John Marrs

Eight self-drive cars set on a collision course. Who lives, who dies? You decide. 'Provocative, terrifying and compulsive. Another savagely clever near future thriller' Cara Hunter, bestselling author of CLOSE TO HOME The new gripping page-turning thriller for fans of BLACK MIRROR from the bestselling author of HER LAST MOVE and THE ONE - soon to be a major Netflix series. 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? ________________________________ WHAT READERS ARE SAYING 'I was gripped right from the start - the plot had many twists and turns' - Melanie 'An absorbing, engaging read that grabs you and doesn't let go, keeping you awake long past your bedtime' - Gisele 'One of the most thrilling books I've read this year' - Luke 'Marrs is so talented at creating these future worlds that are completely plausible and therefore utterly terrifying' - Kate 'Has many twists and turns which keep you guessing to the very last page' - Greta 'My heart is still pounding just thinking about this brilliantly twisted novel. An edge of your seat read' - Sara

A near-future thriller with a killer twist

The Passengers

You're riding in your self-driving car when suddenly the doors lock, the route changes and you have lost all control. Then, a mysterious voice tells you, "You are going to die." Just as self-driving cars become the trusted, safer norm, eight people find themselves in this terrifying situation, including a faded TV star, a pregnant young woman, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an undocumented immigrant, a husband and wife, and a suicidal man. From cameras hidden in their cars, their panic is broadcast to millions of people around the world. But the public will show their true colors when they are asked, "Which of these people should we save?...And who should we kill first?"

➺ 
  4/5 🌟


i felt like i was watching a movie while reading this. i even looked up if this got adapted to a movie or something. this book is such a riveting, thrilling ride (pun intended) from beginning until the end. i was at the edge of my seat the whole time, desperately want to know what's about to happen. there are so much thought provoking questions that were thrown and the commentary in this one was done so well!

the majority of the book happened within a two and half hour limit, the time in which a lot of people's fates were about to change. there are multiple perspectives, each of them having their own issues and secrets, which made you question as to why they were chosen to be there. i was so invested reading this book that i didn't even realize i finished this within a day.

i felt so manipulated at some point. i felt like i experienced being in the shoes of the main character, libby. that one particular character (those who have read knew who i'm talking about) triggered my sympathy and i trusted his sincere countenance. why wouldn't i, if even in his own perspective, there was nothing to be suspicious about. i really felt genuinely sorry for him. after that, i suspected his involvement the same time libby did, but i was not expecting he was involved to that extent. that twist after another twist, revealing the triple layered deceit made me dizzy. maybe i was a poor judge of character or the author really did it so well. 

john marrs' books have always been on my tbr, but this is the first time i've picked one up. i personally loved his writing and the way he got me so invested with his story. i will definitely pick more of his books in the future!

Geoffrey Froggatt

I read this because I loved The One by John Marrs and wanted to see what his other books were like, and to see if lightning strikes twice. While I didn’t come to love it as much as his first novel that I read, it did not disappoint! I loved discovering that The Passengers and The One are set in the same universe. If you can suspend your disbelief enough and imagine a future where self driving vehicles are possible, you’ll enjoy this book! It’s fast paced with lots of changing POVs (a John Marrs special) and I never felt bored, I was hooked from the first chapter.

Charlsy Sekyere

⭐️4-4.5

The first chapter hooked me and I knew I would love the book from the get-go, and I did. Having never read a John Marrs book before, I wasn't sure what to expect from the book. However, I wasn't disappointed, as it got better and better with each chapter. With a prominent theme of technology and its role in society, the book felt like an episode of 'Black Mirror' inside a book, which I found extremely cool.

In this fast-paced thriller book, we have a multitude of great things. A brilliant, unique plot. Several interesting characters are fleshed out in considerable detail. A 'locked in a room' thriller trope is seamlessly infused with dark sci-fi and technology elements, such as hacked autonomous, driverless cars. An alarming, chilling commentary on the reliance on artificial intelligence. An examination of human behaviour and thought processes in the face of danger and when in survival mode. A concept of 'playing God' and technology invading privacy and creating a mob mentality. A cleverly crafted plot, with interesting yet unexpected twists and turns that enhance the story without distracting from the original story.

