Review: The Passengers by John Marrs

Author: John Marrs
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: August 2019

Eight self-drive cars set on a collision course. Who lives, who dies? You decide.

When someone hacks into the systems of eight self-drive cars, their passengers are set on a fatal collision course.

The passengers are: a TV star, a pregnant young woman, a disabled war hero, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife - and parents of two - who are travelling in separate vehicles and a suicidal man. Now the public have to judge who should survive but are the passengers all that they first seem? 

 The Passengers involves eight separate people who have their self driving cars hi-jacked.  As they race toward a certain death, the public and a small group of jurors must decide who lives and who dies.  This was a really good thriller.  I was on the edge of my seat throughout the story.  I ended up enjoying this much more than The One.  As an aside, the events from The One are referenced a few times throughout this story. So essentially, The Passengers takes place in the same "world" and a some time after the events in The One.

The story is told through multiple perspectives.  I liked that format because it added a lot to the suspense.  The characters were engaging.  No one is safe.  Everyone has secrets.  If there was ever a cautionary tale about why we shouldn't give all of our control over to machines, it's this book.  This story also highlights the need to wait until you have all of the answers or facts before you make up your mind about something.  Nobody's situation is as cut and dry as it appears.   Personally, I kept changing my mind as to who I would want to vote for to be safe.  I don't want to say much more about the plot because it would ruin the twists.  I definitely recommend reading this one.  Is was a crazy ride.