An elite group of billionaire sociopaths is unleashing a cyber attack on America. They intend to break the nation. The goal is depopulation. They have now gone from beta-testing to fully operational, and the world will never be the same.
Welcome to the apocalypse…
Population Zero is not just a weapon. It is the objective.
When internet talk-show sensation, Slater Corrigan, finds himself on a collision course with The Aatrox Group, he realizes that the nation is in grave danger. Even though this isn’t the first time Slater has played chicken with psychopaths, he has never met a monster quite like Johan Schwein for a man this vile tends to keep to the shadows.
Until now...
As Slater, his brother Scout, and the Italian firecracker, Gabriella Esposito, learn about the might and power of Population Zero, they are left to wonder, is this the mother of all cyber attacks, or is the population of America about to be culled?
As the power grid fails and the very fabric of society begins to unravel, a mixed group of survivors will attempt to both solve and rectify a murder while navigating through a lawless, apocalyptic landscape in search of safety and answers. But can they endure a world pitched into darkness and chaos? Will those they love most survive the fall? And what kind of a war will they incite when sorrow turns to revenge?
Let me save you some time reading this nonsense. In a nutshell some myserious, elite group of rich hackers take down the grid somehow convincing a girl to do it for them, then two brothers living in LA who look alike and an Italian woman who is looking for any excuse to shoot people starting killing people. Yes, these are meant to be the good guys. Crazy. The justification? Seeking vengeance for Slater and Scouts mother being murdered after they looted a trailer park. The Italian dumps the mothers body at the police station and calls the cops fuckfaces, (They have enough to deal with and now they have this silly woman yelling in their ear, oh dear, did you not get your large latte this morning at Starbucks?) Then the same family who killed her come back and there is a shoot out, the end. Of course the author drags this out in excruciating detail with pages of boring content to pad out the book. Most of the action seemed forced, contrived would be the word. Like he got up that morning and thought, okay i need to throw in an action scene for no other reason than to fill out pages. So he has Scout in one chapter fighting some guys in a store for what felt like 10 pages. I'm serious. I skimmed it. It was just drivel. Moving on. Then we have some idiot character who is meant to be funny. Yes, the author calls him Captain Underpants. This is meant to be a serious book and the author manages to reduce it to a slap stick comedy which breaks all the seriousness and makes you think you are watching the 3 stooges. It's just bad. I'm sorry but most of these 5 reviews are from ARC giveaways where people got it for free or friends and family as there is no way unless you are missing brain cells that you would rank this higher than a 1. I figure the readers are all morons or they are showing the aptitude of America, and the reason why they have so many shootings. "Insert thumping chest, I'm American, i love to kill, and I'm just looking for a reason to kill". Makes me embarrassed to be American. I would give it less but Goodreads won't let me. I rarely give a book a 1 star but this tripe is everything that is wrong with America today. It felt more like a comic book for 12 year olds than for grown ups. Someone who wanted to run around with guns and find any reason to shoot people. The dialogue was ridiculous. I swear, there is a scene in this book where the main character faces a NFAC member and they have this exchange that seemed like it was out of the 3 amigos, or 3 stooges. "I'm going to kill you". "no im going to kill you", "no, im about to turn you into meat stew." No, "im going to turn your brains into the light of day" then they both put their weapons down and go on. Please do not get this guy writing scripts for movies it would be horrendous. Then of course we have the OVERDONE Italian women who is meant to be the female hero of the story but really she serves to be politically correct. You can't just have the men killing. She needs to be put in a mental institute. You can tell the author has a thing for trying to present himself as an alpha as his need to tell the reader only alphas will survive is like it was going out of fashion. I did notice his profile mentions something about being a martial artist. As if that makes you qualified to write about violence. The most stupid part of this books is he has the breakdown of society occur within a matter of days. And all that's happened is the power has gone out. Most would assume it would come back on. Not these twerps. They immediately see it as a reason to grab guns and start killing people. Do yourself a favor, skip this one. There are far better apocalyptic books out there. If you insist on reading the second like i did just to see how bad that was, move on to my second review as it only gets worse. I would not recommend this book.
Population Zero is an excellent and insightful apocalyptic technothriller. The plot is excellent, even if the politics of both sides are exaggerated a bit and matches the lightning fast pacing. The characters are highly varied and well developed, especially considering this is the first book in the series. The writing quality is also excellent! Errol is a unique and very interesting character who is unexpected in every way. The book pulls no punches about the state of American culture and society, nor in the violence which such an event would bring out. 5/5 stars, highly recommended for fans of technothrillers and apocalyptic survival thrillers!
Meh. Two-star read for me. It wasn't godawful, but it was far, FAR from fantastic. Some parts were actually pretty cool and action-heavy and intense, but for the most part, everything was just sorta all over the place, almost as if the author was just SUPER eager to bring on some chaos inspired by actual, real-life events. And in this case, it's the wonderful "adventures" of the COVID-19 pandemic. And no, I don't actually think the pandemic is adventurous. Or wonderful, for that matter. But as of this current date of November 12 of 2021, it's still very much here in the flesh. It was very interesting to read a book that mentions it.