The book lost a star because it started to drag towards the end and it was upsetting to see a few of the passengers die before we able to fully know them as intimately as the others. While I am aware that this was an insignificant and petty reason to lose a star, it took me a while to overlook it. 

In summary, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For those who want a fast-paced, tense thriller that they can't put down, I would highly recommend this book.

»Guten Morgen, Claire. Sie dürften bemerkt haben, dass sich Ihr Fahrzeug nicht mehr unter Ihrer Kontrolle befindet. Ab sofort bestimme ich, wohin Ihre Fahrt geht. Im Augenblick gibt es nur eines, das Sie wissen sollten: In zwei Stunden und dreißig Minuten sind Sie höchstwahrscheinlich tot.« Als die hochschwangere Claire Arden diese Worte aus dem Lautsprecher ihres nagelneuen selbstfahrenden Autos vernimmt, hält sie es zunächst für einen schlechten Scherz. Schnell stellt sich jedoch heraus, dass sie tatsächlich in ihrem Wagen gefangen ist. Und sie ist nicht die Einzige – noch sieben weitere Passagiere sind in derselben Situation: Die Systeme ihrer Autos wurden geknackt, und nun befinden sie sich auf einem fatalen Kollisionskurs. Doch damit nicht genug: Der Hacker streamt das ganze live im Internet, und die Zuschauer entscheiden über Leben und Tod der acht Passagiere ...

Roman

Zu Beginn etwas lahmarschig, dann hat’s richtig Fahrt aufgenommen. Schon ein spannendes Konzept, die Idee durch ein autonomes Auto vor Millionen Zuschauern getötet zu werden, ist auf jeden Fall wild. Das Ende kam dann mit mehreren Plottwists, die mich zwar entertained haben, aber auch billig und uneinfallsreich wirken.

Ist alles in allem ein Buch, welches man gut in einem Rutsch lesen kann, wird die Welt wohl aber nicht verändern. :)

Leon

Zu Beginn etwas lahmarschig, dann hat’s richtig Fahrt aufgenommen. Schon ein spannendes Konzept, die Idee durch ein autonomes Auto vor Millionen Zuschauern getötet zu werden, ist auf jeden Fall wild. Das Ende kam dann mit mehreren Plottwists, die mich zwar entertained haben, aber auch billig und uneinfallsreich wirken.

Ist alles in allem ein Buch, welches man gut in einem Rutsch lesen kann, wird die Welt wohl aber nicht verändern. :)

England has developed completely self-driving cars and within a few years manually operated vehicles will be banned from the roads. Fatal collisions involving automatic cars are adjudicated by a very secretive jury that decides whether the car (thus the manufacturer) is at fault or whether it was human error. Then 8 cars are hacked and put on a collision course. The jury and the public are forced by the terrorist to vote to decide who will live and who will die.

I really enjoyed The One by this author, and The Passengers did not disappoint. He knows how to write a page-turning plot with interesting characters and plenty of twists. The drama and tension are very high. This would make a great movie. If you are looking for an entertaining, quick read - this is a good one.

Cheryl Hedlund

England has developed completely self-driving cars and within a few years manually operated vehicles will be banned from the roads. Fatal collisions involving automatic cars are adjudicated by a very secretive jury that decides whether the car (thus the manufacturer) is at fault or whether it was human error. Then 8 cars are hacked and put on a collision course. The jury and the public are forced by the terrorist to vote to decide who will live and who will die.

I really enjoyed The One by this author, and The Passengers did not disappoint. He knows how to write a page-turning plot with interesting characters and plenty of twists. The drama and tension are very high. This would make a great movie. If you are looking for an entertaining, quick read - this is a good one.

Jacqueline Englund

Just like Jahn Marrs’s first books, this was a highlight innovative and entertaining story. Although I was not able to connect to the characters as much as I would have liked, this was still a very enjoyable read!

