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A review by willrefuge
Going Zero by Anthony McCarten
4.0
7.5 / 10 ✪
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2023/07/13/going-zero-by-andrew-mccarten-review/
In Going Zero, ten contestants get the opportunity of a lifetime. All they have to do is “go zero”, go dark such that the United States government—or more specifically, its new 3rd-party surveillance firm—cannot find them. Should they remain off-radar, undetected, uncaptured, they will receive $3 million. Cash.
Welcome to the opportunity of a lifetime: for one of ten contestants, or one private security firm.
The stakes are thus: when they receive a well-timed text, ten selected individuals representing a cross-section of Americans—including former security consultants, veterans, police, and… librarians—must “go zero”: go dark such that the United States government cannot find them. Should they remain off-radar, undetected, uncaptured for thirty days, one lucky and elusive contestant will walk away with $3 million. In cash.
The contestants are up against FUSION—a private security and surveillance company run by Cy Baxter, competing for one of the most expensive and lucrative contracts in US history. All they have to do is locate and capture each of the ten contestants—and be awarded with a $90 billion contract to develop FUSION and change the way surveillance works forever.
The stakes are immense, more so than most really understand. For Cy Baxter, this is everything; the only thing that matters. Built as an homage to his childhood friend—along with the help of that same friend’s sister and Cy’s partner and girlfriend—FUSION aims to prevent any such tragedy such as the one that claimed his friend. That, and 90 billion dollars. For Kaitlyn Day, however, the stakes are even higher. The represent a chance. One chance. For a miracle. But to even have a chance at this extremely improbable chance she must win the contest—and do it in a very specific way.
But as the days wear on, and Kaitlyn remains at large, her chances begin to look better, and Cy’s worse. The problem being—only one can win. But who will it be? And how far will they go to improve their chances?
—
As far as thrillers go, this wasn’t a bad one by any means, though I had a few issues with the process. One thing I want to get to right away: other than the public normalcy surrounding the domestic use of drones—this is not science fiction. There is some terrifying applications of surveillance techniques and equipment, but I couldn’t peg a single one of them as science fiction. All of them are either commonplace today, or things that will be in the not-so-distant future. Even some of the more cringe-worthy, creepy things in this book are very real. The real terrifying part of this book is not that companies can and will collect your personal data (and sell it), invasively track you and predict your habits, but that the NSA and FBI and whatever other federal agencies would ever contract them out to fulfill the nation’s surveillance needs.
Annnnyway, the story is a good one; ten contestants versus one private company, but with a twist. Several twists, actually, before the end. It’s a plot that should keep your attention, keep you motivated to keep reading, even before the kicker itself. And when that kicks in—well, you’ve got to finish the book after that.
What surprised me about Going Zero was the characters. I would’ve expected a deep dive into each of the characters in turn, from the first to go to the very last, but instead we get a briefing on each one, and then so much more on one in particular. I mean, you shouldn’t be surprised, really, if you read the blurb (not only mine, but the official one (that I felt gave even more away somehow)), but while there are some other important contestants, this really boils down to a one-on-one by the end. Well, one person versus one ridiculously overpowered tech company. Even knowing that beforehand, it’s still a good book. And while our focus is naturally drawn to those two characters, there remains some room for surprises. And surprise characters.
Some of the issues that I had with the story itself include that they didn’t prevent contestants from leaving the country—which spoiler: someone absolutely does—they leave quite a lot out of the background checks and other security that a techno-thriller really should’ve included but wasn’t (for story reasons), and… well, some other more spoilery things that I won’t mention.
TL; DR
Going Zero isn’t the best thriller (or techno-thriller) you’ll ever read, but it’s not like it’s bad. A solid read with solid characters, and a plot that just begs to be finished—especially past a certain point. This book has quite a few twists and turns, which make up for its early missteps and somewhat obvious loopholes included for story-reasons. It’s basically a futuristic novelization of the TV show Hunted (which I have never actually seen, but did google, and other reviewers insist is the case). In fact, my main issue with Going Zero wasn’t its plot, premise, cast or setting, but instead its classification as science fiction; so much of it is commonplace nowadays, or near-future at the very least. In fact the only thing really fiction about the premise is that the US hasn’t hired out a private company to takeover its surveillance—YET. In short, this is a terrifying book for so many reasons (but most of them owing nothing to fiction), an entertaining read for so many more, and a great thriller for all the rest. Not perfect, but by no means bad.
