Synopsis

In the name of national security, the CIA in partnership with Silicon Valley wunderkind Cy Baxter have created the ultimate surveillance program known as FUSION. Ahead of its roll out, ten Americans have been carefully selected to Beta test the ground-breaking system.

At the appointed hour, each of the ten will have two hours to “Go Zero”—to turn their cellphones off, cut ties with friends and family, and use any means possible to disappear. They will then have 30 days to evade detection and elude the highly sophisticated Capture Teams tasked to find them using the most cutting-edge technology. The goal is to see if it is possible to successfully go “off the grid” and escape detection.

The stakes are immense. If FUSION is a success, Cy Baxter will secure a coveted 10-year, $100 billion dollar government contract and access to intelligence resources he truly believes will save lives. For any participant who beats the massive surveillance, it means a $3 million cash prize.

Among the contestants is an unassuming Boston librarian named Kaitlyn Day. She’s been chosen as the gimmick, the easy target expected to be found first. But Kaitlyn excels at confounding expectations. Her talents at this particular game are far more effective than all the security experts suspect, and her reasons for playing far more personal than anyone can imagine…

Review

What a ride!

Similar in its premise to the TV show Hunted, we follow ten people who have been challenged to stay off grid for 30 days. Well, in reality we follow one person as there’s no time to follow the others, who get barely a chapter each. I see why the author did this, as it would have made the book much longer, but a little more information on them would have helped to round the story out.

Reading about their tricks and actions to avoid detection really is fascinating and makes you wonder what you would do if forced to disappear…

Going Zero is a fast-paced, gripping read, which leaves you with a constant state of foreboding as we travel with Kaitlyn around North America. Snippets of the location add to the story, interspersed with technology, CIA secrets and – of course – political dissent.

For the most part, it’s entirely believable and a real page turner; in fact I raced through it in just a few hours. The ending does beggar belief a little (it’s quite cinematographic, but I’ll allow it because McCarten is an excellent screenwriter) but overall it’s a fantastic story and the author’s right – it would make a brilliant film!

Thanks to PanMacmillan and BookBreak for my proof copy. Opinions my own.