Anyway, this is the first book I've read that capitalizes on the pandemic outright, at least as a triggering mechanism, along with the dramatics of the past few years with riots, race relations, protests, etc. Is it in poor taste? Maybe a little, since these events are still VERY fresh on people's minds. And when you have a story such as this one that very blatantly leans a certain way on a thing, it can be tough for various readers to stomach. No doubt this book will be collecting some haters along the way. Am I one of them? Despite my 2-star rating, I wouldn't call myself a hater. Not really, at least not for any political reasons that are....whoa boy, littered all throughout this entire book.
Nah, my negative feelings towards this story harp mostly on its writing style, pacing, character development, and general plot. Pretty much the normal story stuff is what I am critiquing here, the top of the list being the overall "frazzled" presentation of the events that are happening throughout this whole thing, dubbed Population Zero, hence the title. Population Zero is the means to an end in this story, something triggered by a massive cyber hacking of the global network that inevitably crushes "the system" of modern society. As a result of this, civilizations and ways of life begin to crumble, thrusting everyone into a new apocalypse.
While this isn't the first apocalyptic thriller I've read, it's certainly the most....errr, chaotic? And I don't mean chaotic plot-wise; I can handle chaotic apocalypse stories. The kind of chaos I'M referring to is one that involves just simple story structure. Picture the mayhem of a Purge movie where anything goes, take away the time-table, and THAT'S how this book reads. Just a bunch of ruckus. While I do get what sparked the chaos in this story, I had difficult connecting the HOW it happens. I don't feel like the cyber plot point of this story was properly embellished to help me accept that the world is going to crap because of it. The HOW of the thing kept happening in the background and I just couldn't be convinced that the society is THIS far unraveled without knowing specifics. It was too much too fast, and important story arcs suffered because of it.
Like I mentioned before, I feel like the author was all too anxious to get to the nitty gritty of his presentation out there, with the world VERY rapidly declining. Things are literally just all over the place in this book. Personalities of people move from subdued to maniacal in no time at all. There's no convincing transition of things when it comes to characters. This is why they all felt poorly developed; many of them read similarly, with very identical personalities and methods of resolving their conflicts. The author really just went all out with making seemingly normal people VERY willing to go on killing sprees without thinking twice, and to do so without giving me too much inner emotional turmoil. Sure, there's at least SOME bits here and there, but it just wasn't enough. People are all seemingly mostly just fine with being murderous, even in the name of good, and I couldn't connect with that. While I don't think a crumbling society WON'T get that way, the rate in which it happens in this book just didn't do it for me.
This book was just way too much sporadic havoc for me with too little meaningful structure. I wanted to fixate on someone, as I tend to do in my books, but couldn't find a character to REALLY like. So while I wasn't bored reading this, I still got to a point that I was sorta anxious to get it done and over with. Will I continue on with the series? Nah. Sign me off.
I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters were spot on. Just close enough to over the top to keep the reader entertained. I think Scout is my favorite. Tatiana is such a bad arse. She is definitely a girl of action. Have to give her a thumbs up for having a good work ethic even though it was displaced.
Looking forward to The Last Light of Day. What they are doing is insane and not a good idea.
Okay. Out of all the words in the book these stood out.
*“Money is no longer a currency backed by gold or any other commodity of value. They are just numbers on a screen, a long history of debits and credits...” *“Why destroy the family?” she asked. “Because the nuclear family is the truest form of strength...." *Errol is a 'trip'. His mind is still on that last LSD trip he took in 1969. Favorite quote of his. You have to read the book to fully experience this sentence. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to take a dump, these grapes go through me like shit through a goose. *Instead of the text translating prick into PRICK, the phone typed in p****. .... “Even my stupid phone gets offended,”
Steven King beware, Ryan Schow is on the loose. If you think that the news is scary, wait until you read this book. This book takes what is happening around us and gives it a little push. Once I started reading this book and realized that this could really happen, I was hooked. This is what I like about Ryan does in his books. He makes you think. No matter where you are on the political spectrum, you will get drawn into this story. It is real, it could happen, it could be already starting. How far will those on top go to stay on top. It only takes one.
As usual Schow pulls no punches. Mind blowing! Storyline is too close to current events to be comfortable while reading. I kept feeling the need to go to the store for supplies 😲 If You like your stories to completely captivate your attention, make you gasp on one page and giggle on the next this book is for you! Lighting fast read with quirky characters. Ryan Schow is in a class of his own. Impatiently waiting on book 2.
