Jacintha (Jack) and her husband, Gabe, are penetration specialists: professionals who break into buildings and security systems. Their job is to determine the vulnerabilities of the businesses who have hired them. They love what they do and they’re very good at what they do. But one night, when Jack returns home from an assignment, she discovers Gabe dead. Within a few days Jack is the prime suspect and the evidence seems irrefutable. With only intuition and experience on her side, Jack goes on the run, determined to find the real killer.

No doubt about it, Zero Days has lots of action. For most of the book Jack is on the run and her background plays a big role in her ability to evade law enforcement. A comparison to The Fugitive (one of my favorite movies) is fair. When the story moves into Jack’s despair over losing her husband, the emotions are raw and real. Ms Ware is quite adept at portraying Jack’s grief and uncertainty. However, it seemed to be repeated a little too much and it slowed down the story’s pace and focus. Also, I’m usually not able to identify “the bad guy” or see the final twist at the end of the story. But, early on I was pretty sure I had figured out both the identity of the murderer and the final conclusion.

Zero Days isn’t my favorite books by Ruth Ware but it’s a good read and I’d give it 3.5 stars. NetGalley provided an advanced copy.

Love her work but hard to finish, I did feel a connection to the protagonist and her grief was palpable. Ware truly knows how to portray human emotions well

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the eARC.

Jack and her husband Gabe are pen specialists - meaning they are hired by companies to hack into their computer systems (and buildings) to test their security. When a routine job goes south, Jack comes home to find her husband, Gabe, dead. Jack quickly becomes the top suspect as there are too many holes in her story. She quickly goes on the run, using her knowledge as a pen specialist to try to track her husband's murderer.

I enjoyed this novel by Ruth Ware. It sucked me in, and I read it over two days. The murderer is identified at the halfway point in the novel, which is an interesting writing technique - you spend the rest of the novel trying to figure out the way and the how. It's not my favorite Ruth Ware novel, but I did enjoy it and would recommend it!

Ruth Ware is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll get.

In previous novels, most bestsellers, Ware has channeled Agatha Christie and Daphne Du Maurier. She has trapped her heroines on cruise ships (“The Woman in Cabin 10”) and in ski chalets (“One by One”). Bachelorette parties (“In a Dark, Dark Wood”) and school reunions (“The Lying Game”) have gone fatally wrong.

What all those books — including her most recent, “The It Girl,” about the lingering hangover of a college murder — have in common is slow-burn suspense. A reader may feel as trapped as one of Ware’s protagonists as fear and suspicion grow into, eventually, a scramble to survive.

Well, that’s not the case with “Zero Days.” Ware’s latest takes a big plunge into action, with a lead character who’s more Clancy than Christie.

Jacintha Cross — call her Jack — is a “pen tester.” No, not ballpoints; she’s hired by companies to discover how easy, or hard, it is to penetrate their security. Back home, telling her in her ear that “you’ve got this,” is her husband, Gabe, a cybersecurity specialist.

But after a job that turns more complicated than she’d hoped, Jack gets home late to find her husband murdered at his computer. Reeling from the shock, she doesn’t realize until after her second questioning by police that they have a prime suspect: Jack herself.

From there, “Zero Days” is a runaway rollercoaster, as Jack bolts into hiding and launches her own investigation. If the cops have settled on her, she knows, they won’t search as they should for the real killer. So Jack will have to find the culprit herself. If she dies in the process, so be it.

With very little help, or money, and soon a nagging wound in her side, Jack bounces from one impossible situation to another. “Zero Days” feels like a natural for a streaming series, and in fact it was optioned for development even before publication.

Is it a perfect book? No. There’s a lot of techno-babble, and in fact the crucial plot point involves a destructive bug in a popular app. Figuring out whodunit, if not why, isn’t rocket science.

“Zero Days” is a lot of fun, though, a fast and exciting ride-along with the pluckiest fugitive since “The Fugitive.”

Thank you to Gallery-Scout Press for the ARC of Zero Days by Ruth Ware. I am personally a huge fan of books and movies where the main character is on the run or in hiding and has to make do with very little resources (think Jason Bourne). Zero Days definitely has that anxious, on-the-run plot line that makes you wonder, which direction you would take if you had no one to turn to or to trust. The very last of the book didn’t quite jive with my wishes, but I would still rate this book a 4/5 stars. It was a quick and thrilling read.

