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A review by outsmartyourshelf
Zero Days by Ruth Ware
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Jacinta (Jack) Cross & her husband, Gabe Medway are 'penetration specialists' (ahem) who are people hired by companies to test their physical & online security systems. On this particular assignment, things go wrong & Jack ends up being arrested for breaking & entering. Her skeevy ex (who is a police officer) vouches for her & Jack is finally released, only to head home & find her husband has been murdered. As things unfold, it becomes obvious that someone is framing Jack for Gabe's murder, & the detectives on the case immediately hone in on Jack as their only suspect. Jack has to go on the run to find Gabe's killers & clear her name.
OK this one is largely entertaining in that it has a fast pace & keeps the readers' attention - think a more tech-based 'The Fugitive'. It has one or two issues though: firstly the low level bad guy is wayyy too easy to spot, & secondly, you really have to suspend your disbelief at times. There are also one or two questions I had that are never cleared up. We never find out why the guy at the first company, who was supposed to vouch for Jack if she was apprehended by onsite security, didn't answer his phone. Was that just an unfortunate coincidence or was it engineered somehow to give the killer time to dispatch Gabe? Otherwise the killer would have no idea when Jack would return home, she could have walked in in the middle of the murder. The reader also never finds out who the top masterminds behind it all were, they're just kind of faceless. It's not my favourite of the author's books & I probably wouldn't re-read it. 3.5 stars (rounded up)
OK this one is largely entertaining in that it has a fast pace & keeps the readers' attention - think a more tech-based 'The Fugitive'. It has one or two issues though: firstly the low level bad guy is wayyy too easy to spot, & secondly, you really have to suspend your disbelief at times. There are also one or two questions I had that are never cleared up. We never find out why the guy at the first company, who was supposed to vouch for Jack if she was apprehended by onsite security, didn't answer his phone. Was that just an unfortunate coincidence or was it engineered somehow to give the killer time to dispatch Gabe? Otherwise the killer would have no idea when Jack would return home, she could have walked in in the middle of the murder. The reader also never finds out who the top masterminds behind it all were, they're just kind of faceless. It's not my favourite of the author's books & I probably wouldn't re-read it. 3.5 stars (rounded up)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Injury/Injury detail