• The Zero Hour

  • By: Joseph Finder
  • Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
  • Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (254 ratings)

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The Zero Hour  By  cover art

The Zero Hour

By: Joseph Finder
Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
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Publisher's summary

When an ominous, digitally encrypted telephone call is intercepted by the NSA's spy satellites high over Switzerland, FBI Special Agent Sarah Cahill - irreverent, outspoken, a brilliant counterterrorism expert, a divorced mother of an eight-year-old boy - is urgently summoned to New York to investigate an imminent terrorist attack on lower Manhattan. Her investigation immediately turns into the desperate pursuit of a highly sophisticated and charismatic terrorist operative, known only by the code name Zero.

Sarah must direct an intensive, absolutely secret manhunt for an exceptionally dangerous man whose identity she doesn't know - even though he knows her intimately. Suddenly, Sarah and her young son are plunged headlong into a terrifying labyrinth of intrigue, an elaborate game of cat and mouse that imperils their lives, forcing Sarah to race to uncover a diabolically clever terrorist conspiracy... before the zero hour.

The audio includes an excerpt from Vanished, the first Nick Heller novel.

©1996 Joseph Finder (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about The Zero Hour

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant Story, great narration

Yet again Joe Finder delivers another great story with plenty of twist and turns keeping you going from page one straight through to the very end of the story. I would call this a real page turner (if it makes sense to say that about an audio book). The narration really complimented the story very well. Would I recommend this, yes absolutely. In my opinion Joe Finder is one of the best thriller writers at the moment.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Intense

Would you listen to The Zero Hour again? Why?

I have listened to several Joseph Finder books and The Zero Hour is my new favorite. It was intense and exciting. A real thriller!!!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but dated at this point

This is or was a good story by Joseph Finder. It takes place in New York after the first World Trade Center bombing. So a lot of the discussion of the terrorist environment is very dated. It is fairly predictable but deep character stories and discussion of the technology then is good. Worked for spending time in the car.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Everything I've come to expect from a Finder book

I thought I had read all of Joe's books. I missed this one, and I really missed out. I'm glad I went back to double check his catalog. The technology, specifically the hacking and references to domestic terrorism are dated now, the latter making me somewhat nostalgic for simpler times. Regardless, the story holds up. Everything I've come to expect from a Finder book: strong characters, a fast plat, suspense, and action. As a reader, it's easy to become invested in the good guys; it's even easier to love hating the bad guys. The primary antagonist in this book is particularly interesting. He's intriguing in a way that makes him almost likable. Even when he's doing the unthinkable. His boss... that's the real problem. All the trouble really started there.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I must say, from start to finish, you are locked in, a ride from the gate. I started on Sunday & finished on Tuesday. Recommended on all levels. Enjoy

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Another angry single mother attempting to succeed

What did you like best about The Zero Hour? What did you like least?

(Continued from headline) in a criminal justice position predominantly run by men who are contemptuous toward her strong desire to succeed except for one man, her partner, who stands by her sixth sense and intelligent decisions toward solving these horrific crimes. My involuntary dislike toward this woman, Sarah, is her obvious anger raging for the man she married and her coworkers. I am sick and tired of womens' attitudes in so many criminal justice books and TV portrayed as cynical, angry, distrustful and unhappy characters always trying to prove themselves worthy of their positions. Why can't they be be congenial and prove themselves without martyr tendencies? I see on TV and read enjoyable stories of female characters in these same positions who are beautiful, kind, smart and continue to win their coworker's respect without attitude, leaning on their proven success and naturally gaining respect and admiration by solving cases. Sarah, an over dominating, very angry single mother struggles to raise a boy while working a demanding job. Not easy but certainly do-able with a positive attitude which would help both she and her son. Instead she instills fear and therefore creates a feminine boy who others make fun of and of course sans friends. The story is otherwise thrilling and well written keeping us on the edge never knowing the perils of Sarah, her boy child and the villain so well portrayed. The twists of one of my favorite writers are alarming and greatly satisfys my imagination which is why I continue to order and read his books. What a great author he is and I am a very grateful recipient. Thank you Mr. Finder: You are genius!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exciting but too much detail

This was a good story that held my attention. It got a little bogged down in technical details, most of which was unnecessary to the plot and just slowed it down. Also, of course, it's dated, almost obsolete, because technology and terrorism have progressed so much since this was written. Still, it is an exciting story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

2 ½ stars.

