This is another winner from Ruth Ware. I love how we follow Jack as she tries to investigate what happened to her husband even as she's a suspect herself. The world of corporate security is fascinating, and I enjoyed the sophisticated setting and details. The narrative moves at a good clip, and the ending provides a satisfying conclusion. Run, don't walk to grab this new thriller!

As a Ruth Ware superfan I was very excited to be granted an early release copy of her latest book through Netgalley. Unfortunately, this book fell short of my expectations. The characters were shallow, the big plot reveal was predictable and the story itself, even the writing, was very repetitive. Over and over the reader is told how Jack wishes she could cry, how she has to keep going, blah blah blah. Hoping that Ruth Ware returns to her psychological suspense style for her next book.

Ruth Ware is back with another fast-paced and suspenseful thriller set in the timely field of corporate security.

Zero Days tells the story of Jack and her husband, Gabe, who are penetration experts working together to help companies determine their security vulnerabilities. Jack handles the physical security tests and Gabe is the cyber expert. When a routine assignment goes wrong, Jack returns home late at night to discover her husband has been murdered and the police suspect her as the primary suspect.

Written with excellent pacing, Zero Days is impossible to put down. I appreciated the unique setting and background for this latest novel. The lead character is a strong, tough, smart woman that reader’s will be rooting for.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the opportunity to review this title before its release.

I love Ruth Ware and consider myself a big fan, but this was not my favorite. Still - I think many will enjoy this fast-paced, easy read.

I just finished Zero Days by Ruth Ware. Ruth Ware is always a go-to choice for me and while this one had a slightly different vibe than her past books, I was not disappointed.

The book focused on Jacintha "Jack" Cross and her run from police and attempt to solve her husband's murder in order to clear her name. I found Jack and her husband's profession of "pen testers" and hackers who assist companies find their own security weaknesses as very interesting. This was a very fast paced mystery that kept me reading and eager to finish it. I would have liked a little more explanation and detail at the end, but it was still nicely wrapped up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced reader copy!

Zero Days by Ruth Ware
Pub Date: 6/20/2023
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley & Scout Press for the advanced reader copy of this much anticipated thriller! Ruth Ware is one of the authors that got me back into reading and I love a good summer thriller!

Jack & her husband Gabe have a pretty interesting occupation that leads to Jack working very late one night. When she finally gets home around 4, she finds her husband brutally murdered and somehow becomes the police’s main suspect. I mean, statistically it’s usually the partner right?

Jack goes on the run to try to find the truth behind her husbands murder and things get messier and messier. Mainly, the hole in her side from an injury she sustained running from the cops, gets messier and messier. And Ruth does not let us forget. It was pretty gross after a while and incredibly distracting.

Besides the gross and insistent graphic descriptions of this puncture wound, I really loved the premise of this book. It was different and it really did have me hooked from the jump. I was rooting for Jack bc on top of the fact we’re obviously club ACAB here, she was tough as heck and pretty badass.

Unfortunately, this novel suffered from some serious pacing issues and felt very long for what actually happens throughout. I felt the length didn’t add tension or suspense and just made me eager to be done.

I still give it 3 stars for being a bit of a different approach to the woman on the run trope, but the execution fell flat for me.

#zerodays #bookstagram #bookreview #netgalley

Early reviews seem decidedly mixed on this one, and I understand that as Ruth Ware is definitely a hit or miss author for me as well. But, this one is definitely more on the "hit" side, as I found Jack's story fascinating as she pieces together what happened to her husband- while being a wanted woman for his murder. I found this story to be fairly well paced (a complaint I've had about some of Ware's other books), though there is a tiny bit of a lagging section in the second half. This one is a little different from most of Ruth Ware's books, and I think it's a solid departure.

The queen of psychological thrillers, Ruth Ware, returns following The It Girl with her latest action-packed tech thriller—ZERO DAYS, a security expert is murdered, and his wife is a suspect. She will stop at nothing to track down the killer.

