Zero Day Code

End of Days, Book 1

De: John Birmingham

Narrado por: Rupert Degas

Every modern city has one week’s worth of food to feed itself. Then it will collapse.

Cut off the resources to New York, Sydney, or even a mid-size metropolis, and millions will soon starve. In Zero Day Code we see those immense and open, hyper-complex, networked supercities of the new millennium die. And in the last moments we see their vengeance take form as all the best and worst traits of humanity bubble to the surface.

Zero Day Code is set in a realistic near future with dwindling global food supplies under increasing pressure from worsening droughts, floods and extreme weather events. Written by prolific Australian writer John Birmingham, the thriller follows a handful of survivors from the first day of society’s descent into violent, uncertain futures.

James, a consultant to the US National Security Council, is the first to suspect that the worldwide emergence of a crippling computer virus is actually a cover for something else - a devastating cyber-attack by China on the food distribution system of the United States. The attack is a bid for the Middle Kingdom to distract America as it seizes the food bowl of South East Asia and feeds its starving population. But Beijing has miscalculated.

Follow the missions of an embittered activist chasing salvation, a single mum rescuing her child from a frantic San Francisco and an army veteran who has long retreated from society, as the world they knew crumbles around them.

Please note: this audiobook contains mature content and listener discretion is advised.

©2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd. (P)2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd.

A Gem in this Dumpster Fire of a Genre

This is that welcome surprise after you've tried a dozen other similar titles only to roll your eyes after 20 minutes and move on because you're not a teenager and they're all the identical generic juvenile Super Secret Black Ops Tier 1 crap where everyone has Desert Eagle handguns and all the supposed weapon experts call magazines clips, while a blond is bedded each three paragraphs. Is it trope free? No, of course there's an ex-army Ranger (yeah, I know), but he's only one character among many and an atypical military one, so its forgivable. and yes, there are research issues and the thin skinned listeners who think everyone are or should be exactly like them and Covid can be prayed away will be offended by the politics and profanity - the numerous complaints about Curse Words! leads one to believe they found copies stocked in the YA aisle of their christian bookstore - (perhaps you'll find that Left Behind series is more aligned to your reading level and tastes), still, a standout in an ocean of comic book plots where a majority of readers struggle through the few minutes between gunfights and pipe bomb construction, if not original, in a genre thats become just about all bad cliches that have been done a dozen times before, and far better. The narration is exceedingly well done and takes this tale to another class. A work I'd rate: Two Smoking Muzzles Up.

Everyone sounds like they are trying out for FARGO

I love the story and can't wait for the next book. I'm a big fan of stories that focus on the beginning of an apocalypse, present a realistic story, and are smart about current affairs. This book is all of that.

But the next book in this series deserves a better narrator who can perform both men and women, Most of the American characters sound like they are trying out for a remake of the movie Fargo, If the characters were from that area of the US, it would be fine. But the accent doesn't fit characters from Washington, California, or even Montana.

Fluffy

Liked the story. Kinda spooky the way it goes. But really, too much fluff to fill the voids between the meaty parts.
A much better job of editing and grammar correction needed.
Total 4 of 5 stars. Worth your time to enjoy.

Good, could have been great, but....

...way too many generic political stereotypes. Characters with right leaning ideals are the bad guys, leftists are the good guys. I don't mind a little politics in my entertainment, hard to prevent it, but it's just a bit too prevalent.

The story was good, an interesting take on the apocalypse genre. I can also appreciate the authors attention to detail and research. I also enjoyed that he references real life people and situations.

Character development was subpar. Not a lot of character growth or change, certainly no redemption stories. Very one dimensional characters. Also, a few more references to what is happening around the world would have been great. What happened in China? What happened to the US government? What happened to Europe? Russia? There are hints and scenes, but plenty of plot holes not filled.

The narrator is amazing. His ability to change his voice, accent, and tones are exceptional. Possibly the best narrator I've listened to yet.

Overall a good listen, especially because it was free. Not sure I would have paid for it, however.

Terrifying and fantastic (I hope)

Hopefully fantastic in the sense of "unbelievable". Could not stop listening to this. I usually save audio books for the car as I find it too easy to get distracted otherwise, but I actually sat and just listened to this one.

As always, John Birmingham writes brilliantly engaging casts of characters. The narrator Rupert Degas was awesome as well. I had initial doubts about an Australian narrating something so obviously centered on the USA but if anything it helped delineate the characters, and his accent was great. The added bonus was how perfect "Damo" is!

As to the content, well the really scary part is how plausible this all is. The epilogue, which I just finished listening to in March of 2021, made me shiver. What if someone decided to hack major food distribution networks? How far from starvation is a city if it can't get food? Sounds ridiculous? People have been talking about this for a long time. They were also talking about how ill prepared we were for a major pandemic...

Incredible Story

I loved this book! Incredible story, loved the characters, the narrator was AMAZING! it sort of reminded me of Stephen King's The Stand.

love this first book of the series

So far so good the 1st book in the Ceres is really interesting I can't wait to read the others

Mesmerizing read or listen

Don’t make plans today and prepared to be up all night for this page turner!

very entertaining.

Really enjoyed this book. Was well worth the listen. characters throughout book were both likable and intriguing for the most part.

Excellent

Sometimes I want to add a "6 rating. A good story storyline but very good technical detail, narration, innovative character development and general sophistication makes this a cut above most books in this genre and I've been listening to alot of them lately.