
When the novel resumes, now-President Mark Webster has moved into the White House, along with his UVA classmate, Cheryl Fergusson, as his chief-of-staff. Cheryl's son, Darrow, has been guilt-ridden since the day that Addie vanished, and he still carries that Connect Four red checker in his pocket in hopes that he might someday resume their last game. For Addie's mother, Liz, throwing herself into her work as a computer program developer was a way to deal with her unspeakable loss, while Addie's sister, Ellie, confronted her pain with drugs and alcohol.
Miraculously, a teen-age Addie reappears in a Flying J. Travel Plaza bathroom. With her return, the novel delves into a world of an anti-government cell called Judgement Day, a cyberterrorism group called Cerebus, and a "Father" who is controlling them all. No place or person is truly safe, and even the FBI, CIA and Secret Service can be controlled and manipulated when these evil saboteurs threaten a Republican fundraiser, the Metro, and teenagers at a prom.
In Zero Day, Jan Gangsei manages to create a political thriller that is entirely too close to home. Each chapter brings a new surprise and twist in Addie's story, and even as the novel ends I wonder who the reader can trust. I hope this story is the first in a series of books, but no one will regret being drawn into the action that drives the narrative from the very first page. You have been warned.