I recently started reading Ruth Ware's books, and this was another one that I enjoyed. Jack and her husband, Gabe, are pen testers. They break into companies to test their security systems. Jack does the physical part of breaking into the companies, while Gabe handles technology. Unfortunately, Jack gets caught after completing her most recent test and is questioned by the police. When she returns home, she finds that Gabe has been murdered. The police bring her in for questioning because even though she wasn't home at the time of the murder, her timeline of the events doesn't add up. While waiting for her lawyer to show up, Jack gets an email about an insurance policy that her husband supposedly set up. She realizes that this gives the police motive, and this does not bode well for her. Instead of waiting for her lawyer to show up and set the record straight, she decides to go on the run and find the evidence about who killed her husband. Not only does she have to go on the run, but she isn't prepared to go on the run. She has very little money, and Gabe was the one that handled the technology part and had more knowledge than she does that would make it easy to figure out who was behind his murder. She also has very few resources, and very few people that she feels can help her that the police won't already be monitoring. Plus, she injures herself and has to keep on the run as she gets sicker. Can she solve his murder before the police catch her? Will she solve the mystery before her injury gets so bad that she ends up in the hospital? Will those few people she knows help or betray her? There were some twists in this book that I didn't see coming. There was one "surprise" at the end that has been used before so it wasn't a surprise to me. Overall, though I did like this book.

This is such a fast action read, like a movie. Different vibe compared to her other books, but definitely worth reading; it sucks you right in. I enjoyed it a lot and our library patrons are enjoying it, too.
Thank you #NetGalley for the advanced copy of Zero Days by Ruth Ware.

Not one of my favorites by Ms. Ware. I felt that research into technology was a bit cursory and not in the author's wheelhouse. Had to suspend disbelief quite a few times to get over plot holes.

I am typically a die hard ruth ware fan, but for some reason this book didn't do it for me. Typically this is because the plot is too slow. I've ADHD so require a lot of action in order to keep my attention.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Well, Ruth Ware has done it again! I'm so glad I got to read and review her book ahead of publication. She's one of my favorite writers! Her books have such intriguing characters with rich, complicated, twisted, gilded lives. The characters really shine in this work! Just like her other books, the suspense kept me absolutely gripped until the end. There is a real 'Agatha Christie' aspect to her works. She writes with careful attention to human behavior patterns, tendencies, and quirks. Nothing is so out-of-place that it's unbelievable. It's not horror -- it's just plain humans doing the unthinkable, which really sticks with a reader!

Zero Days was a huge departure from the types of books that I'm used to from Ruth Ware. But that's not a bad thing. Normally her books are eery and perhaps a bit spooky. This one was much more of a thriller. As in, our heroine, Jack, was on the run for most of the book.

Jack's a certified badass. She tests out security systems to find the holes. So even her day job is a little like pulling off a bank heist every single time. And when one gig goes a little south, she's detained for questioning and arrives home later than anticipated.

That's not the problem. The problem is that when she arrives home, she finds that someone has murdered her husband. Now, she's in a race against time to prove her own innocence and figure out who actually murdered her husband.

Zero Days is a page-turning thriller unlike Ruth's normal books (which I LOVE). But that's not a bad thing. Normally her books are eery and perhaps a bit spooky. This one was much more fast paced and I envisioned Jack being played by Jennifer Garner, you know, that badass version of Jennifer Garner.

Special thanks to Gallery Books and Netgalley for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out now.

On the plus side, this was a different kind of story, with a different plot from the usual. On the minus side, it was a bit repetitive when it came to repeating several times her feelings about her loss. Ok, we get it. Of course she'd feel that way, but we didn't have to dwell with her in those feelings. Another minus was how many stupid things she did even while thinking this is not a good thing to do, yet she trusted situations where she should have been much smarter, not just a little bit smarter.

Of the main characters, two were not likeable. Her sister was a saint for her efforts and was the most likeable of all the characters. Pet Peeve: why oh why do authors give female characters male names/nicknames? Jacinta could easily have been Jackie, so why call her Jack?

That's all out of my system now... I liked learning about what it is like to be employed to hack and would have liked to be able to read more about that than her life on the run. I'd give it 3 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

The book started off fairly compelling, but as it went on it begun to feel like the protagonist was making mistakes or believing false information that were inexcusably naive, even for someone in her state of deteriorating health. That combined with the heavy reliance on technological warfare, which I do not understand very well, made this a 3-star book for me.

