The Passengers by John Marrs

Started: 20th December 2018
Finished: 22nd December 2018
Published: 1st April 2019

Well Mr Marrs, you have made me late several times, and I have spent the whole afternoon reading as you have made this book impossible to put down! I have loved all your books, and this is up there with the best of them.

So this is set in the future, when most cars are driver-less- not just with some driver-less capability, but no steering wheel, no breaks, nothing. Who hasn’t wondered what would happen in this scenario if things went wrong?

A jury of people have been set up to rule over car crashes that happen with these driver-less cars. Whilst they are inherently more safe than manual cars, on rare occasions things happen that prevent everyone in the crash coming out unscathed. A panel is set up regularly to oversee these incidents, and a member of the public is co-opted to the panel, which is how Libby finds herself in a room of people who are obviously not happy to see her or hear her views on driver-less cars.

Meanwhile 8 driver-less cars are hijacked, and the Hacker takes control of the vehicles, the jury, the media, and inevitably the interest of the public. Each car contains someone with a story, and all are not what they seem. The Hacker promises that one person will survive, but only one, and the jurors and public have to vote on which one. Will it be the pregnant lady, the scorned wife and mother of 2, the battered wife running from her abusive husband and mother of 6, the ageing actress and former national treasure with her little dog? Or one of the others?

Things are not always what they seem and the Hacker makes sure that the nation and the jury find out things about the 8 that they would rather not reveal.

Each chapter leads you swiftly into the next. The writing is pure magic as with all John Marrs books. The homage to The One delighted me as it’s one of my favourite books ever.

The Passengers is another John Marrs triumph that you won’t want to put down, and will leave your mind racing with this highly original and extremely topical story.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Passengers-John-Marrs-ebook/dp/B07HYN1H2C/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1546795297&sr=1-1&keywords=the+passengers+john+marrs

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