Zero Days
Grade : B-

Some nights are just full of bad decisions. Or bad luck. Jack (Jacinta) is certainly experiencing one of those evenings.

As a security specialist, she has been hired to penetrate an insurance company to test just how well their current level of protection works, but from the start things go awry and Jack quickly finds herself caught by the corporate guards, then taken into custody and questioned by the police. While her husband Gabe works frantically to contact the client and clear her name, a disgruntled ex who happens to be a cop, makes an appearance, gives Jack a hard time and ultimately releases her.

Jack hates being beholden to her ex but the truth is, she needed his help. Shortly after she had arrived at the station, Gabe had gone silent. Jack is exhausted, anxious, and angry when she leaves, only to have her phone die immediately after she calls the Uber which will take her back to her car. Jack wants to race home, but in unfamiliar territory and with no maps app to help, she gets lost several times, takes an inordinate amount of time to get to her house and when she finally staggers through her door she discovers that the worst is yet to come: Gabe is dead, murdered at his computer.

Shocked, Jack staggers to the couch and doesn’t call the police immediately but simply sits in stunned silence. When she finally gets herself together and calls them, they quickly narrow in on one suspect - her. Submerged in grief and determined not to take the fall for a crime she didn’t commit, Jack goes on the run and begins a desperate quest to find who really did kill Gabe- and why.

Before getting too deeply into this review of Ruth Ware’s Zero Days, I’m going to address the elephant in the room - ye olde dead cell phone. Ware loves using malfunctioning tech in her stories, an issue some readers oft complain of, and this story begins with a dozy of a glitch - a woman who relies heavily on her cell leaving home with one that is apparently not fully charged. If this topic is one that troubles you, either be prepared to be annoyed or skip the book altogether. I’ll just add that technology is used heavily throughout the story. As someone who uses tech daily, this tends not to bother me but again, some readers have expressed discontent with this aspect of the author’s books, so be been warned, it is very present here.

The author has an easy-to-read writing style with brisk pacing that keeps us invested in the mystery. She also delivers consistent characterization throughout the novel, although that turned out to be a mixed blessing. Jack staying true to who she is - a likeable middle-class woman who finds herself in a tragic, unprecedented situation - showcases the author’s talent. I hate nothing more than having problems solved in a story by having the character change the nature of who they are. Unless there is a good reason for it, people don’t make large personality changes. That said, Jack starts the tale prone to dumb decisions and stays that way throughout the text. This is less a whodunit than it is a novel of someone racing about stumbling into information. That doesn’t tend to be the kind of narrative I prefer, so while the excellent writing made this a pleasant enough read, it’s not a book I would ever pick up again.

One reason for that is that the plot - from the inciting incident to all the time Jack spends on the run - is completely unbelievable. I know that the truth is often stranger than fiction and something this crazy could actually have happened, but from a reading perspective, I just found the whole thing so ludicrous and Jack’s behavior so hapless, that I couldn’t submerge myself in the tale the author was telling.

This is probably the shortest review I have ever written but there isn’t really much information I can impart on Zero Days. It’s a low-key chase mystery that relies very heavily on the reader’s suspension of disbelief. Fans of the author will doubtless want to give it a try but I would steer newcomers to any of Ms. Ware’s older works. They are all stronger than this one.

Reviewed by Maggie Boyd
Grade : B-
Book Type: Mystery

Sensuality: N/A

Review Date : July 7, 2023

Publication Date: 06/2023

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Maggie Boyd

I've been an avid reader since 2nd grade and discovered romance when my cousin lent me Lord of La Pampa by Kay Thorpe in 7th grade. I currently read approximately 150 books a year, comprised of a mix of Young Adult, romance, mystery, women's fiction, and science fiction/fantasy.
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