Another intriguing read from Marrs! Clever plotting, characters that the reader can love and hate in equal measure, and dilemmas which make us all wonder what we would do in the same situation. Great fun and plays brilliantly on our fears that we can’t trust technology and that ‘the truth’ is something very much open to interpretation. Highly recommended!

I had wanted to read this book for a while as it was really hyped up when it was first released but I left it for my stop on the blog tour and OMG now I have read it, it so deserves the praise that it was receiving and I really wish I had read it sooner and it will definitely be in my top reads of the year!!

I thought that the plot was excellent, it is a very well written story that has some excellent characters, they cover a wide mix of backgrounds and I loved how there was a Passenger that nearly everyone can relate too. The characters are genuine and believable.

I loved the layout of the book and the length of the chapters was perfect. The interviews that are completed about 70% of the way through the book were excellent – I had more than one sharp intake of breath when I was reading those and I thought that the ending was superb!!

It is 5 stars from me, I thought that the book was excellent, it was very well planned out, it had me gripped and the author’s writing style was spot on – very highly recommended!!

I have read several other John Marrs books and absolutely loved them all. Unfortunately this was the first book of his to miss the mark for me.

Unusually I found the story really difficult to get into. It felt like a very slow start and the book itself took me a really long time to finish. I didn't connect with any of the characters and the set up felt very strange and unrealistic. Only once the passenger's dirty secrets began to come out did the story feel like it became more alive.

I would have given the book more of a 3 or 4 star rating but the ending left me so frustrated. The explanation felt overly complicated and I didn't understand why the reader needed so much detail. I didn't think the Noah/Jude element added anything and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth at the end of the book.

The concept itself is fantastic - as it is with any other John Marrs book - but the execution felt unrealistic and forced.

Addictive swift-moving thriller, excellent creation of a society near our own. How will it end?!

Driverless cars: fully automated, a near-perfect system, safe. In a vision of technology just around the corner, this impressively pacey thriller delivers excitement, horror and drama.

On the same day that eight self-drive cars and their passengers are taken hostage, set on a collision course with teach other, Claire is an attendee a private legal meeting in which the blame for self-drive accidents is ascertained. As she attempts to question the system and the method of determining fault, the news breaks of the incident, quickly spiralling into an international social media sensation.

The mastermind has taken eight very different people's lives and begins to examine them with the watching millions, who are charged with deciding who will live and who will die. But everyone has secrets...

The format works brilliantly, as we move from car to car, seeing how the hostages are watching their vehicles draw ever nearer, how they let themselves be seen by the cameras, then we return back to Claire and the hostage taker and how the victims are painted and seen from outside. It's an indictment of social media, of an edited and 'fake' news world, of the possible perils of technology.

Personally, I felt the ending was a little off the rails, but until then, I'd been along for the ride absolutely. An original idea, with surprises along the way and lots of reveals that go against expectations.

With thanks to Netgalley for the sample reading copy.

If ever there is something better than a book that you can literally not set down, don’t tell me about it, I don’t want to know. To say I devoured this book would be a vast understatement - I inhaled this book, swallowed it whole, annihilated it in one sitting. Putting this one down was not an option for me. This book chewed me up and spit me out, and I am STILL reeling about it - the mystery, the twists, the surprises, the fact that I just did NOT KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. I’ve talked alot about how I love an unpredictable story, and this book is EXACTLY THAT. In fact, if you were to look up unpredictable in the dictionary, I think there is a picture of this book next to it.



Now here is the thing (and its a THING) - I cannot say anything else about this book, which makes it damn hard to review. But this is a book where diving in without expectation makes it so much better for the reader. If I had an inkling of what was to come, I think I would have been distracted and less invested in the plot. So I won’t ruin this for you, reader friends. Instead what I will say is that sometimes there are books that defy all logic and become wedged in your brain, and this book is going to worm it’s way into the depths of your consciousnesses for days after you turn the last page. I will say that John Marrs is an absolute rock star author and I can only hope that this book also becomes a series/movie in the very near future. I will say that books that truly surprise me and blow my DAMN MIND are few and far between and that if I am going to be adding this to every single recommendation list that I write for months to come. I will say that if this isn’t topping your summer TBR you are NUTS.

Get this book. Read this book. Prepare to be mesmerized by the most remarkable piece of work from John yet. And thank me for the suggestion later.

The concept of driverless or automated vehicles does not seem so far away.... So 'Passengers' is a deeply concerning look at what happens when political grandstanding starts to take the place of the common good.... With a group of self driving cars held hostage, how do we decide who is worth saving and who to let die? Suspenseful, well crafted and, scarily, not too far from the realms of possibility... Great stuff!

I don’t usually request thrillers, but this synopsis just intrigued me so I requested it. In this near-futuristic world, all cars are completely automatic, driving themselves while the passengers – or Passengers – have time to work, eat, sleep, whatever you wish you could do when you’re driving yourself to work in the morning. When eight cars get hijacked and their trajectories set to collide it leads to interesting discussion about who to save, what makes them worthy, and secrets. It deals with how do you value a life, how do you make a choice between people based on limited information, or coloured information through social media or appearances. It’s the Trolley scenario, but on a larger scale. All our Passengers have something to hide, and once these are revealed it shows how people weigh different offences and crimes – what makes you not worthy of saving? I enjoyed this book, and the discussion in it was very interesting, especially with the way technology is developing towards a possible future like this, with cars and AI’s making their own decisions, and whether or not they’ll ever be able to match a human.

