Going Zero: A Novel

by Anthony McCarten Narrated by Marin Ireland

Overview

TWO HOURS TO VANISH.

ONE CHANCE TO ESCAPE.

ZERO ALTERNATIVES.

Ten Americans have been carefully selected to Beta test a ground-breaking piece of spyware.*FUSION can track anyone on earth. But does it work?

For one contestant, an unassuming Boston librarian named Kaitlyn Day, the stakes are far higher than money, and her reasons for entering the test more personal than anyone imagines.**When the timer hits zero, there will only be one winner...

From four-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Anthony McCarten comes a breakneck, wickedly entertaining thriller for our times, a twisty, action-packed novel reminiscent of the best Michael Crichton technothrillers.

Editorial Reviews

MAY 2023 - AudioFile

Thanks to Marin Ireland's sure-footed narration, listeners will eagerly follow Kaitlyn Day through multiple plot twists in this thriller. Kaitlyn is one of 10 Americans who have been selected to beta test Fusion, spyware, which was developed by the CIA, ostensibly to track down terrorists. At the appointed time, when all the participants receive a text telling them to "Go Zero," they turn off their cell phones and disappear off the grid. Whoever evades discovery will win a big paycheck--but what if neither side is playing by the rules? Kaitlyn, a librarian with no apparent spook skills, turns out to be a worthy opponent, though the ultimate enemy is elusive. In a world grappling with cell phone tracking and AI overreach, this is a timely and absorbing tale. L.W.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

02/06/2023

In screenwriter McCarten’s strong debut, Fusion, a Silicon Valley company led by flawed genius Cy Baxter, is competing for a $90 billion contract to provide the federal government with a massive new surveillance system, promoted as a public good but concealing several nefarious features. To test the system, Fusion picks 10 contestants from the public, gives each a two-hour head start, and promises anyone $3 Emillion if they can stay undetected for 30 days. One builds a hidden room in his house; another holes up in a storage locker; a third tries to blend in with the homeless. One contestant, Boston librarian Kaitlyn Day, does more than hide. On day 28, Kaitlyn stuns Baxter with a zinger: use Fusion’s power to locate her lost husband, believed to have disappeared in Iran three years earlier on a CIA mission, or she’ll reveal the company’s deceptive promises to the government. McCarten taps into the current fascination—and revulsion—with modern advances in facial recognition, AI, and location data, though chase story fans may like more chase and less techno navel-gazing. This is an edgy, compulsively readable thriller. Agent: Jennifer Joel, ICM Partners. (Apr.)This review has been updated to remove a plot spoiler

From the Publisher

Going Zero is the first novel I've read in years that speeds the pulse as much as it challenges the brain. That can-you-beat-the-system hook recalls the juggernaut likes of Ready Player One and Lost, but Going Zero outpaces them both, and dives deeper: it's a speculative-fiction classic in the vein (and even in the league) of I, Robot and Jurassic Park—a thriller you can gobble down with a bucket of popcorn, and also feel smarter for having read. Provocative, perceptive, and—no other word will do—ingenious.” — A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

“Crackling . . . Shimmers with alarming portents about the state we find ourselves in” . . . . How can some random 'unsavvy citizen' . . . outwit the world’s sharpest spyware experts? The answer is more tangled than you might think, and a great deal of fun.” — Sarah Lyall, The New York Times Book Review

“This is one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time, although the word 'thriller' doesn’t quite capture the sheer pleasure of reading this story, with its wickedly clever set-up, its unassuming librarian protagonist, its twisty plot and surprise ending. Beyond pure entertainment is the truth this novel speaks about the disturbing times we live in. I highly, highly recommend this book.” — Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Cabinet of Dr. Leng and The Lost City of the Monkey God

“As fast-paced as it is timely…Anthony McCarten shoots a bullet through contemporary America with this wickedly taut conspiracy thriller. I'll never look at my phone the same way again.”  — Graham Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Days of Night and The Sherlockian

