Zeroes by Chuck Wendig

Zeroes by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Hack yeah another great read this year. With The Silence of Six still in my memory as the book to beat I could not wait to get my hands on Zeroes. As an avid follower of Wendig's blog I have been eyeing since I first read the synopsis through one of his blog posts. This was also not long after binge watching Person of Interest and then learning it never got a follow up season. My depressed state was short lived after I spoiled myself for mothers day (perfume is dead I tell you). Nothing beats a good hacker/thriller.

Of course I will not be able to spoil anything. Which is incredibly hard. But what I can tell you is that Zeroes combines the good and the bad in a crazy straight jacket and runs around like a minion chased by terminator. Well maybe that is a rather laced picture but its as accurate as I can get to it.

The story follows 6 individuals who have all dipped their fingers into 01010001110.


Their backgrounds are as individual as a HEX color code in Photoshop and it makes for a fantastic dynamic between this group of people.

They get picked up one by one, specially chosen for their potential and meshed up together to work for the governments secret little project. Though even that turns out to be only the tip of the iceberg. As the team face down oddity after oddity and each try to save their skins, they also uncover bits and pieces of a game bigger then perceived possible.

He - and Cal - prefer a more generalized outlook on the End Times, recognizing it could come from anything: superstorms, polar shifts, invasion by the Chinese, attack by the U.S. government on its own people, aliens, EMP, God's wrath on a sin-filled world, killer bees. (Chance notes that no one mentions "Rogue AI with a penchant for Greek mythology." He figures someone should update their menu, because it is riding to number one on the charts with a bullet.)

There is only one option left. Run. But with all eyes on every movement, running isn't a permanent solution either. Making things right no matter the cost might just be the only option left.

From backstabbing fellow allies, homicidal husbands to mythology, meat lockers, explosions, ghosts and ofcourse god oll hacker skills, this book crosses it all.

Whilst each of the characters get a good amount of page time, my fave would have to be a toss up between Chance and Reagan even if all of them have their flaws.


Chance, whilst being the one with the lowest skill set, has to be the most relatable to me out of the lot. At least when I compare him to the others. Reagan on the other hand is such a shot in the dark, she totally intrigued me from start till finish even though I most definitely felt like strangling her at least a dozen times. She is one F'd up character.

That was a pretty good laptop, but Reagan's glad to lose it. Sometimes sacrifices must be made in the search for sweet lulz

Though in reality each of them had their own interesting pull and I did not find any of them boring to read through.

The other great part about the book is the writing. It is clever. Humour is strewn throughout making this an easy read. The style in which Chuck Wendig writes is strong and short. With which I mean that his sentences are never tedious or unnecessary filler. It does what it is suppose to do capture and move you forward at a thrilling pace. Anyone looking for winding lyrical writing will need to look elsewhere.


If I had to give any critique it would be the ending. The story is wrapped up with some nice little bits that would make for a killer sequel but the last bit totally confused me. It may be to do with the fact I have been reading this book over a spread out period of time as oppose to a coupe of days. If I where to re-read the beginning it would probably fall into place

Would I recommend it?
Yes, my copy is currently loaned out to a colleague.. Anyone that might not be into epic fantasy but can appreciate a fast paced action story, this would definitely be it!