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I unexpectedly liked this book! I went in blind because I somehow got this book mixed up with Rock Paper Scissors and dove right in.π
I've had better luck with Alice Feeney than Ruth Ware, but I was pleasantly surprised with this story.
Jacintha "Jack" Cross and her husband Gabe are professional "pen testers." They are hired by companies to test their own securities. They essentially break in and attempt to acquire sensitive information. They then report back to the companies and inform them of any weaknesses. After one particularly grueling job, Jack arrives home late to find Gabe gruesomely murdered. It becomes obvious after a couple of days of the police investigation that Jack was set up to take the fall for the murder. The police just simply think she did it. During a second interrogation at the police station, Jack makes a reckless decision. She leaves the station while waiting for her lawyer and goes on the run. Finding out who's responsible for her husband's murder while evading the police will NOT be easy, but in some ways, Jack has been in training for this for years. The stakes are raised when Jack obtains a serious injury. The anxiety is super heightened at each point of her journey.
I didn't absolutely love this book - it was a bit too long and drawn out tbh. I did have a good time reading it, though, and I cared about how Jack would survive her ordeal.
Jacintha "Jack" Cross and her husband Gabe are professional "pen testers." They are hired by companies to test their own securities. They essentially break in and attempt to acquire sensitive information. They then report back to the companies and inform them of any weaknesses. After one particularly grueling job, Jack arrives home late to find Gabe gruesomely murdered. It becomes obvious after a couple of days of the police investigation that Jack was set up to take the fall for the murder. The police just simply think she did it. During a second interrogation at the police station, Jack makes a reckless decision. She leaves the station while waiting for her lawyer and goes on the run. Finding out who's responsible for her husband's murder while evading the police will NOT be easy, but in some ways, Jack has been in training for this for years. The stakes are raised when Jack obtains a serious injury. The anxiety is super heightened at each point of her journey.
I didn't absolutely love this book - it was a bit too long and drawn out tbh. I did have a good time reading it, though, and I cared about how Jack would survive her ordeal.
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A good quick read picked to cross Z off my alphabet soup challenge.
The story had good plot and moved at an excellent pace. It is well written. It was a little predictable but I still enjoyed it.
The story had good plot and moved at an excellent pace. It is well written. It was a little predictable but I still enjoyed it.
I missed the usual locked room setting from this author, but liked the main character and mystery. A bit more of a thriller than a suspense.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
To be fair, I still have It Girl and One by One on my shelf at home, waiting to be read. But I couldn't resist grabbing this from the library when it came out, since Ruth Ware is one of my favorite authors.
Zero Days was nothing like what I expect from her. She's so good at an unreliable narrator, the anxiety inducing sense of not knowing if you truly experienced something, or if your mind is playing tricks on you. Zero Days didn't have that, but even so, it didn't miss a beat!
Jack and her husband Gabe are pen testers. They are hired by businesses to test their security - Jack does the physical part, testing the actual facility, while Gabe works on the technical side, seeing if they have any online threats or weaknesses.
After a job goes wrong, Jack ends up in police custody. Her contact at the company is unreachable, so they don't believe her when she tells them she was hired to break in. Finally everything gets sorted out and she arrives home, exhausted, only to find that her husband has been murdered.
Everything is a blur as she's questioned and their house becomes a crime scene. Jack's sister picks her up, and after a deep fall into sleep, she tells them the whole story. Her sister, a journalist, and her sister's husband, a lawyer, advise Jack to get a lawyer. They know she didn't do it, but from how everything happened, it sounds like she'll be considered suspect number one. Jack doesn't follow their advice, thinking that coming in the next day with a lawyer would seem suspicious. Only to find that the tone of the officer's questioning has changed. Then an email comes in confirming that her life insurance policy on Gabe is active - something Jack is sure neither of them set up. Her already flimsy story now has what it was missing - a motive.
Jack realizes that she's somehow been set up. If she reveals the life insurance policy, they'll arrest her for sure. Since they both her and Gabe's phones, it'll only be a matter of time until they see it for themselves. Thinking she has no other option, Jack runs.
This was definitely different from what I've expected and enjoyed of Ruth Ware in the past. Some elements were the same, but this was definitely more of a chase thriller than psychological. I enjoyed the story and read it quickly, soon unable to put it down as Jack investigated her husband's last days, trying to figure out what possible reason there was for somebody wanting to kill him. I grew more sympathetic to Jack and liked her more as the story went on. For a Ruth Ware book, it wasn't quite as good as I was hoping, but if I'd picked it up from another author, I'd have been more than satisfied. The tough expectations from authors you thoroughly enjoy!
Zero Days was nothing like what I expect from her. She's so good at an unreliable narrator, the anxiety inducing sense of not knowing if you truly experienced something, or if your mind is playing tricks on you. Zero Days didn't have that, but even so, it didn't miss a beat!
Jack and her husband Gabe are pen testers. They are hired by businesses to test their security - Jack does the physical part, testing the actual facility, while Gabe works on the technical side, seeing if they have any online threats or weaknesses.
After a job goes wrong, Jack ends up in police custody. Her contact at the company is unreachable, so they don't believe her when she tells them she was hired to break in. Finally everything gets sorted out and she arrives home, exhausted, only to find that her husband has been murdered.
Everything is a blur as she's questioned and their house becomes a crime scene. Jack's sister picks her up, and after a deep fall into sleep, she tells them the whole story. Her sister, a journalist, and her sister's husband, a lawyer, advise Jack to get a lawyer. They know she didn't do it, but from how everything happened, it sounds like she'll be considered suspect number one. Jack doesn't follow their advice, thinking that coming in the next day with a lawyer would seem suspicious. Only to find that the tone of the officer's questioning has changed. Then an email comes in confirming that her life insurance policy on Gabe is active - something Jack is sure neither of them set up. Her already flimsy story now has what it was missing - a motive.
Jack realizes that she's somehow been set up. If she reveals the life insurance policy, they'll arrest her for sure. Since they both her and Gabe's phones, it'll only be a matter of time until they see it for themselves. Thinking she has no other option, Jack runs.
This was definitely different from what I've expected and enjoyed of Ruth Ware in the past. Some elements were the same, but this was definitely more of a chase thriller than psychological. I enjoyed the story and read it quickly, soon unable to put it down as Jack investigated her husband's last days, trying to figure out what possible reason there was for somebody wanting to kill him. I grew more sympathetic to Jack and liked her more as the story went on. For a Ruth Ware book, it wasn't quite as good as I was hoping, but if I'd picked it up from another author, I'd have been more than satisfied. The tough expectations from authors you thoroughly enjoy!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated