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The Passengers

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This entire book is like watching a car crash unfold. Literally. And because I’m apparently all about realism, I read some of this book while I was sitting in my car. It was not moving at the time. Marrs’s engrossing, believable thriller raises intriguing questions about our science-tinged future.”— Booklist The high level of detail and research the author put into his futuristic driverless cars – the mechanics of how they operated, their features, governing rules, laws, and regulations, made this novel all the more fascinating and impressive. This was set in the same universe as The One, with Match Your DNA contributing to the plot. I will keep this brief and spoiler free, as this story is best if you experience all of the plot twists first hand!

Libby Dixon is NOT a passenger. Libby hates driverless cars. She knows the damage they are capable of. She walks wherever she can. If she does have to take a taxi, she makes sure it’s one with a driver. She won’t take the bus anymore since they replaced the drivers with computers. Today is Libby's second day of a very different kind of jury duty. Libby was not happy to be selected and hates that she has to take part. Suddenly, the meeting is interrupted. They are told to turn on the news. They see that passengers traveling from different parts of the country have all been told that they may be dead by morning. Marrs gives us an interesting cast of characters, from an aging Hollywood star, to a expectant mother, to a couple celebrating their ten year anniversary, and several others, yet this seemingly disparate group has one thing in common: the AI in their automated vehicle tells them they are being re-routed from their previous destinations....and they will die in 2 hours and 30 minutes.

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Without giving too much away, this book definitely was multi-faceted, and a great deal of it actually focuses on social commentary surrounding the consequences of self-driving cars and the importance we place on one person or one attribute vs. another. There are still plenty of twists for the thriller lovers, but when Marrs says he spent a lot of time researching this book, I believe it! It really made me reflect on the role technology plays in my life and how much control I would be truly willing to give up...and how much I would cling to for dear life! John Marrs completely blew my mind with this exhilarating thriller! Eight passengers in eight separate driverless cars, all of them with secrets, none of them making it to their desired destination. Imagine you're in a driverless car you have no control, no brakes, no steering wheel, you can't even open the doors,and somebody has taken over the car. In 2 1/2 hours all eight of these cars will collide head on end it is up to a "jury" and the public to decide who will survive. Or imagine this you are trapped in a room on a jury of sorts and your job is to decide the fate of these eight strangers. Yikes! I don't know which situation I'd want to be in less.

This was my first John Marrs novel, but I have already read two others by him since this book! This was a standalone book, but it was set in the same universe as one of the author's other books called The One, which was referenced a few times. It's not necessary to read that first, but I feel like I should have? I want to thank Edelweiss, Berkley and the author for the arc of this book in exchange for a honest review. BUT, I see them ALL the time, and rarely hear about an accident. They are still in phase 4-a driver is present and can take over...if they are actually paying attention and not texting on their phone... This whole story was so interesting. The commentary on our future with tech, the ethical issues our dependence upon such technologies will bring about, as well as the potentially harmful nature of social media, were all spectacularly done.It’s a real joy to read something totally original, smart, and thought-provoking.”—Peter James, international bestselling author of Dead If You Don’t One, did Libby actually need to be in the room with the other jurors? Her presence felt like a big fat deus ex machina utilized to ensure the reader would care about the ensuing events. It was lazy and unimaginative. Passenger 3: An elderly actress who is on her way to a hospital to visit teenage cancer patients. Even if you decide you don’t like her, then surely you wouldn’t kill her dog who is travelling in the car with her, would you? I’m really doubtful that Mr. Marrs is from this planet because he outsmarted most of the genius writers with this book. He is so talented, knows how to deceive the readers with his conspiratorial moves and amazing twists.

Three, why did Noah pretend to be Jude and for that matter, why go through the convoluted process of their initial meeting? It made no sense other than Marrs using that and numerous other coincidences to piece together the fracture within the story. That Libby happened to have witnessed the aforementioned deaths just seemed too convenient. Idk, something about the plot and execution seems convoluted and protracted. They each receive this message: “ It May Have Come to Your Attention that your vehicle is no longer under your management. From here on in, I am in charge of your destination. The ONLY thing you need to know, is that in two hours and thirty minutes, it is highly likely that you will be dead.” Now, the jury must decide, which ONE of the eight passengers they will save, at the expense of all the others. Refuse to choose, and ALL will die. Virtually every plot beat seems plausible and imminent…Marrs laces his fast-paced tale with delectably mordant satire.”— The Washington Post We’re beginning to see major advances in driver-less car technology. Now even being test driven across North America and all over the world.This was a buddy read with Ms. Kaceey! We really enjoyed discussing the premise of this one and think all of you will too. While I understand it was integral to the story that the people who are deciding the fates of the eight unfortunates don’t know much about them, I never felt an urgent need for a specific passenger to survive so I wasn’t as caught up in the drama as I’d hoped. Welp. I think I've reached the end of the road (har har) with John Marrs. I loved The One and The Good Samaritan, but Keeping It In The Family, The Marriage Act, and now this one have all been subpar or worse. I was immersed in the story from the first sentence to the last, and the action was fast paced, and non-stop, from start to finish. There were ‘gasp out loud' moments, cliffhanger chapter endings, a satisfying, surprising conclusion, and relevant articles, newspaper clippings, paperwork, and internet posts preceding chapters. Every character was unique and complex, their fear and anxiety all too real.

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