Blog Tour Review: Zero Days – Ruth Ware

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

About The Book

International bestseller Ruth Ware returns with this adrenaline-fueled thriller about a woman in a race against time to clear her name and find her husband’s killer.

Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband Gabe are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their only suspect – her.

On the run and out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the truth in this unputdownable and heart-pounding mystery from ‘one of the best thriller writers around today’ Ruth Ware. 

My Review

Zero Days by Ruth Ware opens with a bang. Jack and her husband Gabe are breaking into a business, finding their way into the server room and attempting to hack their computer services. Jack is on the ground, listening to instructions from Gabe who is at home, watching her every move, telling her which routes to avoid and where trouble may lie. It is tense, high octane, heart pounding stuff.

Later, when Jack arrives home exhausted and starving, she finds Gabe at his desk, his throat cut and surrounded by blood. It soon becomes apparent that the police have a suspect in mind; Jack, and what ensues is a cat and mouse game between a woman who is grieving and a police force intent on finding the culprit of a gruesome murder. But is all it seems? Did Jack really murder her husband, or is something more nefarious afoot?

I love to read kick-ass female characters, and Jack is certainly one of those. Ware reveals her back story slowly, allowing us to get to know her and her motivations. She is both fearless and smart, borne from some difficult and traumatic events in her past, but she is also highly skilled. She is able to gain entry into buildings she shouldn’t be in and accessing tech that is beyond the scope of the average person. She is not only on the run, she is trying to find out who killed Gabe, and why, and with no real plan she is forced to utilise every resource at her disposal.

Ware writes a woman on the edge, a woman desperate to clear her name whilst grieving for the man she loves. These complex emotions cause her to make some silly decisions, and although she is brave and fierce, she isn’t always very sensible. There were times that I was internally screaming at her for doing the wrong thing, and knowing that she was putting herself deeply into danger.

I’ve read a few Ruth Ware books, and really enjoyed The IT Girl so was looking forward to reading Zero Days. It is very different in tone to The IT Girl, and to other Ruth Ware books that I have read, and feels a little darker in some ways in terms of the subject matter. At its heart is grief, and loss, but I did feel a little disconnected from Gabe, as we never really get a chance to meet him so I didn’t feel an emotional connection or sense of loss at his death. I did feel the urgency and panic of Jack though, and really rooted for her to succeed.

Ware has written a very readable mystery, with intrigue and suspense in Zero Days. It felt like an action film at times, with lots of fast paced scenes which were enjoyable to read. If cat and mouse thrillers are your thing then Zero Days could be for you.