‘Two Hours To Vanish. One Chance To Escape.’ - cover tag line. My thanks to Pan Macmillan for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Going Zero’ by Anthony McCarten. This high concept thriller certainly delivered! Just a few details as it’s the kind of novel that I feel is best read ‘cold’ for maximum impact. Silicon Valley billionaire Cy Baxter has developed a ground-breaking piece of spyware, named FUSION, that can track anyone wherever they are on earth. But does it work? Cy’s company, WorldShare, is about to conduct a field test to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Fusion Initiative. Ten people have been carefully selected to test it. They receive their acceptance letter and advised that in seven days at 12:00 they will receive an alert to ‘Go Zero’. They will then have two hours to go off-grid and disappear. Then for thirty days they have to elude the highly sophisticated Capture Teams sent to find them. Any Zero that beats FUSION will receive $3 million in cash. At stake is a $90 billion government contract with the CIA to develop FUSION further and revolutionize surveillance forever. The narrative focuses on Boston librarian Kaitlyn Day, aka Zero 10, as well how things are going at Fusion Central. The other Zeros also feature. I won’t say more in order to avoid spoilers. Overall, ‘Going Zero’ proved a very cleverly plotted thriller that addresses questions about the degree to which technology has impinged upon our privacy. I was so riveted by ‘Going Zero’ that I read it in a single day as it proved impossible to put down.

This was such an entertaining read. The idea of the CIA having all of these technologies at their fingertips is slightly terrifying, especially as it isn't beyond the scope of reality and most governments probably have capabilities beyond our ken. Having a competition to test those capabilities and seeing people's strategies was brilliant. But then things get complicated and that's when it became impossible to put the book down.

I was a big fan of the Channel 4 TV series ‘Hunted’, so the premise of ‘Going Zero’, featuring a competition where contestants try to disappear to test private and government tech was really intriguing. I loved the first half of the book where the competition is in full swing. The book is really well paced and although there are 10 contestants, they are introduced slowly so you never felt overwhelmed. The fact that they are introduced as both their names and numbers during each chapter also really helped it not to get too confusing. There are some characters that are introduced and lose the game in one chapter and some that are around throughout. I thought the characters were nicely varied and there were some really funny moments in this part of the book. The chapters are headed up with the location of the characters, but they change locations often (they are on the run after all!). I think perhaps using their ID Number would have been less confusing, particularly as someone who doesn’t know American geography very well. The chapters are also interspersed with the perspective from the hunters, led by Cy Baxter, who’s a bit of an Elon Musk type character. He’s not particularly likeable and we see a real darker side to him start to come out as the game progresses. The latter half of the book then turns into a bit of a techno-thriller, full of hacking and politics and meetings. I must admit that I didn’t really enjoy this half as much as I had enjoyed the first half. I knew that something darker would be happening, but I was hoping for something else rather than what was presented. The ending seemed a bit far-fetched and was a little disappointing. I’m aware that this is very much a personal preference though! Overall, Going Zero is a brilliant premise and has a perfectly paced and gripping first half, but I was less enamoured by the second half of the book. Thank you to NetGalley & Pan Macmillan for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Despite its intriguing premise and layered mysteries, the novel was fundamentally missing characters that I could feel a connection to and left me wanting more. Would I recommend?… If you prefer books that are plot-driven and don’t concern themselves much with characters, you might have better luck than I did Read if you like: - futuristic thrillers - insane plot twists - multiple perspectives Thank you to Pan Macmillan for kindly sending me the ARC.