Alexa M

3.5 maybe 

this was  extremely  twisty and had big shock factor but i don’t feel like it was especially thrilling nor did it capture my attention as much as i expected it to !

Adam

** spoiler alert **
           Great concept and explores the question of could we let AI make life-or-death decisions for us and how could it be abused. Interesting characters and a few twists along the way. My only negative is I like a book to keep me guessing and this didn't; most of the twists I had worked out already so didn't have that "holy crap!" moment at any stage. 

Still all in all a good read and I enjoyed it.

Brilliant read, didn’t expect any plot twists to pan out how they did. One of those ‘I’m keeping myself up to read more bc I don’t wanna put it down’ reads 

0cchi

Stephanie Dimovski

daisy

4.7 for me. really cant believe i finished this book in just 12 hours??? once you read this you will never put it down.. the plot twists are so fucking good i would have give this book a 5 stars if its not because of the very long description of jack's part in the ending..

Deborah Kerr

A fast-paced, quick thriller with tons of twists and turns!

I definitely recommend the audiobook!

Aparna Eeshwar

Oh. My. Lord!!!
That was one INSANE ride!!

I honestly recommend you to stop reading this review and just trust me once and go read this techno-thriller. Because honestly, I can’t do this book justice by writing a review even if I try to. Just go read, please, pretty please?

And if you’re not convinced well here you go, 
This is set in the future where self-driving cars have become normal. You just program the location by name or coordinates and your car takes you there while you are traveling as just a passenger. No brakes, no steering wheel. And in case of any accidents, the car puts the life of the passenger first. Or so you’ve been told. (Seriously, even thinking about putting myself in a car like that makes a chill run down my spine. And not in a good way)
Until one day when eight driverless cars have been hijacked with their passengers inside them. A voice from the speaker announces to them that their car is not under their control anymore, and they’re about to die in the next 2 and a half hours. A set of jurors and the public are supposed to pick who can die and who can live. And it is the passengers who have to convince the world to save them. Oh did I forget to tell you that every one of them has a dark secret they’re trying to hide? And the hacker knows them all.
Will the public save any of them after their secrets are revealed? Who is to decide which secret is the lesser evil?

I’m speechless! I read 300+ pages just now but I don’t know any words. I’ve no words to express how I feel. Such a dark, compelling, insane, hit-your-head-against-the-wall thriller. The overused phrase “She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding” might be one of many ways to express how I was reading this book.

The second part is so INTENSE I had a headache by the end of it. And just when I thought it was all over, came the third part which made me want to scream louder and louder as I finished each chapter. By the end of the book, I had smoke coming out of my ears. It also has references from the book The One and it was so refreshing to see an overlap that doesn’t go in-depth to that previous story but at the same time keeps you in that John Marrs world.

It was so compelling I wanted to take a peek and know what might have happened in the end. I didn’t but I really really wanted to. That’s how good this book is!! The Passengers was everything and more I want in a thriller. And John Marrs narrated it from multiple perspectives so vividly that I could feel my blood pressure rising as he went on revealing twist after twist. I can hardly think straight even now.

This book is so gripping, it just absorbs you and throws you inside one of those cars where you’ve zero control whatsoever. I didn’t know where I was. Was I also trapped in a car and seeing all this from the screen? Was I with the jurors trying to make sense and voting who should die or live? Was I screaming out loud or just in my head? We’ll never know!

You're riding in your self-driving car when suddenly the doors lock, the route changes and you have lost all control. Then, a mysterious voice tells you, "You are going to die." Just as self-driving cars become the trusted, safer norm, eight people find themselves in this terrifying situation, including a faded TV star, a pregnant young woman, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife, and a suicidal man. From cameras hidden in their cars, their panic is broadcast to millions of people around the world. But the public will show their true colors when they are asked, "Which of these people should we save?...And who should we kill first?"