Any time I see Ryan Schow has a new book out I grab it up and get ready for a wild ride, and this book definitely lives up to the hype, the real life scenario that Ryan builds off of is a little creepy at times but definitely makes me want to amp up my prepping game, get this book and get ready if you are new to this author, you are gonna want to make bug out plans
Ryan Schow really knows how craft a cyber attack, societal collapse story. I was unsure how this hold up to his previous one (given there was an omnipotent killer AI chick), but it didn't disappoint one bit. Surprisingly, there was plenty of fresh perspective and plot points that haven't necessarily been been used in other cyber attack books. I also like that he incorporated a bit of reality into the story, beyond just the environment.
Since Covid19 became a thing deserving much digging into, I have seen all the things described in this book as the future we are now plowing toward. This book so well explains this road we are travelling that I wish everyone could and would pay attention to its contents! Thank you Ryan Schow....you are an amazing and highly talented writer! I will now go read the second book!
Listened to parts 1 and 2 on Audible while driving across the country. It was obvious Ryan did his homework on modern cyber asymmetrical warfare as conducted by a rogue cabal. The characters are fleshed out realistically and they're appropriately likable or hated. There is one odd secondary character in tighty-whities and crocs who created his own religion and uses a slingshot to defend himself, and yet, he pulls it off. You actually wind up liking this guy.
A new take on what could happen when greed and stupid collide. Great job on quite a ride. My phone barely survived when I tossed it across the room and stalked off for more whisky. Your words took me on quite a ride and I look forward to the continuation. Great job!!
I have a hard time writing reviews but This author has a unique way of writing. Humor is sprinkled throughout the killing scenes. Having a sense of humor is the greatest trait anyone can have. A vivid imagination is included to make a outstanding story. This is appears to be effortless for Mr. Schow. Now I'm anxiously awaiting book 2.
This is my fifth series that I've read of Ryan's. His story and character creation is amazingly well done. The book was hard to put down once I started into it. Really can't wait until the next adventure start to see how these characters evolve, who might get lost and who they may add to their newly formed group.
Realistic, compelling, and frightening in its possible to retelling of an all too possible future....the culling of the world's population by the wealthy elite....those who move in the shadows and are spoken of seldom and then in only hushed tones.... Do we miss Rush yet? Excitinging, riveting, and a must read. An author to watch!
I really like stories that explore what ifs. So thinking about what would happen about the very real possibility of a major hack of the nations infrastructure is right up my alley. The use of current events and recent history adds a sense of reality. This book has me looking forward to what happens next to them.
This is one of the most exciting stories I've read in a long time! I found myself shirking my responsibilities to snatch a few extra minutes of reading time as I progressed through the story. Post apocalyptic fiction has always been one of my favorite genres and this book is one of the best I've read!
So I officially love Errol 💖and his balls are as big as Goliath's😂 Talk about hitting the nail on the head, this book is on the money!! Love it, Ryan! August 9th cannot get here fast enough....
I love it. It is a fast paced and easy read. Totally kept my interest to the end and left me wanting more. Great start to this series. Strong characters. I really am liking the brothers and Gabby. I would highly recommend. Looking forward to the next book...soon I hope-LOL
Elliott has my vote for the craziest, most interesting character. This story is well constructed and has lots of life and death situations. The politics has a place in it but I didn’t care much for that.
Yes it is mostly be!ievable bad dudes taking over and making it difficult to survive the first 48 hours of the collapse with everyone running everywhere and getting nowhere.
This book doesn't disappoint, edge of your seat action. The characters feel real, and they take you for a ride. This book doesn't even start slow, but the character development is great and, it will not leave you bored or uninterested.
Once again Ryan has drawn me into another great read. The characters invite you into their inner thoughts and keep you there. Looking forward to the next book.
Ryan once again scares the crap out of you with a story torn from the news. The book kicks off hard and runs right out and gets crazy. A fast and rollicking read, it will keep you glued to the pages. I’m off to read book 2!
As usual Ryan Schow has turned out another page turner. I couldn’t put The book down. The story was fast paced it flow together the characters were phenomenal and it’s scary how close to reality this book really is
Good post apocalyptic read. Given Mr. Schow’s depiction of the US as it currently exists today, I’m not sure he needed to postulate an evil doer to bring us down. However the idle rich make an excellent foil. I liked the characters. I will definitely read the second book.
Mr. Schow hits another one out of the park! Love the characters and the story line, I would think this is a true story that just hasn't happened yet. Really enjoyed it and looking forward to reading the next book.
Loved it brother. You see the the creeping chaos right around the corner and how we all see this ending... In anarchy and blood. Let the weak bury their heads but they're will always be sober clear headed clear sighted men and women ready to answer the call of freedom.
This is a great view on how the apocalypse might happen and different from any other that I have read. It's a great story with lots of action and some good humor. Recommended to all that like to read about the apocalypse.
Great characters, not sure that I have ever laughed out loud so many times reading a book. Errol is one of the most unique characters I’ve come across in a long time. Hope book 2 continues this way.