I've really enjoyed Ruth Ware's other thrillers and while this one still had a murder at the center, I'd say it felt very different in that it was almost like reading an action movie. When the main character's husband is found murdered, police think she's to blame and she has to go on the run to try and find the truth. The book had similar vibes to Enemy of the State, the 90s Will Smith movie -- fast paced, a deeper mystery/conspiracy that slowly gets uncovered, and a normal person who's life gets turned upside down. I like how the author didn't shy away from the realities of grief that hit after the husbands death. Ware also didn't sugar-coat being on the run. The main character had to live like a homeless person towards the end and was hungry and ill from malnourishment, stress, and injuries. The ending had a few surprises and some predictable elements that I saw coming but didn't mind too much. Overall, a really fast paced, thrilling read.

3.5 stars
This book started off with a bang and then became slightly predictably and began to drag. Ruth Ware always keeps my interest but if I had not read this in one day, I feel I would have forgotten what I read.

There is nothing that Ruth Ware could ever write that I won't love.

I know that Zero Days has been reviewed ad nauseum and I'm late to the game due to my husbands illness but I can't let that stop me from talking about how much I loved it.

I won't rehash the summary but instead focus on the whip smart plot that I found to be mind-blowingly brilliant and the strong yet flawed character of Jack who pulled it all together so beautifully. It was thrilling, tense, suspenseful AF and I read it in a day. Absolutely poetic in its brilliance.

I love that Ruth veered away from the gothic atmosphere of her novels and moved towards a more urban tech vibe! Bravo to that!

Well done and a big thank you to @GalleryBooks for this gifted hard copy and DRC.

Ruth Ware is one of my favorite authors and I really enjoyed Zero Days. It is a fast-paced thriller and even if I didn't understand all the techno jargon, I liked the main character very much. I really felt for her loss and was rooting for her the whole way. It was a little unbelievable, though, that she could do so much athletic type things, jumping from trains, climbing buildings, when she was so grievously injured.

First line: The wall around the perimeter was child’s play.

Summary: With the help of her hacker husband, Jack is hired and paid to break into companies to evaluate their security systems. One night after a job she comes home to Gabe dead at his computer. It looks like it was a professional job but the police are convinced she is to blame. Rather than letting the police pin her husband’s murder on her, Jack goes on the run trying to find who would kill Gabe and why. Using her expertise with security systems and street smarts she dives into the dark underworld of the hacking sphere to clear her name before she becomes the next target.

My Thoughts: I actually really enjoyed the newest Ruth Ware book. Her books have been hit or miss for me but this one was an epic cat and mouse game. From almost the very beginning we are thrown into a world that is moving at a very quick pace. Jack is an intelligent and easy to cheer for protagonist. She deals with things that many people would have no knowledge about but Ware does not make her unbelievable. Jack knows her limits and draws on information she has gathered through years on the job and tips picked up from Gabe.

The one part I was a little bummed by was the fact that it was pretty easy to know who was behind everything. It is probably harder now though with so many books in this genre to create something as twisty and shocking as it was just a few years ago before Gone Girl. But the buildup and tension was great fun for a summer read!

Zero Days by Ruth Ware has all the tried and true elements of a solid thriller, with a bit of a modern twist. Jack Cross and her husband are "Pen Testers," meaning companies hire them to break into their security systems (both physically and electronically) to find vulnerabilities. When Jack's husband is murdered, and she finds herself the prime suspect, she goes on the run to find his killers.

Zero Days kept my interest the entire time I was reading, and I enjoyed its exploration of themes like cybersecurity and "the Internet of Things." However, parts of the story were predictable, and I found it oversaturated with the main character's repetitive internal dialogue (she was also a bit late to pick up on very obvious clues, but I'm going to chalk that up to her exhaustion). Zero Days fits the bill if you're looking for an easy, quick thriller. That being said, this won't be a book I'll be sitting up at night thinking about now that I'm through.

