A thriller set in Zimbabwe, with a CIA and State Department special operation. It sounded great.

But no. The characters are two-dimensional. For a thriller, that's sometimes okay, action can make the difference.

But no. The main character does almost nothing until the last ten pages. Until then he is mostly sitting in the embassy watching the television news. Since he rarely leaves, the setting in Zimbabwe is almost incidental.

On the bright side, it is a quick read. The writing is bad—utterly bland throughout—but not horrible. The villains are dumb, but not ridiculous—no Illuminati conspiracy here. ( )

This is a workman-like effort to put the U.S. State Department at odds with the CIA in a foreign land that is not especially significant in the world order with participation by the Department of Justice to muddy the waters. It builds nicely but then it seems the author had to continue to fish or to cut bait. He chose the later and brought the whole thing to a rapid and messy conclusion. I crafting his story, the author manipulates the hero of the story, who works for State, into being a pawn for his wife who works for the CIA. The characters are really not well developed. ( )

What appealed to me about "Minute Zero" was the idea that the story combines political diplomacy with national security.

With current events and the presidential election debate, a book about election would be of interest even if the nation is Zimbabwe.

State Department crisis manager Judd Ryker is sent to Zimbabwe to attempt to quell a developing emergency. Ryker is to stop an emergency and provide a solution before the situation gets out of hand.

In the 1980s thousands of civilians in Zimbabwe died during an operation and no one was held accountable.

Now President Winston Tinotenda known as Tino is set to have another term as president in an election that he has rigged. He as a corrupt security adviser and gets money from illegal diamond mines and elsewhere.

Ryker brings in the CIA and some old friends to stop the bleeding and allow to elected president to assume her rightful office. How he does this and what he must overcome is the basis of the story.

I enjoyed the story and compared the situation to what is going on in certain countries today and it also gives the reader the idea that it might have been useful if Ryker had done his magic to prevent other countries from going to rebels or illegal dictators. ( )

If you missed Todd Moss’s dramatic 2013 debut with The Golden Hour, catch up with his protagonist Judd Ryker in his second thriller set in an unstable Africa, the recently released Minute Zero for more political chicanery, assassination, theft and corruption at the most brazen level.
Ryker is an academic working in the uneasy surroundings of the U.S. State Department. The careerists don’t trust him, his brief—as head of the department’s new Crisis Reaction Unit—puts him outside the bureaucracy’s normal chain of command, and in many ways he’s in over his head. What landed him there was his theory that in every international crisis there is a short period—the golden hour—in which events can be successfully directed toward a positive conclusion. Once a situation settles, that opportunity is lost.
This novel elaborates that idea, with the proposition that at times of extreme national disruption, there is an even briefer period of breakdown, when outcomes are uncertain and dramatic change is possible. For U.S. diplomats, Ryker counsels, that “zero minute” offers a unique opportunity.
Moss places this thriller in Zimbabwe, under the long-time leadership of fictional President Winston Tinotenda, a man in his 90s (clearly modeled on IRL president Robert Mugabe), aided by his considerably younger national security advisor, General Simba Chimurenga. This pair did not retain power for decades without a hefty dose of corruption, violence, and heavy-handed political tactics. Now the country faces an election pitting Tinotenda against a formidable challenger, a woman lawyer, Gugu Mutonga.
In this situation, U.S. goals are clear and limited, says the State Department’s Africa lead, Bill Rogerson: a safe, peaceful vote and stability into the post-election period, translated as “no bodies in the streets.” Tinotenda’s hold on the office look like a certainty, but Mutonga has strong support among the country’s youth and in its southern region, and Ryker isn’t so sure the president can hold on. Disruption is in the air.
The Secretary of State asks Ryker to fly to Zimbabwe and demonstrate definitively that his crisis reaction analytics can work. But Rogerson considers Ryker a thorn in his side and is anxious to expel him from the body diplomatique. To thwart Ryker’s efforts, Rogerson colludes with the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe—a rather dim political appointee counting the minutes until he can take up a new posting in London. Ryker’s wife Jessica is an agronomist working on African water purification projects. She provides helpful counsel to him as he negotiates these treacherous bureaucratic waters. Only over time does the reader begin to suspect Jessica has her own dangerous agenda.
The political and diplomatic chess game Ryker undertakes to protect American interests and the integrity of the vote is just as cutthroat as an assassination and its outcome can be just as fatal (at least to careers).
Moss is uniquely qualified to write his thrillers, having been the deputy assistant secretary of state covering 16 countries in West Africa. Currently, he’s chief operating officer and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C. He’s also the author of four nonfiction books on international economic affairs and has taught at Georgetown University and the London School of Economics. Luckily for his readers, in addition to his solid background and experience, he knows how to tell a compelling story! ( )

This is a good thriller. I enjoyed the characters. There were many twists and turns in this story. This is best from the middle of the story to the end. The beginning dragged a little but the author made up for it from the middle to the end. I received this ebook through the firsttoread program for a fair and honest opinion. ( )