Married couple Jacintha Cross and Gabriel Medway operate Crossways Security, a London firm that stress-tests security systems.

Jacintha "Jack" Cross is a penetration tester (or pentester) cybersecurity professional who executes targeted, authorized attacks on IT infrastructure, applications, or forms of physical security to determine vulnerabilities.

Gabe, her husband, does the same for cybersecurity. They are the best in the business. She checks for penetration, and he hacks computer systems.

One night after a routine assignment, Jack finds her husband murdered. She is distraught and does not report it immediately but does so. Then she goes to stay with her sister. The cops suspect her as their #1 suspect. So she goes on the run while trying to find her husband's killer.

How can you hide when the enemy is everywhere?

Gabe had found a back door vulnerability in a popular app that would be worth a lot of money to governments.

Often this is called "Zero-day." A broad term that describes recently discovered security vulnerabilities that hackers can use to attack systems. The term "zero-day" refers to the fact that the vendor or developer has only just learned of the flaw, which means they have "zero days" to fix it. A zero-day attack takes place when hackers exploit the flaw before developers have a chance to address it.

Zero-day is often written as 0-day. The words vulnerability, exploit, and attack are typically used alongside zero-day, and it's helpful to understand the difference:

With the help of her sister and Gabe's oldest friend, she is able to escape capture and begin her investigation, determined to find her husband's killer. Shocked, she receives an email that Gabe recently took out a million pounds life insurance policy, and she was the named beneficiary.

Jack does not care for the police or trust them after she was in a previous abusive relationship with a cop. But who would want to hurt Gabe? And who in her life can she trust? Motive?

Jack is tenacious, clever, tough, and a fearless heroine. Readers will enjoy this fast-paced action spy-vibe thriller.

ZERO DAYS is a bit of a departure for Ruth with her usual Gothic atmospheric locked-roomed settings; however, the well-developed characters are there, with plenty of twists, turns, and suspense—for fans of David Baldacci, Greg Hurwitz, and Harlan Coben.

If you enjoyed The Fugitive, Duplicity, or Mr. and Mrs. Smith, you will like Zero Days.

Thank you to #GalleryBooks and #Netgalley for my ARC of this book—opinions are my own.

Blog Review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 20, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
June 2023 Must-Read Books

True to all Ruth Ware books, this one takes you on a slippery sliding thrilling ride. This one seemed a bit different from her other ones that I've read. A little bit more thriller and less gothic, but it was still a fantastic read! I loved trying to figure out who was behind it all and I did at one point take a guess at it and was correct, but there was still so much more to discover that I really enjoyed it.
Side note if bad language offends you, this may not be your cup of tea.

Zero Days follows Jack as she tries to clear herself from her husbands murder and find the true culprit. I found this novel really interesting and intense. I found myself racing through it to reach the end. I would definitely recommend.

this is not at all like ruth's previous books. Different vibe completely and I don't think Ware fans will be very happy... New readers might enjoy though

Ruth Ware serves up another gripping mystery: this time focused on a husband and wife team specializing in finding vulnerabilities in corporate security systems. Gabe Cross is the brilliant behind the scenes coder and techie, while his wife Jack does the physical entry to company buildings to access their security.

After a particularly brutal assignment, Jack gets caught and turned over to the police by the on-site security team, while her phone calls to their client to establish her being hired to test security go unanswered. She has to deal with an abusive ex-boyfriend in the police department, still obsessed with tormenting her. When finally free to go home, she arrives to find Jack slumped over his desk with his throat sliced. The police suspect Jack as the murderer, due to a delay in her calling them.

Realizing there as forces at work here that she will need to investigate herself, Jack goes on a non-stop, terrorizing run from both the police and the killer. She needs to prove her innocence to the police and gather hard evidence to find the assassin. Jack proves resilient and fierce despite her grief, and relentlessly keeps at solving Gabe’s murder.