This book is great for fans of The Fugitive! There was enough tech speak to help readers understand what was going on without being utterly confused. There were times I felt anxious, frustrated, and devastated in all the best ways. I was hooked from the start and while one part of the resolution was not 100% clear, the ending was more than satisfying.

Thank you to Ruth Ware and NetGalley for the privilege of reading an advanced copy of this book!

Wow. This book had me gripped from the very start. Was it always believable? Not really. Was it entertaining? Absolutely. I loved the badass, Jack. She didn't take crap from anyone and I loved her attitude of taking things into her own hands. I really enjoyed this one and loved how Ruth Ware set up the story and wrapped everything up at the end. All the stars.

A wild thrill ride! I don't agree with Mr & Mrs Smith meets the fugitive. Maybe Macgyver meets the fugitive. After Jack's husband is murdered and she becomes the prime suspect, she goes on the run to find the real killer. Action packed, Jack has no one she can fully trust. A different kind of book for Ruth. Though, I preferred her previous suspense novels, this was a great book,

<i> Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review. </i>

<i> Zero Days </i> by Ruth Ware is about a woman named Jacintha (Jack) Cross who is on the run from the police after being accused of her husband's murder. Fans of the movie <i> Fugitive </i> will enjoy this, but I'll admit I was a little let down by this Ware release. I'm glad she's trying new things (we had a Gothic thriller from her, three tech-y thrillers, an Agatha Chrisite-esque snowed-in locked room thriller, and now this—an action-packed suspense novel), but its structure was too repetitive to be enjoyable. I found myself multiple times throughout the reading experience wishing for it to end. This one would make a better movie than book, as the plot and characters didn't suffer as much as the writing.

This ultimately got a 3 star instead of the 2 star I originally wanted to give it because I really did find myself liking the main character and rooting for her. I recommend going with the audiobook for this one over physically reading (Imogen Church would have gotten me through this much faster!)

The book started off strong, though a bit confusing. It was a lot of technology language right off the bat but then it leveled out as we got into the real meat of the story: who murdered Jack's husband Gabe?

You knew immediately that the police was going to try to pin this on Jack, especially after she's interviewed multiple times and it starts to be clear that she might be being framed. But who would frame her for Gabe's murder? It didn't make any sense to the reader or to Jack...

The rest of the book is filled with technological language that was deeply confusing. I started skimming the technology and computer packed pages because I just didn't feel like it was that central to the plot nor did it make any sense to me as a reader.

I was also deeply irritated by Jack; everything she was doing was so ridiculous. Why did she run? Why didn't she just call her lawyer like her sister told her too? It was very annoying and just not the way things would happen in the real world.

I was also very annoyed by the way Ware wrote Jack's injuries. She was running ragged by the end of the book with so many horrific injuries, such as sepsis and I'm supposed to believe she was running all around London, jumping out of trains and going days without eating or drinking anything and she's fine? It was so far fetched and took me out of the setting of the book.

There was also the subject of Jack's abusive cop ex-boyfriend; I didn't think that was a necessary subplot to add to the book. It felt oddly placed and didn't add anything to the real story of discovering the murderer.

The writing was of course, wonderful, as Ruth Ware is a talented writer. My issue was not with the writing or even the plot but the way we strayed so fast from what I think could've been a really interesting story. It was also slightly predictable or maybe it was just obvious but I called who the real suspect was in the middle of the book.

In all, I think if you're looking for a true crime, run of the mill thriller don't reach for Zero Days. If you want something more intricate, more detailed and different from the other thrillers on the book market, you might like Zero Days!

Once again Ruth Ware has delivered - but this time her best book yet. Fast paced and a real page turner. Modern cyber-vibe that really entertained!

Blog:
Ruth Ware, often called the modern day Agatha Christie, drops a new thriller just in time for summer. This one features the fascinating world of penetration testers. What is a penetration tester, you ask? Someone companies hire to test their security. You may have heard of an “ethical hacker.” This is the same thing. Although, in the case of the book, the testing of security systems includes their physical systems. The title even alludes to a cybersecurity thing.

Jack, a talented reformed pickpocket, does the physical security testing, and Gabe, her husband, does the ethical hacking. The book opens with them working on a job, which provides delightful action sequences before the inciting incident of his murder. When she comes home and finds him dead, she gets sucked into a wave of grief that makes her oblivious to the warning signs she’s being framed. These are clear to the reader, and to her sister as well, which was a nice touch. Soon, Jack is on the run, with the dual goal of clearing her name and identifying her husband’s killer to bring him/them to justice.