Olivera Mitić

Cecily Lawrence

This was so good, and I definitely recommend the audio book.  I actually listened to it in less than 24 hours.  Super fast-paced and I love the thriller/sci-fi combination.

Eight self-drive cars set on a collision course. Who lives, who dies? You decide. 'Provocative, terrifying and compulsive. Another savagely clever near future thriller' Cara Hunter, bestselling author of CLOSE TO HOME A gripping page-turning thriller for fans of BLACK MIRROR from the bestselling author of THE ONE - soon to be a major Netflix series. John Marrs' latest high-tech thriller, THE MINDERS, is out now. ____________ When someone hacks into the systems of eight self-driving 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? 'A 1970s disaster movie by way of Black Mirror, with a dash of Michael Crichton ... a sleek, exhilarating ride' Financial Times ____________ WHAT READERS ARE SAYING 'I was gripped right from the start - the plot had many twists and turns' - Melanie 'An absorbing, engaging read that grabs you and doesn't let go, keeping you awake long past your bedtime' - Gisele 'One of the most thrilling books I've read this year' - Luke 'Marrs is so talented at creating these future worlds that are completely plausible and therefore utterly terrifying' - Kate 'Has many twists and turns which keep you guessing to the very last page' - Greta 'My heart is still pounding just thinking about this brilliantly twisted novel. An edge of your seat read' - Sara

Ruth Parker 

My introduction to the wonder that is John Marrs. When writing this review almost a year after reading this book I still remember all the plot points and characters. It has really stuck with me. I’ve also read 3 more John Marrs books and given 5 stars to all of them. He is one of my favourite authors for sure. Love him and love this book.

Morgan Kinney

I love how this author takes tangible ideals and becomes the devil advocate. 

Adrianna Giunta

4.5 stars

I literally could not put this down. It’s been a while since I devoured a thriller in one sitting, I just had to know what was going to happen. The twists just kept coming, even up until the end which I loved because the plot was never stale. I enjoyed the characters although I do think they could have been a little more fleshed out. Another great John Marrs book!

Becca Futrell

The Passengers by John Marrs is a suspenseful, leave-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller that shows just how horrifying technology can be. Eight people are trapped in Level-5 cars (completely driver-less) & are heading to their death. It’s up to a small jury, and the world’s population to decide which one of these Passengers will survive.

At one point or another, it’s probably safe to say that most of us have been a slave to our devices. A lot of us constantly have our phones in our hands, or our eyes glued to the television screen, because hey! Stranger Things was just released & heck yeah, we want to binge-watch. Seems harmful, right? & really, besides the risk of your eyesight failing, is there really anything that could go wrong?

However, there are times when technology can be dangerous; texting and driving probably being the the most common at this time. In the not-so distant future of The Passengers, technology has advanced so far that the population depends on it. For things such as driving us around town, because wow, in The Passengers world, there are driver-less cars that have zero brakes & absolutely no steering wheels. I hope y’all trust technology, because I sure as Hell don’t.

One thing I really enjoyed about The Passengers by John Marrs is that it shows how addicted to technology we are when it comes to entertainment purposes. Throughout this book, there are times where the population actually uses Twitter to vote for who will live & who will die through polls. Often times, the book will mention the multiple hashtags that are used to show support (or hatred towards a Passenger). The world treats the situation as if it’s simply just entertainment when there are actually people dying.

I found this book to be very Saw Meets The Purge. Throughout the book, you learn that each Passenger seems to be harboring a secret & you start to think that maybe that’s why they were chosen to be a hostage (hence Saw). There are a couple of reasons as to why The Passengers reminds me of The Purge — one being a spoiler, but the other due to the fact that the world is voting for who they think deserves life & who deserves death.

Our Hacker, the person behind the hostages, is savage AF. The Hacker doesn’t hesitate to blow someone up if the rules are broken. Because of this savagery, it’s hard to tell what will happen next to the Passengers.

With the way The Passengers is formatted, we get chapters that alternate between the characters; giving us a more in-depth look at what is going on. Getting to know each of the Passengers helps us feel more empathy for these characters, giving The Passengers an emotional element.

