Ruth Ware has had huge success as a writer of unstable-women-in-peril novels (Woman in Cabin 10, Turn of the Key etc) and while this new novel nicely keeps its feet in that territory, it also takes a successful step into action thriller ground.

Jacintha “Jack” Cross and her husband Gabe Medway are “pen testers” - that is to say they test the security systems, both physical (Jack) and virtual (Gabe), of their client companies. But after one such test, Jack gets home and finds Gabe has been murdered. And then it looks like she’s being set up to take the blame.

The best bits of the novel are the skills and tactics Jack uses to wheedle her way into various places and situations. The not so good bit is the mystery itself which isn’t really much of a mystery because there’s not enough viable characters to raise many questions (assuming we work with the immutable law of fictional mysteries that the perpetrator always has to be a character that we’ve met in the novel).

Overall, I enjoyed having a slight woman as an action hero who has to use her brain as well as her body and I think the author did a great job of keeping the tension tight and the plot moving along.

Thanks to Gallery and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

2.5 rounded up. This was definitely more strictly suspense than some of Ware's other books, and the foray into cybersecurity was a strange development. Calling this Zero Days didn't make a ton of sense to me, even after it was explained 2/3 of the way through the book. I liked Jack, but knowing her profession, many of her moves baffled me. The fact that she consistently almost got caught, despite being severely ill (and somehow pregnant) also seemed absurd. Anyone hoping for more of a thriller, this isn't the book for you.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Zero Days" by Ruth Ware is an unputdownable and gripping mystery that will leave readers breathless. Jack and Gabe, renowned penetration specialists, find their lives upended when a routine assignment goes wrong, leaving Jack's husband dead and her as the prime suspect. On the run and with time running out, Jack must unravel the truth and determine whom she can trust. With propulsive prose and heart-stopping moments, Ware keeps readers hooked, delivering unexpected twists and a sense of impending danger. The attention to detail and immersive atmosphere bring the story to life, while Jack's relatable character adds depth to the narrative. "Zero Days" is a masterfully crafted thriller that combines suspense, action, and emotional depth, making it a must-read for fans of the genre. Prepare for a gripping ride from start to finish.

This book riveted me from start to finish. The backdrop of the story was interesting and fresh, and I found the characters likable and engaging. This book was just what I needed to jumpstart my summer vacation! A needed vacation for my mind, filled with excitement and action! Do yourself a favor and read this book!

I tend to enjoy Ruth ware. This one I did not care for. Read like a cheap sci-fi thriller. I love Blake Crouch sci-fi. This book missed its mark for me. Sorry Ruth Ware.

Thank you to the publisher and netgallery

For fans of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, so, everyone, this fast paced thriller is perfect for those slow summer days. Jack is infamous for her abilities in breaking into buildings and hacking security systems in partnership with her husband. Suddenly though, she finds herself in a race against time to find her husband's murderer.

Thank you to #GalleryBooks ##Gallery/ScoutPress and #RuthWare for the ARC of #ZeroDays. Normally, Ruth Ware’s books are my absolute favorite (Woman in Cabin 10, In a Dark Dark Wood), but this one, while good, just didn’t’ thrill me. I didn’t really connect with the characters. I found no real reason to like them. Jack and her husband are penetration testers – they test the security of companies to ensure the safety of buildings and computer networks. Jack finds herself in a horrible situation when her husband ends up dead and she is the lead suspect. She takes off on the run in a very improbable quest for the real killer. I did enjoy the book, but I found a lot of it very unbelievable and the characters just not likeable. I feel bad that I didn’t like this more.

I have only read one other Ruth Ware novel, One by One and really enjoyed the premise, which was more a locked room traditional mystery. In this one, Ware pivots to a thriller with little mystery. We meet Jack and her husband Gabe as they are doing a pen test for a client. After a small detour to a police station, Jack returns home to find her husband dead. Thus begins the journey of Jack trying to find out why Gabe was killed and who did it. Jack annoyed me greatly because it felt like she wasn't making rational decisions and the frustration wanted me to DNF at times. There was a lot of internal dialogue and telling vs showing that slowed the story down. Ware has been compared at times to Agatha Christie, but I feel like she tries a new facet of mysteries in each novel without honing her skills on them. This one just didn't work for me, but depending on what she does next, I'll give her another try.