No fun watching good guys make mistakes and being stupid. Too much lecturing about technical subjects.

This is a weak imitation of The Day of the Jackal. I loved Jackal. I did not enjoy Zero. Similarities: Someone hires the best of the best to do a job. In Jackal it’s kill the French President. In Zero it’s hack a bank and plant a bomb in NY City. In both books authorities learn something is going to happen but don’t know who will do it. In both books the authorities get closer and closer with a lot of neat clues. In both books the hired guy has an inside source and other means to learn what the authorities learn and are doing.

What I liked in Zero:
A happy ending.

What I did not like in Zero:
The good guys do stupid things which gives information to Baumann, the hired guy/terrorist. When the Jackal got information I was impressed, but when Baumann got info I was depressed. I was frustrated and let down at how easily the good guys were outsmarted.

MINOR SPOILERS:
Examples: Baumann calls the FBI, and asks a secretary where an FBI agent lives. She tells him! Maybe a temporary employee in a business might give out something like that, but not the FBI! Baumann calls a passport agency clerk (in South Africa) asking who has been asking for passport information about Baumann. She tells him. Ok maybe South Africa is different from the U.S. but that seemed too convenient. Baumann calls a car dealer pretending to be someone else and asks for the key code for that person’s car. The car dealer person gives this over the phone without any I.D. The NSA calls an FBI agent to provide info about the terrorist. The NSA makes sure the line is secure before he talks. That was good. But then the agent calls another agent’s home (which is being tapped) and leaves all those details on an answering machine. Stupid. Two FBI agents know they are after a dangerous killer/terrorist. They get killed because they are alone and too trusting when interacting with him. Baumann is crouched down behind one agent’s car. Baumann says he’s looking for a contac lense, so the agent helps him look?

CAUTION BIGGER SPOILER:
In Jackal, stupid bureaucrat Raoul is part of the group searching for the Jackal. They have daily update meetings. Every night he tells his mistress what they’ve learned. She’s a spy for the Jackal. Raoul is one of those guys the reader hates. So that worked. But in Zero, Baumann sleeps with Carol the lead FBI investigator. She’s the main good guy. She’s supposed to be smart. So it was no fun seeing her date the terrorist without being curious or investigating him, and then seeing all the ways he got information from her. He had keys to her home, taped her phone calls, used a pencil to see message imprints on her notepad, etc. It just felt bad.
END SPOILERS.

Way too much technical history and details about how things work. It was like a classroom. Subjects included: telephone encryption, how to get a message from a tape that has been erased, ways to tap a phone line, bomb timers, banking system network details, FDIC rating system mechanics, types of fingerprints and databases, the history of and how jpeg pictures worked.

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR.
Jeff Gurner was ok for most of the book, but two things bothered me. I kept hearing his breaths – distracting. He used a weird Ronald-Reagan-type voice for some characters (Christine Vigiani, Perry Taylor).

Genre: suspense thriller.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story but definitely outdated

What made the experience of listening to The Zero Hour the most enjoyable?

Well written and very intriguing.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

There were a few predictable areas. When she first met Brian, it's obvious he was the terrorist.

Which scene was your favorite?

Nothing stands out.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really.

Any additional comments?

If she were such a great agent, why in the world did she not check out the "helpful stranger in the strange city?" Very disappointed in that.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

TMI

Longest, dullest book. Felt like I was in classroom. Too much technical info to be entertaining.

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