The Passengers by John Marrs Review!

About THE PASSENGERS

The headlines have made it known:  driverless cars are coming. And soon. As author John Marrs has put it:  “Whether we like it or not, there are arriving soon. Within the next decade, we will be sitting in the front seats of our vehicles with a flat dashboard containing no steering wheel, and below us, no brakes. We will be in the hands of an operating system that we cannot touch and that we cannot see. It will be making life or death decisions for us. But what if that artificial intelligence could be compromised? What if it is hacked and something – or someone – other than the OS is controlling our destiny?”

Marrs takes that idea and hits full speed in THE PASSENGERS. In it, the British government has mandated all cars be automated. Several years into their implementation, on a seemingly average day, eight people get into their self-driving cars. Suddenly on their journey, the doors lock and the pre-determined route changes. The riders have lost all control. A mysterious voice tells them, “You are going to die.” 

These passengers—an aging actress, a pregnant young woman, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife, and a suicidal man—are panicked. From cameras hidden in their cars, their frantic pleas for help are broadcast to millions of people around the world. The public will show their true colors when they are asked, "Which of these people should we save? Who should we kill first?”

The passengers desperately plead for the lives and sell themselves to the cameras blasting this onto social media. But it soon becomes apparent most of these passengers haven’t been picked randomly. They are all hiding secrets that, once revealed, could be the difference between life and death for each of them.

Praise

“THE PASSENGERS is a 1970s disaster movie by way of Black Mirror, with an added dash of technology-gone-wrong straight out of Michael Crichton….If you’re looking for a sleek, exhilarating ride, look no further.”— Financial Times

“One can almost hear the Hollywood music in the background as the action unfolds; the plot twists are truly gripping….Summer blockbuster entertainment at its best.”— Kirkus Reviews

“[THE PASSENGERS’s] strength lies in its well-developed characters and in its exploration of issues such as the growing role of AI, mob psychology, and the ethics of who gets to decide who lives or dies.”— Publishers Weekly

“Marrs excels at thrilling readers by creating a real sense of tension and delivering a believable, harsh criticism of modern society through this dark and entertaining story.” —Los Angeles Times

“What a ride!”—Booklist

 About the author

John Marrs is the author of The One which is being made into a 10 part Netflix series, The Good Samaritan, Her Last Move, When You Disappeared, and Welcome to Wherever You Are. Until recently, he worked for twenty-five years as a freelance journalist based in London, England, where he interviewed celebrities from the world of television, film, and music for national newspapers and magazines. He has written for publications including the Guardian's Guide and Guardian Online, Total Film, the Huffington Post, Empire, Q, GT, the Independent, S Magazine, and Company. He is now a full-time author.

https://www.johnmarrsauthor.com/

My Review

The Passenger by John Marrs is a futuristic book about driverless cars. What a concept right? Maybe not. The eight characters in the story would argue against it. Everyone's day was going along as it should when they get into their cars and find themselves locked in and the car is set on a course where all of the cars will collide head-on in a few hours and the people were told they would all die. They were hacked. The deal is, only one person will be allowed to survive. It is up to a "jury" and the internet to decide who gets to live and who does not. 

What an imaginative story, I read it in two sittings. I did not want to put it down! Can you imagine that someone can hack into your car and decide your fate? Personally, I don't like the idea of an autonomous car. An electric car is fine if it is to save the environment but not one that is programmed to do what you want it to do. Like any internet linked device, they can be hacked. I love the premise of this book though. It is about a domestic terrorist who has a certain agenda.

I love Libby, at first, she seemed like a meek woman but as the story went on, the reader finds that she is a very strong woman. I enjoyed reading about each of the characters and what their faults were and what was going on in their lives that would determine their fate. So why were they hacked? For what purpose? Those are good questions and reasons for you to get a copy of the book.

This book is an edge of your seat kind of thriller, futuristic but not a fantasy. A story that will have you wondering about the future. I think that if you love this kind of story you can't go wrong and I think I want to read more from this author! I give it 5 stars!

I received a copy of the book for review purposes only.