The Passengers is filled with so many plot twists, which is what I am here for. However, it felt this story was never going to end. As soon as you think you’re reaching the conclusion, something else happens. For some, this will be awesome — for me & my weak attention span, I eventually just wanted it to end. I’m sure a lot of people won’t feel like this story drags at any point, but I did — which is why I’m only giving it 3 out of 5 stars.

Ben Nathan

Really fun and smart. His vision of where tech could take us is eerily accurate. It reads like a great episode of the Outer Limits, complete with all the twists and turns. Great follow-up to The One (which gets a shout out in here)

Andrada D

When I read The One, I was sure I'd love anything John Marrs would ever write. Looks like I came to a rushed conclusion.

And this is not because The Passengers isn't good. But it's so lackluster compared to it.

Firstly, The One was more twisty. Here, you pretty much saw everything coming, and those you didn't weren't satisfying. 

Then, what I loved in the one was how everything seemed to go crazily but it neatly arranged into an extremely opposite conclusion. Here it was the opposite - little by little it all went astray and never recovered.

Lastly, besides the strong protagonist (and I loved Libby with all my heart), everyone was truly despicable.

I get the lesson this book yearns to teach. But rather than learn it like this, I'd rather die ignorant.

Geneviève Rouleau

New favourite underrated author (on bookstagram, that is) : JOHN MARRS. I listened to The One earlier this month, and I enjoyed it so much that I had to listen to more of this author's books! 

Once again, he created a very unique set of characters, with interesting and diverse backgrounds. I also enjoyed that there was some mention of the famous DNA test from The One!! The ending was full of twists and turns I had never even imagined, and every time I thought it would be the final twist, THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE!! 

I definitely recommend!! And I looooove that the many POVs are all played by different voice actors.

Bryan Alexander

I read thrillers for two reasons: to be entertained and to glimpse signals of present and future. The Passengers didn't work for me on the first count, but had some interesting bits for the second.

As a thriller, Marrs' book starts off with an intriguing idea. In the near future self-driving cars run across British roads. A mysterious hacker called (sigh) Hacker takes control of several to stage a game, forcing a special jury to decide whom to kill.

Unfortunately what follows next is a mix of soap opera, hand-wringing about social media, and low energy events. Our characters shout and cry a lot, occasionally (and too briefly) being blown to bits. The last act is a kind of epilogue with a couple of twists. It's one of those books that improves by skimming.

No, what's interesting is what The Passengers tells us about our time, and signals of the future.

To begin with, it's a useful extrapolation of how we might dread self-driving cars. Unsurprisingly, we fear being controlled by outside forces. We still fear hacking. These fears can also occur socially, publically, rather than privately, due to social media and mobile devices. Social media emerges as a terrifying force, an uncontrollable one that corrupts people.

There's a clear gendering to this fear. The villains are uniformly male, from Hacker (sort of) to a nasty politician. In contrast, our heroine is plucky and empathetic, often derided for being a woman. Men are all about technology and hierarchy, while women are emotional and supportive. It's an update of Mars versus Venus with a helping of "technology = boy's toys."

Perhaps the most interesting dynamic in the book is a secret revealed at the end, so I'll raise spoiler shields: (view spoiler)[The government maintains ranking software that determines who will live and die in case of a car collision. Its representative proudly proclaims this as a way of weeding out undesirables and of making a better population. That's an interesting note about present social fears of many things, from inequality to AI. It doesn't map nearly onto modern tech - it's hard to see Tim Cook using iTunes in a secret eugenics campaign - but it does speak to the accumulation of power by the modern state, with faint echoes to biotech developments. (hide spoiler)]

In short: a quick, light read with some interesting data for our time.

Gordon McLean

Self driving cars get hacked

And it all gets worse and worse from there. The type of thriller that never stops adding twist after twist. Settle in for one helluva ride!

The Passengers A near-future thriller with a killer twist

Reviews