Zero Day

A Jeff Aiken Novel

By: Mark Russinovich

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

A technothriller for the malware and Stuxnet era

An airliner’s controls abruptly fail mid-flight over the Atlantic. An oil tanker runs aground in Japan when its navigational system suddenly stops dead. Hospitals everywhere have to abandon their computer databases when patients die after being administered incorrect dosages of their medicine. In the Midwest, a nuclear power plant nearly becomes the next Chernobyl when its cooling systems malfunction.

At first, these random computer failures seem like unrelated events. But Jeff Aiken, a former government analyst who quit in disgust after witnessing the gross errors that led up to 9/11, thinks otherwise. Jeff fears a more serious cyber terrorism attack targeting the United States computer infrastructure is already under way. And as other menacing computer malfunctions pop up around the world, some with deadly results, he realizes that there isn’t much time if he hopes to prevent an international catastrophe.

Written by a global authority on cyber security, Zero Day presents a chilling “what if” scenario that, in a world completely reliant on technology, is more than possible today - it’s a cataclysmic disaster just waiting to happen.

©2011 Mark Russinovich (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Another great book

Wish I would have seen this before the other books in the series. Mark’s books will keep you engaged throughout the story. Finished in a few days!

Techno-thriller that gets the tech right

What did you love best about Zero Day?

It's not all that common that authors who use technology in their stories get the tech right. Mark does that very well. Since I have a background in tech, getting it wrong would have really taken away from the story. Instead, this was great for a long road trip so I could keep listening.

What did you like best about this story?

The use of technology was well placed and well used. This is important for someone who works with technology, otherwise the story would have had major distractions in it

Any additional comments?

It feels like this book ends abruptly, but I believe that it continues in Trojan Horse which wasn't available on Audible at the time of this writing.

Are you a techie?

If you aren't, don't waste a credit. If you are, you will probably enjoy how our new "toys" are being put to use in today's fight against terrorism. Technology is fascinating but can get a bit boring. The author spends way too much time explaining acronyms, it got old. Johnny Heller did a great job narrating.

A TechnologyThriller and the author knows his tech

I've been looking for computer or Internet tech thriller but surprisingly in this Internet Age, there are surprisingly few. This nove so far is one of my favorites. I loved Daemon by Daniel Suarez and the sequel Freedom and when I finished them, I went looking for more. This Jeff Aiken Novel was what I found. I wasn't disappointed although I must add that it is hard following a book like Daemon so that says a lot for this author and this book.

I did like this better than Daemon in one respect, the author went into the tech details much more than I'm used to seeing in this small genre and for that I am glad. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed reading parts such as when our protagonist Jeff worked his way through the code on the machine at the law firm or how he describes how script kiddies use buffer overflow bugs to execute code. He explains it in such a way that you don't have to be a computer scientist to understand him. My wife confirmed that for me because she isn't a "computer person" as she puts it, while I am a system and network admin and we both enjoyed it equally.

One thing I'd like to note, because of what I said above and how he goes into detail regarding things like buffer overflows, etc; This is not a hacker instruction guide. You won't learn how to hack by reading this book. Sure, you might get a general idea or even come up with a decent flowchart on what and how to do certain things but I think Mark Russinovich does an awesome job going into the tech stuff while keeping the non-tech audience interested.

I also enjoy the author's writing style. It isn't so much a lyrical style as much as he explains things and tells the story in such a way that lets you concentrate on the story instead of reading or the listening. Even with audiobooks, I often find myself rewinding or playing parts over again because I just didn't get something. I didn't do that at all with this book, well....unless our dog jumped in my lap or pulled my pant leg wanting to go out. :)

Plausible and scary

What did you like best about this story?

There are so many things about this story that are both plausible and scary. People have many conspiracy theories about how things could have happened. It just make you think it could happen.

Any additional comments?

I liked how the protagonist overcame the struggle of losing his wife to make a connection.

Mediocre narration for a mediocre story

It wasn't great. It wasn't horrible. It was somewhere in between. The narrator has a dry presentation, though he does go for a few accents to differentiate the characters which I appreciated. The story seemed to be a fast-slow-fast pace. I hoped for more computer "geek" in the story. As a 30-year IT professional there are some pretty big holes here. I had to keep telling myself; the author is not in my line of work.

Engaging tech triller

I enjoyed the combining of computer security and James Bond style action. It was light on detailed scripting and technical techniques, but that is the cost of creating a popular novel.

Light on tech for those in the know.

Would you try another book from Mark Russinovich and/or Johnny Heller?

I thought the storytelling in his book was off topic and not very deep. I'm not sure I'd try another one of Mark's book's without a good recommendation.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Alien Out of the Shadows looks like fun.

Have you listened to any of Johnny Heller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not, I enjoyed his performance in this book though,.

Could you see Zero Day being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Straight to DVD.

Any additional comments?

I thought the book focused far too much on the idea that assassins and violence would come into play in stopping the viruses. Could have used a lot deeper look into the "How" side of things. Instead, it reads more like "Super virus is released, and it works. Computer techs uses their skills to thwart and kill the perpetrators just in time to release signatures to virus vendors." Meh.

Another Apocalyptic Day

Would you consider the audio edition of Zero Day to be better than the print version?

Most definitely. Heller does a fine job bringing the story, and the characters, to life.

Would you recommend Zero Day to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, but only if " end times" narratives are your gig. It can wear on even the most optimistic type if you aren't ready for the end.

Which character – as performed by Johnny Heller – was your favorite?

Too many to note.

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

Accents can be challenging, and he does a reasonable job, but still sometimes awkward. IMHO.

Any additional comments?

A good value, that adds to the growing list of "end times' audio books I have been listening to,and generally enjoying. I suppose with 12/21/12 heading our way, it's good to get these under your belt ahead of time!

Great technical story

If you could sum up Zero Day in three words, what would they be?

Technical virus story

Any additional comments?

This was a good book, but it never really had me "on the edge of my seat" or anything. Mark (the Author) is a very technical person, and I was very pleasently surprised at how good he was at telling a story as well. If you like this book, look at Daniel Suarez books.