I adore Ruth Ware books, but I didn't love this one. It was hard for me to get into, and honestly didn't feel much like a book written by her--almost a genre change in some ways. Hoping to be more interested in her next book.

I have read other books by Ruth Ware, but Zero Days is my favorite. I was very sad when my ebook battery ran out on me one night! The book is suspenseful and full of people behaving badly, but also some people behaving “goodly”.

Jack is a pen tester, or penetration tester for companies to help them make their buildings and sometimes computers, more impervious to “penetration” or people who would do harm to networks and keep people out of where they should not be.

Jack is on a job, where she is almost apprehended by security guards. She breathes a sigh of relief to get out of the building and is picked up outside when she thought she was in the clear. She had to get corroboration from the company that she had permission to be there, but no one answered the call. Her husband, Gabe is usually on the computer with her, and he did not answer when the police called. After a very long night, and finally convincing the police to let her go, she arrives home to find out why her husband did not answer, he was murdered and sitting in his own blood.

Jack at first cooperates with police until her sister points out that they think Jack did it. This leads Jack to need to find her husband’s killer, the police thought they had the killer, but Jack knew it was not her. She uses her pen tester skills to keep out of the sight of police, which is very difficult in the age of cameras everywhere and technology that “tells” where people are. The book is not easy to put down and I have to admit going to work on too little sleep for a few nights. Highly recommended!

This book has one of those marketing campaigns that likens it to two films, and it is certainly related to The Fugitive. I had a great time reading it. I also love The Fugitive and Ruth Ware, so this was perhaps inevitable. I was intrigued from the beginning, and the pacing of the book was excellent – it moved very fast, and I had a hard time putting it down.
Jack’s husband Gabe is murdered (near the beginning, not a spoiler) while she is in jail explaining that she and her husband were running a penetration test to assess a this company’s security, and that she had not in fact just broken into the building she is fleeing. When she finally arrives home, Gabe is dead, and Jack must return to the police station to answer questions about his death. Initially she stays with her sister Hel, who keeps telling Jack to take a lawyer with her to her next police interview. For some reason Jack does not, and then she realizes that she is a suspect in her husband’s death, and also receives an email that could be construed as motive. Rather than trying to explain this to the police, or waiting for her lawyer, Jack decides to take off before the police can arrest her. Just like Richard Kimble, Jack tries to solve her spouse’s murder before the police catch up to her. Also like Richard Kimble, Jack frequently uses her professional skillset as she tries to ascertain what happened.
Jack spends the rest of the book on the run and it is the pace and her close calls that make this a highly enjoyable read. Jack makes some… questionable decisions, but making mistakes, or missing things that seem clearly suspect, seems more reasonable from her perspective and I think Ware does a nice job of motivating these mistakes.

Thanks to Ruth aware and Gallery/Scout Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was definitely a departure from Ruth Ware’s normal suspenseful style. This was more of an action packed thriller.

Jacintha (Jack) Cross and her husband, Gabe are pen testers. Companies hire them to break in and evaluate their security features and find weaknesses so companies can improve.

Jack does the breaking in while her husband serves as the ears and eyes at home. After a job she arrives home to find her husband dead. Shocked she waits before alerting the authorities. At first she is very cooperative with the police. But soon after she discovers a million dollar life insurance policy taken out on her husband, she begins to realize someone is setting her up to take the blame. She racing’s against the clock and police to figure out who killed Gabe and why.

While there was some good action in the book, there were parts that also dragged.
3 1/2 stars rounded up.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5416540042

Ruth Ware’s books are hit or miss for me and unfortunately this one was a miss. Zero Days is a complete departure for Ware and it just doesn’t work. This is a character driven story that follows Jack while she is on the run from the police after she is suspected of murdering her husband. Jack is a very unbelievable character and I had trouble caring about her or what happened to Gabe. If you like cat and mouse, Fugitive style stories this one is for you.

