Zero Days by Ruth Ware [7/10]

The thriller genre is a crowded one and there are always “best seller” authors in it pumping out seemingly “thrilling” books. Unless you specialise exclusively in the genre, you are never going to stay fully on top of it. I had noticed Ruth Ware for a few years but until now had not tackled any of her seven thrillers, until I blitzed Zero Days in two evenings. The title refers to a nefarious “exploit” that hackers use to take over remote computers and systems, and the plot is straight out of Robert Ludlum’s playbook: when Gabe’s husband and fellow “computer security penetration consultant” is killed, with Gabe the inevitable suspect, she goes on the run and, using her “white knight” hacking skills, desperately seeks answers. Propulsive and artfully plotted, with well delineated characters, Zero Days is a top-notch thriller. If the style, a breathless “in the character’s head” one, weighed me down a tad, that was a reflection of my druthers, and you may well appreciate every page. Recommended.