The Zero and the One

A Novel

By: Ryan Ruby

Narrated by: Bobby Long

Two boys from wildly different backgrounds change each other's lives forever in this psychologically dark suspense novel.

A Gothic twist on the classic tale of innocents abroad, The Zero and the One is a meditation on the seductions of friendship and the power of dangerous ideas that registers the dark, psychological suspense of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley and the intellectual and philosophical intrigue of John Banville's The Book of Evidence.

A shy, bookish scholarship student from a working-class family, Owen Whiting has high hopes of what awaits him at Oxford, only to find himself adrift and out of place among the university's dim aristocrats and posh radicals. But his life takes a dramatic turn when he is assigned to the same philosophy tutorial as Zachary Foedern, a visiting student from New York City. Rich, brilliant, and charismatic, Zach takes Owen under his wing, introducing him to a world of experiences Owen has only ever read about. From the quadrangles of Oxford to the seedy underbelly of Berlin, they practice what Zach preaches, daring each other to transgress the boundaries of convention and morality, until Zach proposes the greatest transgression of all: a suicide pact. But when Zach's plans go horribly awry, Owen is left to pick up the pieces in the sleek lofts and dingy dives of lower Manhattan. Now he must navigate the treacherous boundary between illusion and reality if he wants to understand his friend and preserve a hold on his once bright future.

©2017 Ryan Ruby (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A gripping, intellectually agile book that dresses like a coming of age narrative, but soon reveals itself to be something new, wholly original and philosophically rich. If you've ever read a crime novel and wished for a deeper answer to the mystery—an existential Whydunnit rather than a Whodunnit—then this masterful work by Ryan Ruby will thrill you, and give you much ominous food for thought."—Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine

"Ryan Ruby has written a brilliant and captivating novel...dark as Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels, with...a setting that reminds one of Evelyn Waugh, and...texture that evokes P.G. Wodehouse. It's as sharp as a tack, and the pages turn themselves."—Benjamin Hale, author of The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore

"Beautifully written and minutely observed, THE ZERO AND THE ONE brilliantly encapsulates the agony and the ecstasy of the search for meaning in late adolescence."—Jenny Davidson, author of The Magic Circle and Reading Style: A Life in Sentences