Zero Days by Ruth Ware is an action-packed story about a woman’s journey to prove her innocence.

Ruth Ware is known for her locked-room style mysteries, similar to Agatha Christie stories. They’re full of tension, intrigue with a bit of psychological thriller components thrown in the mix. That said, Zero Days takes on a different format. While it’s still a thriller and a mystery, it’s told more in the style of an action film. It’s a new take on The Fugitive type storyline.

I liked it! I honestly thought it was a refreshing change. I don’t tend to read action stories like this often but it was entertaining. I kept thinking this is the perfect book to read on a flight.

Zero Days by Ruth Ware is described as a "thriller that combines Mr. and Mrs. Smith with The Fugitive." I think that's a pretty good description, except Mr. Smith dies in the opening chapters. And Mrs. Smith has to clear her name and figure out who killed her husband. This book was definitely action=packed, but I found it a little hard to believe at times. Still a fun read though. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

This book kept me wanting more and asking what was going to happen. The only difference between 4 and 5 stars was that there were a few things that I guessed were going to happen. Even with those the book kept my attention the entire time. This book is well written with only a few minor errors throughout. I would definitely recommend this book.

I liked Zero Days, it was fast paced/action packed right from the start. While the book centers around a lot of technical jargon of a Penetration Tester/White Hat Hacker it is well explained and very consumable. It becomes a bit of a detective drama/murder mystery/who-done-it, but very much in a good way. I found some annoyance with a protagonist’s actions at times, but I think that may be part of the intended flow and drama of the story. It was a very quick read, one of those can’t put it down summer books. I haven’t read other books by Ruth Ware, but I may pick up a couple as this book was quite enjoyable.

Please note, I received an ARC copy of this book for review from NetGalley, but that never influences my honest reviews of books or authors.

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Ruth Ware for the opportunity to read this e-ARC!

I was excited to read this thriller from Ruth Ware, but it didn't quite live up to the standard of other books of hers that I've read. Jack (Jacinda) going on the run because the police don't believe that she didn't murder her husband was thrilling, along with the fact that she has to figure out who did murder her husband; however, there was quite a bit of repetition.

Definitely a good vacation read, but not necessarily in my top favorites of Ruth Ware.

I have read most, if not all of Ruth Ware’s books and loved them to various degrees, but I think this was my favorite. I loved the start, where Gabe and Jack were doing the “pen test”, where she gets into a business to try to expose their weaknesses, and he is in her ear, guiding her through it. He is the hacker and computer expert while she is the physical presence, to break and enter and to place whatever computer hacking devices are necessary for the tests. As a couple, they are hired by the business in question to expose any sources of security weaknesses.
The book starts with a bang as Jack gets caught and arrested and then goes on from there. One plot twist after another, with Jack on the run and ill due to an untreated wound from hopping a wall and puncturing her abdomen.
Who can she trust? Who can she turn to for help? How long can she remain on the run from the law before they capture her or she becomes too ill to go on? Will she discover who is behind the reasons for all the events that occur?
This book kept me up too late and was entertaining as all of Ware’s books are. I enjoyed the connection between the criminal world and the digital world. I learned some things in the process of reading this. I never knew what pen tests were or what zero days meant in this context. I think my only critique was that I figured parts of the story out before they happened, which is probably more reflective of my own experience with this genre than anything actually related to the writing or this book.
Highly recommend for those thriller readers who want a compelling summer read and those Ruth Ware readers. Don’t miss this one!
#ZeroDays #NetGalley #GalleryBooks

With strong Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes, ZERO DAYS was an exhilarating ride. The plot and pacing felt a bit different from Ruth Ware's typical slow burn formula but I appreciate that she attempted to try something new. It's exciting to watch an author evolve and not be pigeon-holed into a certain type of mystery/thriller. I have found Ware's previous books to be a bit more compelling but I like her boldness to try something original. I'll continue to read anything she writes!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review,

I'm sorry to say that this book just didn't work for me. I had recently wondered, after listening to several of Ware's audiobooks, how much of my enjoyment of them was down to Imogen Church's narration considering that the plots were always pretty formulaic and it was clear almost immediately who the bad guy was. And yet still, her books somehow kept me coming back for more.

