Self Driving Cars, the Wave of the Future or a Nightmare Waiting to Happen?

The Passengers by John Marrs

Hey 1000 Bookies!  For my book club at work this month we read the thriller, The Passengers by John Marrs.  This is the second book written by the author that I have read, and the book did not disappoint.  In fact, it scared the heck out of me.  The first book I read by Mr. Marrs was entitled, The One, which I would also highly recommend.  The Passengers is fast paced book and there were times that I reluctantly put it down.  That is a great sign for a book.  At approximately 350 pages, its not a long slog nor a particularly hard slog.  Moments of the book left me sitting at the edge of my seat.  If you want a good thriller, pick up The Passengers. 

The book is set in Great Britain.  The premise of the story revolves around a future alternate universe, so The Passengers is ultimately a science-fiction story.  In the future there are self-driving cars, with science and technology advancing, this story could be the wave of the future and becomes fantasy less and less every day.  This world created in the future, has self-driving cars with non-self-driving cars becoming banned.  Britain has led the world with the phenomenon.  This scientific advancement will reduce accidents and vehicle deaths.  Self-driving cars will effectively eliminate drinking and driving.  I kept thinking of the new commercials for the 2020 Hyundai Sonata—with the “Smart Park”.  The Sonata which parks and unparks the car for you…at the Garden, the Harbor, & at Foxborough.  Check out the commercial if you have not seen it yet… its wicked. 

These self-driving cars have GPS that you place the address in then and leave it to the car to get you where you need to go. However, there is a dark side to this technology.  The British government ministry that sets this up uses corruption, stealing of software, and ultimately racism to accomplish their goals.  The system set up has created enemies and they are out for revenge. One morning 8 innocent people leading their lives enter their self-driving cars or self-driving cabs going about their daily business. Little do they know that the cars have been hacked. 

The Hacker is setting these cars on a crash collision course.  The Hacker also uses the social media circus throughout the world to publicize this event.  The novel exposes prejudice, xenophobia of immigrants and flat out racism that the social media mob mentality can encompass.  The Hacker exposes the bloodthirstiness and racism of Social Media.  Of course, each of the 8 “victims” has a terrible secret or is battling some terrible scenario.  One of the victims is a pregnant wife with a massive secret.  Two of the “victims” are a husband and a wife in two different cars, they have a faltering marriage and their secrets are about to be exposed.  One victim is a famous actress who is covering up a terrible secret of her husband.  One victim is a down on his luck guy living out of his car.  One victim is an abused wife and mother running away for a horrible situation.  She does not speak English.  One is a disabled veteran.  The final victim is a refugee from Africa fleeing mass murder. 

This story has all the elements—skeletons in the closet, corrupt politicians, romance, and enough twists and turns to give you whiplash.  It is not a boring story.  The characters are very developed.  The main character who is not trapped in a self-driving car is a woman named Libby.  In the future, when accidents occur with self-driving cars a special court is set up to review the accident and assign blame.  That day Libby is on the jury when the Hacking begins.  The government minister and Member of Parliament is a sinister force in the story.  He is your prototypical unfeeling government official.  The characters are well thought out and well planned.

You may want to consider reading John Marrs book, The One.  The premise for the story is a blood test that has you meet your soulmate.  This storyline from The One plays into several of the relationships in this novel.  (And it’s a great book).  I loved The Passengers and recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller.  This novel is a roller coaster ride with multiple twists and turns. 

Keep Reading my Friends!!!