. The pacing in the book was spot on, and the only tiny downside for me was that the villain was obvious from first introduction. It was a small cast of characters and a few more might have clouded the picture enough to make it more tricky to work out. Overall I loved this, and think it’s one of her best.

Jack is on a mission to suss out the security of a place. Only she finds herself in the cross fire and on the run trying to find her husband's killer. Enjoyable but not one of my favourite Ruth Ware books. Felt a bit too introspective at times. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

Ruth Ware is an auto-buy of an author for me. She’s definitely a compelling writer of the suspense genre. Having said, I find that her books can be a bit hit or miss for me. Unfortunately this one was a miss for me. But this is solely a matter of taste and personal preference, which is different for everyone. I think for me I like thrillers that are more character driven and not too action pack with loud explosions, which is what Zero Days. Personally my favourite Ruth Ware novels are The Turn of the Key and The IT Girl. I think my issue with this one was it starts right in the middle of the action and I felt lost. I wasn’t sure what was happening and how this hacking thing worked and most importantly who Jack’s clients were. Because I wasn’t invested enough, I wasn’t as emotionally gripped nor moved whether Jack gets caught or not. Also I found the chapters were too long and wished they were shorter. Personally I wasn’t a fan of Jack hearing her husband’s voice throughout the story and the way the past is weaved in felt shoehorned at times. I would’ve rather preferred that characters were setup first and then the action scenes happened. Nonetheless other readers have loved this. Maybe you might too. This is just a case of different strokes for different folks. A matter of taste. And I do love Ruth Ware, so will always await her future books. I think this one just didn’t work for me, but that’s fine.

Rip-roaring thriller that confirms exactly why Ruth Ware is one of the 21st century’s greatest writers!

I don’t say this lightly, but Zero Days is an absolute masterpiece and it might well be Ruth Ware’s best book to date. I’ve loved all of her novels, but Zero Days is simply outstanding and has immediately burst into my top reads of the year - like a malicious piece of malware that Gabe would be familiar with! Ware is such a diverse and multi-talented writer, so this novel is both remarkably different from all of her previous books and yet also has the familiarity of Ware’s style. It’s an effortlessly readable book, but where some of her other work has been very measured in its gradual building of tension, this is a rollercoaster of a ride that hurtles along at breakneck speed in the most exhilarating way. I cared so much less about who was responsible for the murder here, than to find out what the reason and motive behind it were. In this story, that is definitely the most compelling aspect and I had great fun trying to work out what the truth was. I loved the deep dive into technology and security, which Ware relays in an accessible and fascinating way. You know a book has got under your skin when you have a genuine, fully-fledged nightmare that someone has successfully phished your password, hacked your multi-factor authentication and essentially destroyed your life…just like I had last night! This is the power of the novel though. Ware spirals Jack’s life out of her control and in doing so, pulls at the very strings of all of our existences. Vulnerabilities she faces link to things that could very much be exploited for all of us. There’s a cold, harsh underlying plausibility to this plot that makes it all the more gut-wrenching. Having said that, Jack and Gabe’s lines of work are so far from your everyday office job and the penetration (pen) testing elements of the narrative provide some heart-racing suspense and nail-biting action, which is perfectly paced throughout. I am itching to see this on the big screen or adapted for Netflix - it would be epic!

Although this book reads like an 80s/90s heyday action blockbuster, with its big suspenseful and thrilling sequences, it’s also so much more than this. At it’s core, this book is about a marriage, love, loss, grief and finding the strength to continue. Jack is a fascinating lead character and her relationships are complex. I thought the fact that she remains hearing Gabe’s voice in her ear whilst on the run really helps flood their relationship with life and allowed readers to really feel Jack’s purpose in seeking out the truth herself. I also loved that Jack was so realistically human. She’s not a superhero action star with extraordinary limits, she’s a painfully ordinary woman thrust into an extraordinary situation, who battles her way through it. She’s incredibly real and I felt a tangible affinity to her and her plight. She’s vulnerable and becomes increasingly weak physically, so there’s a real tension around whether she will succeed in her aims. Ware balances the action and character development to create a richly layered narrative that blends the human, emotional elements intrinsically with the physical manoeuvres. There’s just the right amount of history to breathe life into Jack and help readers get to know her, whilst also providing various angles the plot might take. I really enjoyed the relationship between Jack and her sister Helena too, which provided some nail-biting and surprising moments, as well as some palpable tenderness. This book is so rich in both plot and character that it is a delectable literary feast, albeit one that’s delivered at fast food restaurant speed!

If you enjoy a book that rarely taps the break peddle, Zero Days is for you. If you enjoy your thrillers steeped in tension and action movie style sequences, Zero Days is for you. If you like a novel that is intelligent, but accessible and absolutely impossible to put down, Zero Days is for you. It’s essentissally everything you want in a crime thriller, so get pre-ordering!

Loved this and felt like I was in an episode of 24 meets catch me if you can! Want so keen on Ruth’s last book but she’s back on form here keeping you guessing at who you can trust and who is really the innocent in the story. Stayed up until 3am so I could read rhis is on le go as once I was in I couldn’t put it down. 5 *s from me and one of my top books so far this year!

I've absolutely loved this book. It starts off with a Mr and Mrs Smith vibe, a married couple working together. Gabe is at home feeding instructions to Jack through her earpiece. Their job was to find weak points in peoples business and legally break in. But it goes tragically wrong when Gabe is murder and Jack is the prime suspect. Jack must find out who killed her husband.

A lot of the things she did went over my head but it all felt believable. There was a lot of repetition about her injury, but you will understand why it was so important at the end. It's quite a fast-paced read, and although I worked out who was behind it all, it didn't spoil it, I loved watching it all play out.

This was brilliant! I really liked the concept - it was something a little bit different, I've never read a book from the perspective of a penetration tester before.

This book was exciting to read, it was full of action without losing the connection to the characters. There were some very emotional parts, I really felt for Jack and was rooting for her all the way.

The only negative for me was Jack was a bit superhuman - by rights she should have died/been seriously injured on multiple occasions, but I'll accept it's a work of fiction!

Overall I would absolutely recommend the book, I had a great time reading it.