This one really suffered without the benefit of Church's voice to get me invested in the characters and story. And frankly, it just wasn't that interesting a story. Jacinda (Jack) Cross comes home from work to find her husband dead in front of his computer, but soon the police are asking a lot of questions and it becomes clear Jack is being framed for his murder. She goes on the run, desperate to connect the dots and find her husband's killer. But will they find her first?

This book was slooooow. Not a lot happens other than Jack's internal monologue trying to parse through the clues (she's all alone, which I get, but it was hard not to get tired of it all being in her head), and extended descriptions of an injury she gets along the way and just how much pain she's in (which got repetitive and boring very quickly). Jack wasn't an interesting enough character to carry the book by herself, and there just wasn't enough of anyone else. Her husband was a hacker so there's a lot of tedious descriptions of app patches, coding, exploits, etc. that filled up space but didn't add much for me.

Now, on the plus side, the book tossed in a little twist right at the end that I wasn't expecting. So Ware still has it in her to be surprising. And it's entirely possible that the published copy will go through a few more rounds of revisions and flesh out the story a little more. But as is, this one was a miss for me. Having said that, I'll still probably check out future efforts by this author...I just might stick with the audiobooks.

**Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!**

This was not my first Ruth Ware novel and this certainly won’t be the last Ruth Ware novel that I read but it does not rank amongst her strongest works. “Zero Days” is essentially a “fugitive on the run” story with a central mystery that is exposed two-thirds of the way through the novel. That being said, the storytelling is propulsive and the novel keeps you engaged throughout. I was hopeful for an ending would produce a more satisfying reveal as this is something that I highly value in fiction. Ware’s other works had a bit more “punch” when it came to driving the narrative to the very end of the book. I am looking forward to what Ware writes next as I still consider her to be a formidable writer with consistently engaging stories.

“A woman in a race against time to clear her name and find her husband’s murderer.”

Personal Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ruth Ware is the modern day Agatha Christie and an auto-buy author for me- she has never let me down! This book threw Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the fugitive vibes in a modern day UK thriller. This book grabbed me from the beginning, as it was very different from her past novels. When their assignment goes horribly wrong and Jack’s husband is killed, I was hooked and needed to know what happened, especially when the police point fingers at her! This book follows Jack on the run, to find who killed her husband. She doesn’t know who to trust, but the ending will prove, you can trust no one!

Thank you Scout Press books and Ruth Ware for the advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion- look for this thriller on shelves June 20th!

Synopsis: Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect—her.

I always struggle with books that live in the grief of a death, so I may not have been the target audience for this one. There was such a heavy focus on Gabe's death in the first ~100 pages, and while I know I'd be grieving forever if my husband died, I'm not typically looking to experience that in an action thriller. The action did pick up later in the story and lead to a good ending, but it took so long to get there that this story didn't really resonate with me.

Ware's thrillers are always fun, quick-moving reads, and this one's no exception. I appreciate the fact that she also switches things up by shifting subgenres, moving from the "dark secrets" style of The It Girl or the Agatha Christie-esque One By One to a fast-paced conspiracy thriller.

As the copy notes, Jack works with her husband to do security and penetration testing for companies. She handles the on-site stuff, while he handles the hacking side of things. After a job get Jack arrested briefly (a risk of the work) before getting released, she makes it home to find that her husband Gabe has been murdered. As the investigation gets underway, it soon becomes apparent that the police believe she's the suspect, and she goes on the run to try to uncover what happened and why someone would kill Gabe.

