Book Review 

Title of the Book:  Zero Day  

Author's Name:      S. Hussain Zaidi

Available on:       Amazon 

Format:             Paper Book/ Kindle

About the Author: Journalist turned author S. Hussain Zaidi needs no introduction. He is someone who has many feathers to his hat and is an acclaimed writer specializing in writing thrillers plots. His first book, Black Friday was made into a critically acclaimed film by director Anurag Kashyap. Some of his finest works include Dongri to Dubai, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, My name Is Abu Salem, and Byculla to Bangkok. His first fiction titled Mumbai Avengers was adapted into the Hindi Film Phantom starring Saif Ali Khan & Katrina Kaif which was directed by Kabir Khan. He also created the documentary Terror in Mumbai along with Dan Reed as an associate producer that was based on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Narration: The narration is crisp, to the point and guides the reader into the visionary world with the perfect blend of suspense intact making the plot elusive and yet leading the path with facts at the right time.

Book Cover & Title: The book cover instantly catches the attention of the reader where one is intrigued upon to read what’s beyond the cover page. The landscape and the masked persona behind the laptop screen certainly indicate that the story is about a crime scene in Mumbai. This ‘show a little’ & ‘hide a little’ really has a positive effect and kind of pulls the reader into the plot.

Content:

If thrillers excite you and that too crime thrillers, then this is the book for you ! Zero day gives the realistic feel of a crime that has a metropolitan city under its grip and how do the events unfold keep you hooked till the very end.

The city of Mumbai is in panic mode when suddenly all the traffic signals stop working. This action throws the whole city into chaos. There is confusion, unrest and there are serious implications leading to accidents and financial losses as well. With all this happening , the city Anti terrorism squad comes into picture. When Shahwaz Ali Mirza, head of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, receives an anonymous email claiming it to be a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, he quickly springs into action and selects a team to be led by IG Cybercrime Vikrant Singh.

With a lot of careful and investigative mindset, both Mirza and Vikrant try to mask the identity and intentions of the hacker to reduce the disaster caused by this cyber attack. But this plan backfires, when the hacker Muntaqim becomes enraged after reading into the plans of the the cybercrime squad. A second attack is being planned and a deadlier one , where the focus is the lifeline of the city , the local train network thereby jeopardizing the millions of lives of people of Mumbai ! There is time crunch and just when the team of professionals is trying to trace the terrorist on the dark web, Muntaqim , the hacker has found out a vulnerability in the Indian Government networks and is ready to launch a Zero Day attack.

Who is Muntaqim? What does he want? Will he be successful or will the city of Mumbai save itself from the clutches of this cyber attack? Can Mirza and Singh rush against time and be successful in their mission ? All these questions get answered when you read the book, Zero Day .

The highlight of the book was the realistic feel of the portrayal, the authentic touch to the characters, the balance between the revealing of facts and keeping the mystery intact give the book readers an experience of watching a movie ! There is excitement and with every page this just rises up. The author has done a tremendous job in being able to hook his readers with a plot , that is relatable and the visual effect of the story is commendable. The story showcases the bureaucratic loopholes, the blame game of the hierarchies involved and the power politics that make this case all the more difficult. All the protagonists have been given equal limelight in the book and hence this complete package takes you on a ride where you experience adrenalin rush with every turn of events.

I was hooked to this book and would recommend everyone who loves reading crime thrillers to not miss this book at any cost.

This book is available on Amazon both in paper book and as an e- book.

Please grab your copy soon !

This review is part of the Blogchatter Book Review Program.

Love,

Chinmayee