Thanks to Galley Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Zero Days Is the latest Ruth Ware thriller. The plot revolves around a husband and wife team who own a cybersecurity company that attempts to break into companies to test their security. The wife does the legwork and her husband monitors the job remotely. One evening after finishing a job, she gets home to find her husband dead. The police want to charge her with the murder so she goes on the run in an attempt to find the real murderer.
I really enjoy Ruth Ware’s books but this was not one of my favorites.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this e-ARC. This is my honest review.

I never go wrong when I pick up a Ruth Ware book. She is always able to hook me right in the beginning and keep me fixated until the end. The same is true with Zero Days. This is a high octane, run until you drop read, that kept me up at night. I could not put this book down. The characters kept me fascinated, the plot kept me zinging along, and I could not wait for the reasons why Gabe ends up dead to become clear.

The book begins with Jack and Gabe running a pen test. Meaning Jack is supposed to break into a business who hires them to see where their security is weak and how they can improve it. Jack is the infiltrator and Gabe is the man running the computers and background. The husband-and-wife team are aces at their job. Until security chases Jack down in the parking lot. Detouring her from going straight home. She must prove that she was hired by the company and not actually breaking in. By the time she returns home, she discovers that Gabe has been murdered in cold blood. Why would someone murder the love of her life, the man behind his word, this kind and gentle soul. When Jack finds herself at the top of the suspect list, she decides to run and uncover the truth behind her husband's murder. It is a high stakes game of cat and mouse, that will keep you on your toes and your heart rate up until the very end.

I enjoyed every second of this book. I did uncover one of the people behind Gabe's death early on, but not the why. It is a fantastic read that will leave you ignoring your family and flying through the pages. Thank you to Ruth Ware and Gallery/Scout Press for my gifted copy of this thrill a minute read.

This story was about Jack (female) and her husband Gabe. They have a company that evaluates security systems for other companies. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book because I figured out the ending 60 pts. in.

Jack and her husband, Gabe, run a penetration specialist company. Companies hire them to help vet their security procedures. Gabe is the hacker and Jack breaks in. However, when Jack is caught and can't get a hold of Gabe, she finally returns home to discover his murder. But who would want to hurt an ethical hacker? Jack goes on the run to try and figure this out as the police are trying to close in on her as their number one suspect. Keeps you guessing right up until the end!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Press for this e-arc.*

Zero Days is a mediocre humdrum detective story.
One- fifth into the story Jack is on the run for murdering her husband Gabe. The couple are a Pen Specialist (security specialist who break into companies to find their weak spots). Gabe is the hacker specialist and Jack is the athlete , agile, and limber one that breaks into the companies.
Jack returns home from a job and finds Gabe dead. The spouse is always first suspect and evidence is leaning against Jack. So she runs and commits to finding the real murderer. Humdrum because it was eye rolling detail and repeats of events. If she was half as good as her description/character was interpreting, she would have been out of the situation and a short story. I enjoy Ware’s writings but this one lacked in suspense, edge of my seat and nail biting material.
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books, Gallery/Scout Press for ARC in exchange for my review.

Ruth Ware's "Zero Days" was a two-sitting-read of a thriller that I highly recommend for fans of smart heroines and fast-paced puzzles. The novel was fun, propulsive, and unpredictable.

A security specialist becomes the main suspect in her husband's murder and must solve the case on her own, on the run, in order to clear her name.

It started fast and strong and then POP slow deflation occurs. The characters were basically stick figures on paper. No dimension no personality and lots of commentary. As many have previously said before and I can concur, this isn’t your typical Ruth novel and unfortunately it fell into the bad way category. Jack runs jack hides jack jack Jack disappoints. Bonus the ending was a DUH. Womp not for me.

Thank you Gallery books and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

If I’m honest, this was not my favorite Ruth Ware book. While the storyline was captivating, the story itself was not believable. I came close to putting it down and not finishing it, but I wanted to know how the story ended (predictable), but I think there are much better Ruth Ware titles out there to try! I enjoyed “The Girl in Cabin 10” and “The It Girl” much more! I’ll still be reading more of this author, but sadly this one was not for me.