"Going Zero starts out as an action adventure thriller—part The Amazing Race, part Hunted USA, part Michael Crichton technothriller . . . .  But it’s not all action: McCarten is a screenwriter, and knows just when to pump the brakes to let the characters shine through, and the plot thicken. Ultimately, if the prospect of a digital Big Brother wasn’t terrifying you up until now, allow Going Zero to rectify that." — Amazon Books

“A story that is timely, frightening, exciting, suspenseful, and surprising . . . .There are a lot of well-crafted characters . . . and secrets and neck-wrenching plot twists abound . . . The subject of high-tech surveillance has become a hot-button issue, and McCarten cleverly and plausibly extrapolates from today’s technology to what we may well see tomorrow. An outstanding thriller.” — Booklist (starred review)

". . . an edgy, compulsively readable thriller." — Publishers Weekly

"This well-written yarn proves that you don't have to have a blood bath to have an engaging thriller." — Kirkus Reviews

"Going Zero is clever, intelligent, action-packed, exciting and full of surprises. This novel belongs on top of your TBR list!" — BookTrib

“[A] relentless new nailbiter from novelist and playwright Anthony McCarten. It is a speculative thriller very much in the vein of a top-ranked video game or, believe it or not, of our current daily news coverage. . . . . It’s all intended to be a cautionary tale, and it is awfully good as such, but McCarten’s genuine skill lies in the sleek, cunning way he relishes pulling the rug out from under us time and again.” — Anniston Star

“In a world grappling with cell phone tracking and AI overreach, this is a timely and absorbing tale.” — Audiofile Magazine

"Fast-paced and shrill, Going Zero will find plenty of fans." — Reviewing the Evidence

"This is a great action-thriller, with major twists and turns, and you will not want to put it down. It will be one of the best books of the year." — RedCarpetCrash

MAY 2023 - AudioFile

Thanks to Marin Ireland's sure-footed narration, listeners will eagerly follow Kaitlyn Day through multiple plot twists in this thriller. Kaitlyn is one of 10 Americans who have been selected to beta test Fusion, spyware, which was developed by the CIA, ostensibly to track down terrorists. At the appointed time, when all the participants receive a text telling them to "Go Zero," they turn off their cell phones and disappear off the grid. Whoever evades discovery will win a big paycheck--but what if neither side is playing by the rules? Kaitlyn, a librarian with no apparent spook skills, turns out to be a worthy opponent, though the ultimate enemy is elusive. In a world grappling with cell phone tracking and AI overreach, this is a timely and absorbing tale. L.W.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2023-02-08
A complex thriller written by a four-time Academy Award–nominated screenwriter.

The American government secretly partners with a firm called Fusion to find ways to identify and locate potential terrorists on American soil. Fusion claims its software can find anyone, anytime, anywhere. Because we aren't China, muses an executive, America's “technology such as this will be deployed only as the need arises.” (Oh, sure.) To conduct a beta test, they randomly select 10 applicants from the public who, at a given signal, must try to suddenly disappear and become untraceable. That turns out to be a near impossibility in the 21st century, what with credit cards, cameras, cellphones, and the internet. But the incentive is $3 million, and there is no penalty for being caught beyond hearing that it's time to go home. Everyone thinks they are clever about disappearing, but half of them go home quickly anyway. The focus turns to “Zero 10,” aka Kaitlyn Day, a quiet “Boston spinster” and “super-intelligent nutcase” librarian. While she's on the run, she thinks about her friend Warren, who had already disappeared and is maybe being held captive in the Middle East somewhere. She is exceptionally resourceful, as when she falls into a well deep in the woods and seems to have no way out. This is a curious type of thriller, with sparse violence and no outright villains. The excitement is in the chase, which builds steadily. Is Zero 10 going to screw up their proof-of-concept software? The complications build, and the reader had better pay attention. Eventually, the government is looking for Kaitlyn's friend Samantha Crewe instead, and both women have an emotional attachment to the missing Warren, who is Samantha’s husband. Meanwhile, is there a real cyberattack to deal with, perhaps the biggest data breach in history? The find-anyone-anywhere premise of the story will become increasingly relevant as the 21st century progresses. Good luck to American society.

This well-written yarn proves that you don't have to have a blood bath to have an engaging thriller.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175881777
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/11/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	661,903

Videos