DNF. No one is more perturbed than I am about giving up on Ruth Ware’s upcoming release, but I’m realizing at 25% in (and after reading some helpful early reviews) that this one will not be for me. Rather than writing a subjective review with a low rating, I’m going to put it down here and let readers decide their feelings for themselves.

Ware's books don't always hit with me, but I can appreciate how different each of her books is from the other as she works her way through the tropes and sub-genres we see in mystery and thrillers. <i>Zero Days</i> is her take on <i>The Fugitive</i>, with a woman on the run from the cops as she tries to figure out who killed her husband. It requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, particularly in terms of some of the main character's decisions, but it's well done for the type of story it is. The story follows pretty much exactly as you might think it might, hitting each beat that one expects in a suspense, cat and mouse narrative.

What kept me from fully loving the book was the repetitiveness of the main character's thoughts. I almost wonder if it would have been less repetitive if we had had a third person POV, because a lot of the time is spent with the main character thinking the same thoughts as she goes through similar motions (gotta run, gotta hide, I miss my husband, omg my husband is dead on repeat, essentially). It made being in that headspace and in that inner dialogue a little exhausting. I do think Jack's a relatable character, though. Even though she makes some dumb decisions, her decisions make logical sense for the situation she's in and given her background.

Overall, this is a fun summer read. It's quick to get through and entertaining. It's a bit ridiculous and over the top, but I expected that.

I’ve enjoyed several of Ruth Ware’s thrillers and this one was no exception. The premise was interesting, and I found myself wanting to figure out who was behind it all. I felt the story needed a little more exposition than we were given in order to ramp up the murder and subsequent reaction of our protagonist. However, this was a fun page-turner and a quick read for any thriller fan! Thank you to NetGalley for providing me this advance copy.

This was an action packed thriller, which made it not really like Ruth Ware’s previous books, but it worked for me because I also like action thrillers. I did think the beginning dragged a little, but I enjoyed it quite a bit as the story picked up. I’m not a huge fan of the fugitive run, but I thought Jack made a good fugitive. Jack is a professional break in artist, but she does it at a company’s request to test their defenses. Her husband Gabe is a hacker who works along side her testing defenses and helping people. One night Gabe is murdered and it’s not long before Jack realizes that she is the police’s main suspect. Determined to solve her husband’s murder she goes on the run from the police, especially since her abusive ex is a police officer. I did think the mystery of it wasn’t hard to figure out, but I don’t think an action thriller is necessarily full of surprising twists but non=stop action which this book did better at delivering.

This book is so different from Ruth Ware’s other books that it completely threw me off guard when I started reading it. I almost didn’t keep reading after chapter one but I’m glad I kept going because the beginning scene is not actually what the whole book is like. It took me a lot longer to get into it and honestly even after finishing it I feel like I still don’t understand some of the tech stuff that was behind the whole premise of the book.

It’s a very action packed book, and some parts of it were attention grabbing, but it did become repetitive and I was ready for it to wrap up a little quicker than it did.

Zero Days is a fast paced thriller that will suck you in from the first page. Zero Days follows Jack Cross as she tries to clear her name and catch her husbands murderer. Jack is a strong, smart, and capable main character. I was so invested in her story. Her love for husband and desperation to find his killer jump off the page. This one pulled at my heart strings a little more than Ware’s novels usually do and I loved it!

This novel has all the tension, twists, and vivid setting that I look forward to in a Ruth Ware novel. While the first twist was a bit obvious, it was only the tip of the iceberg and I was really surprised by the twists and reveals that came later.

Fans of Ruth Ware will be delighted with this new novel!

This book has a character with a very unique job and it starts out with some pulse pounding tension. After the main character's husband is killed, she soon realizes that she is a suspect in his murder, and unless she goes off the grid, she may not be able to figure out who killed her husband before she is locked up for the crime. The story line is fast-paced and well-done. Hard to put down and exciting.