Zeroes: A Novel

Chuck Wendig

Aug 2015 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

“[A] high-octane blend of nervy characters, dark humor and bristling dialogue... smart, timely, electrifying.”
   — NPR

An exhilarating thrill-ride through the underbelly of cyber espionage in the vein of David Ignatius’s The Director and the television series Leverage, CSI: Cyber, and Person of Interest, which follows five iconoclastic hackers who are coerced into serving the U.S. government.

An Anonymous-style rabble rouser, an Arab spring hactivist, a black-hat hacker, an old-school cipherpunk, and an online troll are each offered a choice: go to prison or help protect the United States, putting their brains and skills to work for the government for one year.

But being a white-hat doesn’t always mean you work for the good guys. The would-be cyberspies discover that behind the scenes lurks a sinister NSA program, an artificial intelligence code-named Typhon, that has origins and an evolution both dangerous and disturbing. And if it’s not brought down, will soon be uncontrollable.

Can the hackers escape their federal watchers and confront Typhon and its mysterious creator? And what does the government really want them to do? If they decide to turn the tables, will their own secrets be exposed—and their lives erased like lines of bad code?

Combining the scientific-based, propulsive narrative style of Michael Crichton with the eerie atmosphere and conspiracy themes of The X-Files and the imaginative, speculative edge of Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, Zer0es explores our deep-seated fears about government surveillance and hacking in an inventive fast-paced novel sure to earn Chuck Wendig the widespread acclaim he deserves.

Ratings and reviews

It feels like the author noticed that the whole "surveillance state paranoia" trend was becoming popular (Person of Interest, Mr. Robot) and decided to add his own work to the genre, despite being unable to come up with mature relatable characters to fill his wildly absurd plot with. His attempt at creating unease/tension in a scene where a bad guy is present is laughable - the character spouts an archaic, evil catch phrase that makes the whole thing feel like a 70s B movie with mind control in it.

Category : Science Fiction --- An excellent, fast pace thriller in the vein of Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother" Series. Set in the future when the U.S. Government uses captured hackers to "White Hat" hack into Terrorists Organizations, Foreign Governments and International Corporations to protect the security of the United Stated. Reminded me of the short lived but excellent television show "Breakout Kings". Some prior knowledge of the way the internet works and hacker culture is helpful to fully enjoy this book. Wendig tells a full octane thrill ride of a story which will grab you from start to finish. Try the sample, stay for the ending.

Started off really strong, took a dive in the middle, and finished off OK. It's not a bad read, but if there's something else you're really excited about, read that first.

About the author

Chuck Wendig is the author of the Miriam Black thrillers (which begin with Blackbirds) and numerous other works across books, comics, games, and more. A finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the cowriter of the Emmy-nominated digital narrative Collapsus, he is also known for his popular blog, terribleminds.com. He lives in Pennsylvania with his family.