Book Review – Zero Days by Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware has entered the world of hacking, and I was a bit surprised by the direction of this book. And I’ll admit to almost not making it out of the first chapter before giving up on it, but I am glad I finished it.

Zero Days follows Jack, a woman who breaks into secure buildings for a living to test the faults of security systems. When her husband and business partner is murdered and she is framed for it, she escapes police custody to search for her husbands real killer. Through injury and betrayal, she manages to find the truth that the police couldn’t.

Like I said, I barely made it out of the first chapter. This was such a departure from Ruth Ware’s other work that I was surprised at the subject matter. But, by the third chapter, it reverted to her usual world of untrustworthy characters in bad situations. When I read about her inspiration for this one, I found out that she spent her time in lockdown listening to podcasts about hacking and internet security. Then I understood. This was the result of her lockdown experience.

Don’t worry, though. This book, once it gets going, is hard to put down. You root for Jack for she is in an impossible situation. She is in a fight agains time for her injuries are bad enough to kill her if she doesn’t find the truth soon enough. It’s a slow starter, and I don’t feel like I knew Jack’s husband well enough to really care about his death, but Jack cared and I cared for her.

Four out of five stars, mainly for the second half of the book which is where the story really succeeds.