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2023/07/13/going-zero-by-andrew-mccarten-review/
In Going Zero, ten contestants get the opportunity of a lifetime. All they have to do is “go zero”, go dark such that the United States government—or more specifically, its new 3rd-party surveillance firm—cannot find them. Should they remain off-radar, undetected, uncaptured, they will receive $3 million. Cash.
Welcome to the opportunity of a lifetime: for one of ten contestants, or one private security firm.
The stakes are thus: when they receive a well-timed text, ten selected individuals representing a cross-section of Americans—including former security consultants, veterans, police, and… librarians—must “go zero”: go dark such that the United States government cannot find them. Should they remain off-radar, undetected, uncaptured for thirty days, one lucky and elusive contestant will walk away with $3 million. In cash.
The contestants are up against FUSION—a private security and surveillance company run by Cy Baxter, competing for one of the most expensive and lucrative contracts in US history. All they have to do is locate and capture each of the ten contestants—and be awarded with a $90 billion contract to develop FUSION and change the way surveillance works forever.
The stakes are immense, more so than most really understand. For Cy Baxter, this is everything; the only thing that matters. Built as an homage to his childhood friend—along with the help of that same friend’s sister and Cy’s partner and girlfriend—FUSION aims to prevent any such tragedy such as the one that claimed his friend. That, and 90 billion dollars. For Kaitlyn Day, however, the stakes are even higher. The represent a chance. One chance. For a miracle. But to even have a chance at this extremely improbable chance she must win the contest—and do it in a very specific way.
But as the days wear on, and Kaitlyn remains at large, her chances begin to look better, and Cy’s worse. The problem being—only one can win. But who will it be? And how far will they go to improve their chances?
—
As far as thrillers go, this wasn’t a bad one by any means, though I had a few issues with the process. One thing I want to get to right away: other than the public normalcy surrounding the domestic use of drones—this is not science fiction. There is some terrifying applications of surveillance techniques and equipment, but I couldn’t peg a single one of them as science fiction. All of them are either commonplace today, or things that will be in the not-so-distant future. Even some of the more cringe-worthy, creepy things in this book are very real. The real terrifying part of this book is not that companies can and will collect your personal data (and sell it), invasively track you and predict your habits, but that the NSA and FBI and whatever other federal agencies would ever contract them out to fulfill the nation’s surveillance needs.
Annnnyway, the story is a good one; ten contestants versus one private company, but with a twist. Several twists, actually, before the end. It’s a plot that should keep your attention, keep you motivated to keep reading, even before the kicker itself. And when that kicks in—well, you’ve got to finish the book after that.
What surprised me about Going Zero was the characters. I would’ve expected a deep dive into each of the characters in turn, from the first to go to the very last, but instead we get a briefing on each one, and then so much more on one in particular. I mean, you shouldn’t be surprised, really, if you read the blurb (not only mine, but the official one (that I felt gave even more away somehow)), but while there are some other important contestants, this really boils down to a one-on-one by the end. Well, one person versus one ridiculously overpowered tech company. Even knowing that beforehand, it’s still a good book. And while our focus is naturally drawn to those two characters, there remains some room for surprises. And surprise characters.
Some of the issues that I had with the story itself include that they didn’t prevent contestants from leaving the country—which spoiler: someone absolutely does—they leave quite a lot out of the background checks and other security that a techno-thriller really should’ve included but wasn’t (for story reasons), and… well, some other more spoilery things that I won’t mention.
TL; DR
Going Zero isn’t the best thriller (or techno-thriller) you’ll ever read, but it’s not like it’s bad. A solid read with solid characters, and a plot that just begs to be finished—especially past a certain point. This book has quite a few twists and turns, which make up for its early missteps and somewhat obvious loopholes included for story-reasons. It’s basically a futuristic novelization of the TV show Hunted (which I have never actually seen, but did google, and other reviewers insist is the case). In fact, my main issue with Going Zero wasn’t its plot, premise, cast or setting, but instead its classification as science fiction; so much of it is commonplace nowadays, or near-future at the very least. In fact the only thing really fiction about the premise is that the US hasn’t hired out a private company to takeover its surveillance—YET. In short, this is a terrifying book for so many reasons (but most of them owing nothing to fiction), an entertaining read for so many more, and a great thriller for all the rest. Not perfect, but by no means bad.