Zero Day by S Hussain Zaudi - A Mirror That Faces The Society.

 As the technology grows, our lives become easy and so does the threat of misusing the technology. When knowledge becomes two edged sword, life becomes uncertain. Zero Day by S Hussain Zaudi is a mirror that faces the society. Terrorism is no longer about the guns on the border of Kashmir. 

Zero Day by Hussain Zaidi

Blurb

Mumbai is in a state of chaos. All traffic signals across the entire city have stopped working.

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 puts together a crack team that includes his protege, IG Cybercrime Vikrant Singh, and gets to work trawling the dark web for more information on this mystery attack. However, a move to bring forward the hacker backfires, leading to a second, deadlier attack on Mumbai's lifeline, the railway system.

It is their first brush with cyberterrorism: a zero-day vulnerability in the Indian government's system that could bring the country to its knees. Racing against time and investigating a case unlike any other, in Zero Day, Mirza and Vikrant face the most dangerous mission of their lives.

The plot

Shawaz Ali Mirza, the head of ATS, receives a mail from the terrorist who claims to come back with more attacks. Mirza along with his protege Vikrant raises the matter with the CM and against all odds and deliberate intervention by the DIG , they sets up a team and starts the investigation. While dredging the dark net,they are appalled to know the gravity of the possible cyberattack in future.

What happened further forms the crux of the story.

My review 

The plot takes off at a slow pace unlike the thrillers which are set in a background of terrorist attacks. Once the team is set the plot thickens and have several layers. The complications of carrying out a clandestine investigation inside the ATS office with a representative of the DIG in the team comes across as an engaging add on to the already enchanting investigation.

Other characters that are accomplices are also given space but mostly the plot revolves around vikrant..
The style of narration, particularly the idiosyncrasies of Vikrant points to the fact that the book would possibly be adapted into a movie or web series.

Vikrant's character develops slowly with the plot and as the plot thickens his character receives a definition. However, Mirza comes across as a stereotypical senior who is in support of the protagonist, without any more detailing. 

The book is an indication of what might happen to the country and the possible loop holes in the system. Hussain Zaidi, the master of terrorist stories has once again proven his finesse

The post is a part of BlogchatterA2z 2023

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