Book info

• Title Zero Day
• Author David Baldacci
• Year 2011
• Genre Thriller

Distinguished as a top investigator in the US government, John Puller is called in to conduct an enquiry into the brutal murders of a family in a remote area of West Virginia. It soon becomes clear that the case has wider implications and as the body count rises he teams up with local homicide detective Samantha Cole. As the web of deceit is revealed, it quickly becomes apparent that there's much more to this case than they had first thought. It is an investigation where nothing is as it seems, and nothing can be taken at face value.

Thoughts

This took a while to pick up speed, but that made the pay-off even better. It’s the kind of thriller where things start slow, and gradually the stakes ramp up, the mystery gets layered on, and you end up in a situation where the main characters effectively have to save the world. I never wanted to stop reading, despite the slow start.

Puller is an interesting character, upright and meticulous but not without a softer side, it was fun to watch him develop slightly over the course of the book, although the turn of events suggest he might be back to uptight in the next book. I’m definitely going to read the next in the series and see what on earth happens next.

Rating: 4 / 5