Let's get the not-as-good stuff out of the way: First, no one with any experience reading the genre will have any doubt who's responsible within a page of meeting the perpetrator. That's not a deal-breaker (the "why" and "how" both matter, as does the journey), but the screaming neon signs are so big that Ware would have been better giving us some POV scenes of the baddie instead of pretending the reader couldn't figure it out. Second, Jack does some DUMB stuff to get herself into a few jams (solely to move the plot along). In some cases, it's excusable, but for someone smart enough to get out of so many bad situations, it's amazing how little foresight she shows.

That said, the book's absolutely a blast to read, and Jack's solutions to her various jams (all of which work as set pieces when this inevitably becomes a movie) are all innovative and entertaining (especially some that go extra wrong, like when she first sneaks back into her old apartment). And the supporting cast is great, especially her sister and the police officer chasing her.

So yeah, don't go in expecting an Anthony or Edgar winner, but if you want an entertaining read for a flight or a trip to the beach, this one's a blast (and props to Ware for balancing the jargon/realism vs the accessibility of the tech stuff).

Quick content note: Jack is a survivor of domestic abuse, and it's referenced in multiple places, as her abuser was and is a London police officer (not a spoiler -- we learn this really early).

I really like Ruth Ware's books and she is an author that I would pick up without reading the synopsis of the book but this one was not one of my favorites. I am willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of a story but this pushed that envelope a little to far. There were so many problems that occurred directly because of her actions or inactions that I couldn't swallow it all. The fact that the character was someone whose job it was to help companies find holes in their security made it even more preposterous that she would constantly make erroneous decisions. I still thought the book was an okay read and, if you can suspend disbelief better than I, then you will enjoy this read. Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books, Gallery/Scout Press for an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you so much to Net Galley, the publisher, and author for providing this fun book for my honest review. This is my new favorite Ruth Ware book. It was so fast paced and twisty! I loved every minute of this book. I am so jealous of anyone who is reading this for the first time. I loved the concept of a husband and wife working together as security testers who try to break into buildings to help businesses find their weak security points. It reminded me very much of Mr and Mrs Smith and a bit of Ocean’s 8 all mixed together in a twisty mystery/thriller. I think everyone will enjoy this book. I highly recommend this. Thank you again for allowing me to review this entertaining book.

I thought this was awful. Not like her usual stuff but just soooo drawn out. The twists were just meh. Nothing really engaging or exciting. Definitely one you can skip.

I am a Ruth Ware superfan, so it pains me to report that this book wasn't quite for me. I really missed the eerie, gothic feel of some of her earlier books. I can appreciate trying something new and I'll probably always read whatever she decides to write, but this one felt a little too much like so many other mainstream authors. It didn't have that creepy suspense that I loved from her other books. I found myself skim-reading several sections that felt repetitive. There was a lot of attention given to an injury and how painful it was and lots and lots of chase scenes. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't what I was hoping for. I remain a loyal RW fan and am anxiously awaiting her next book.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced reader's copy.

I liked this! That’s saying a lot for me and Ruth Ware books. Quick read with good pacing - the why behind it was a little out of my grasp but I enjoyed the telling of it and really liked Jack

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

I've read several books by Ruth Ware and have always found them to be fast paced, interesting and hard to put down. This one was no different. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

Another great book by Ruth Ware! I loved the mystery surrounding the main character. It was a book that I could not put down once I started reading. It held my attention from the beginning to the end.

This isn't the moody psychological suspense that I expect and love from Ware, but it should please all readers who like an action-driven cat and mouse thriller with danger around every corner. The bare skeleton of the story is a familiar one: spouse #1 comes home from work to find spouse #2 murdered in the house, then quickly becomes the prime suspect. "Jack" (Jacyntha) goes on the run to stay free and to solve the murder of her husband, Gabe. The couple are high level "penetration testers," hired by companies to test the security at buildings where valuable tech secrets are under heavy guard. Gabe's murder is tied to the high tech world where he had the skill to access any kind of secret. Not a typical Ruth Ware novel, but entertaining as a thriller.