A mystery-filled thriller that’ll catch you holding your breath and constantly flipping the page in a race against time.
Jack and her husband Gabe are penetration specialists, professionals at finding the holes in physical and cyber security. But when Jack returns home to find her husband murdered, the cops put her at the top of the suspect list. What ensues is a thriller while Jack is on the hunt to find out who is responsible.
This had a couple twists that surprised me but compared to some of Ruth Ware’s novels that instantly pulled me in, this fell a little flat.
Thank you to Gallery and Scout Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This is out now!

Exciting from the start. I couldn’t put it down. One of those books that have you holding your breath without realizing it. I had to set it down a couple of times just to breathe and soak it in. I figured out who the bad guy was pretty early, but I believe it was necessary. The thrill was seeing how it would play out. Jack is my new favorite heroine! First time reading this author. Definitely not the last.

DNF at 73%. Ugh. This book really didn’t work for me at all and I should have stopped much earlier. I was curious to see how it would end so I tried to make it through but ultimately decided I don’t care enough to spend another hour in this story. It’s way too over the top and Jack is too smart to be making all the dumb decisions she’s making. I’m fine just leaving her out in the world and not knowing how it ends. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

This one was different than I expected from this author, but I really enjoyed it. It was about a woman who was on the run from police while trying to figure out her husband's killer. I liked the main character, Jack. She was bad assed in every way. It was fast paced and the tension was high throughout. Even though I figured out the who, but not the why, it still held my interest. The ending was satisfying as well. Another hit by an excellent author!

Jack Cross and her husband Gabe break into buildings and hack security systems for a living. Companies hire them to do these things in order to find holes in their security. When Jack returns home from one such job, Gabe is dead. Quickly enough, Jack is the number one suspect. She is on the run, determined to find Gabe's true killer and save herself in the process.

This fast paced thriller takes us through the 6 days from Gabe's murder to the breath taking finale. I liked how quickly it moved and all the twists and turns. There's a lot going on all the time and never a good place to put this down!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Available June 20, 2023.

Great read! Definitely enjoyed this book from start to finish. I particularly loved the ending. Glad I was given the opportunity to preview it.

Married couple Jacinta (Jack) and Gabe do everything together, including their jobs. They are security professionals, hired to penetrate companies, looking for weaknesses. Their hopes and dreams are wound up in each other. Then the unthinkable happens and Gabe is murdered. Before she knows it, the evidence seems to be pointing at Jack, and the police do not seem to be looking at anyone but her. Suddenly, Jack is racing against time, trying to find Gabe's murderer and prove her innocence.

This is a fascinating thriller with many twists and turns. The characters are well-written and Jack is a compellling protagonist. the plot is well thought out, although it does move slowly at times. The red herrings are successful in this story, and the personalities of the characters come to life. The resolution of the story is shocking and unexpected.

One thing that I want to point out is that there are many, many ways to express shock, surprise, anger, and frustration. It does not always have to be the "F" word. The overuse of that one word in this story made it somewhat less creative.

Overall, fans of mysteries and thrillers will enjoy this "on the run" story that will keep them guessing.

I received a free copy of this book from Gallery Books via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Jack and her husband Gabe are pen testers- they break in and hack buildings to test their security measures. Jack does the physical stuff (breaking in, dropping flashdrives, gaining access) and Gabe handles the computer stuff (hacking, looking for vulnerabilities, and testing cyber security). After an assignment goes wrong and Jack ends up in custody for awhile, she returns home to find Gabe has been murdered. After the police start looking into the murder, they begin to suspect Jack. And when she gets an email confirming the million dollar life insurance policy "she" took out on him, she knows she is about to be wrongly arrested. She slips out of the "voluntary" interrogation and is on the run for nearly the entirety of the book while trying to solve who the killer really was.

Ruth Ware is very hit or miss for me, but I will continue to read every book she releases. This one was very different than her usual books, but it was not my favorite. In general I feel her books tend to be about 60 pages longer than they need to be. She adds in a lot of fluff and this one felt like it had more than usual. Two pages describing her crying into pillows when she was supposed to be on the run? Too much. I also knew who the "bad guy" was nearly immediately after he was introduced. Jack made a lotttt of questionable decisions, but I also think I over judged a lot of her interactions with the person at fault for Gabe's death since I had a feeling that they were at fault all along.

Thank you Netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was my most anticipated book this month. But unfortunately, it was kind of boring. The characters and subject did not interest me and I just could not connect to it enough to enjoy it.