The pacing of this thriller is solid. I was engrossed and wanted to find out what happened. Making Jack a penetration tester gives valid reasons for her skills at evading the police while also investigating the murder. She’s also easy to like and root for. The scenes of her evading the pervasive panopticon in London reminded me of a favorite book of mine, The Traveler (review). Those were among my favorite.

Two plot choices annoyed me. They’re spoilers, so highlight the following text to read.

Gabe’s best friend kissing Jack felt out of character for both of them. I think it was supposed to be a clue to the reader not to trust him, but I already didn’t trust him. It was obvious from Jack saying that her sister didn’t use emojis like that on the phone that he set up for the two of them that this meant it was him on the phone. It was unnecessary and made it difficult for me to get over and like Jack again. I know sometimes grieving widows reach out in this way, and it’s not my place to judge, but it felt like a plot device more than a character choice. The other thing I disliked was that Jack is surprise pregnant at the end. Jack was suicidally depressed before she found out she was pregnant as she felt totally alone without her husband. (Even though her sister was very much involved the whole time, even getting arrested to help her.) In any case, the pregnancy being what it takes to snap Jack out of depression because now she has someone to live for really rubbed me the wrong way. Why couldn’t Jack have figured out that she should live and live well because that’s what we’re meant to do to the best of our abilities? Also, children don’t replace the spouse who passed away. That person is still gone. I get it that people feel like a legacy lives on in children, but to just snap out of suicidally depressed grief over a pregnancy doesn’t mean she properly processed her grief in any way, shape, or form. She’s now just living for the child in the way that she, apparently, was just living for Gabe before.

Overall, this is a fun, quick thriller perfect for a summer read.

GoodReads:
I was thrilled!

Check out my full review.

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

Instagram:
A fun, quick thriller perfect for a summer read. A new widow puts her professional security testing skills to work to discover who really killed her husband when she realizes she’s being framed for the crime.
Leave a comment, and I’ll direct link you to my full review!
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
#bookalicious #booksinthewild #avidreader #bookaesthetic #whatimreading #bookrecs #greatreads

I really enjoyed Zero Days by Ruth Ware. Such an action packed book from start to finish! It definitely gave off Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes. All of these fugitive characters are well developed and complex. Unlike most of her other novels, there is no big twist or shocking revelation. The ending was great, and wrapped up the end of this story perfectly.

It's a very Ruth Ware summer for me -- I've now read all her books except The Lying Game. For other fanatics, my favorites are The Death of Mrs. Westaway and The Turn of the Key. Both are more "Christie-esque" in their play on the 'everyone in one big house' trope.

Zero Days was almost the opposite. Our main character, Jack, abandons her home and becomes a fugitive early in the plot, and she can't go home until she figures out who murdered her husband and clears her own name as the prime suspect.

Like many other reviewers, I figured out who the bad guy was very early on. This is atypical for me with Ruth Ware books! I wish there had been a bit more of a twist in that respect. There were a few heart-wrenching moments, especially toward the end that caught me off guard though, so smaller surprises are there!

However, I enjoyed the suspense of a main character in a mystery on the run. It's not a premise that I've read much, and it felt almost like an action movie rather than a book. In fact, I'd love to see this one as a movie or series.

For anyone reading this, please let me know your favorite mystery authors, for fans of Ruth Ware and Tana French. I'm running out of mysteries on my TBR!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC!

I have read every Ruth Ware book. This was my least favorite one. The storyline was interesting and timely since internet/overall security is such an important topic. The main character spends 90% of the book running from the police, and the chase got a little boring. The ending seemed quite rushed and not as developed as the rest of the book.

I have read everything by Ruth Ware. I can go in blind about what the plot with be and have a great time reading but this one was a flop for me. I didn't connect to the story and thought that it was predictable inn so many aspects of the story. *spoiler* The main character finding out she was pregnant at the end off the book to come to tearms with her husband dying was the worst copout of an ending! While I will still continue to recommend other books by Ruth Ware I will NOT be recommending this title.

Jack and her husband are "pen" specialists. They test companies' securities systems. At the end of her latest job, Jack gets arrested and by the time she convinces the police to let her go, she returns home to find her husband murdered. She then becomes the number one suspect and has to go on the run while she tries to find out who really murdered him and why. Good page turner, the chapters were the perfect length and left you wanting to read just one more chapter...The chapters were also in chronological order which was a welcome break from the current trend of jojoying back in time. Another great read by Ruth Ware!