First time reading this authors work and i was well and truly captivated by the story. Being set in the not too distant future made this story seem more vivid, i am not a fan of science fiction books but this was almost a dystopian way of locating the story. Especially with the social media side of the story, it goes to show how much life can be influenced and sometimes the thrilling but also tragic consequences. I don't want to spoil the story but know that this book is well worth a read and i found the premise captivating

The Passengers is – forgive the cliché, but it’s so apt - a roller coaster of a ride! I was reading with a sort of horrified fascination, hating myself for wanting to rush towards the inevitable fiery, fatal conclusion. John Marrs doesn’t take his foot off the (non-existent) accelerator for one minute. Just as you think he’s winding it all up, he throws in something totally unexpected. I was breathless throughout this clever, well-constructed story.

I was also delighted with the way it all panned out; there was a fabulous circularity that just really did it for me. Marrs writes incredibly well – it’s effortless and fine, and I could sense his glee and sense of fun in parts. He’s also oh so cruel! We meet a number of different characters, each getting into their driverless, autonomous cars. They all come complete with fascinating back stories. And I have never across a fictional politician that I hated as much as I did Marrs’ creation. In fact, all his baddies were horrendously bad, while the goodies had me rooting for them all the way through. The problem was - I gradually realised - I didn’t necessarily know which was which. Marrs is quite manipulative that way…

Heroine (or is she?), Libby, has been single for a long time, but has recently met someone who may just be the one. She has been picked for ultra top-secret jury duty during which she becomes intimately involved in the unfolding drama. I loved the glimpses Marrs gives into the digital future – in which not only are cars autonomous, but technology controls most of the rest of our lives as well. He uses innovative chapter introductions that reinforce the power of social media; in fact the book is an indictment of our addiction to social media and how this can bring out the worst in society.

I enjoyed his references to the compatibility test he developed in his earlier novel, The One, as if it’s real. Very clever. It’s also cool that his dog Oscar has appeared in some guise or other in every one of his books to date.
If, like me, you enjoy a gripping romp, full of thrills and shocks, written with intelligence and insight, then you’ll love The Passengers.

“Who in their right mind would want to send someone to their death?”
Cadman read the tablet he held
“Approximately two hundred thousand people so far – and that’s based only on what’s trending on Twitter.”

When mental nurse Libby is called into a jury to decide on accidents caused by self-drive cars, she is astonished since she never kept her position on those a secret. Having witnessed an evil crash, she is absolutely against handing over control to AI. But she never expected the outcome of her jury session, nobody in there would ever have expected this. Soon after they started, the system is taken over by a Hacker claiming to have taken over eight self-drive cars and threatening to have them collide in two and a half hours. The jury has the chance to save one of them, should they not comply with his rules, he would immediately kill one after the other. But not only the jury would be there to judge, also the world outside could be part of the show and have their vote via social media. It’s the show of the year and the prize is high: it’s your life and you aren’t even asked if you want to take part in it.

John Marrs' thriller really caught me by surprise and left a deep impression. Not only is the story masterly crafted with many unexpected twists and turns, no, it also mirrors our own behaviour in many different ways thus making you flinch at times because you recognise yourself and feel ashamed soon after. It surely is an absolute must-read for everybody using any kind of technology.

I hardly know where to begin with this novel. There are so many topics and layers that don’t make it easy to find a beginning. First of all, the setting of this evil game. Forcing people to make a decision over life and death is not just unfair, it is impossible. Yet, given no other way out, the jury has to come to a decision based on the information they have and only later do they find out that core aspects have been omitted which cast a completely different light on the person they have just sentenced to death. As a reader, you follow their verdict and often agree – running into the open knife just like they did. All passengers have something evil they hide, but the world isn’t simply black and white and only the whole picture provides you with what you would have needed to know before coming to a final decision. Too often we come to a conclusion fat too soon before we know all we should.

Second, the role of technology in our life surely should be questioned a lot more. The self-drive cars could definitely help to ease the situation in frequently gridlocked cities, on the other hand: what’s the price we pay for this? Providing more from the novel would spoil the fun, but as could be assumed, there is much more behind that we undeniably should think about before welcoming all technological advances. Also the role of social media should be seen a lot more critical than we do at the moment. Marrs goes so far as to give Twitter a vote – without anybody knowing who or what is behind it.

The protagonists also are very interesting in their own ways. Not just Libby, but also the passengers and of course Jack Larsson, the minister, are carefully drawn and offer a lot questionable traits of character.

I am totally flashed by this ambitious novel for which I am actually lacking the words to honour it.

An entertaining, easy read. Some interesting social commentary and satire here, too. Fully drawn and varied characterisation. Would appeal to some fans of speculative fiction who are looking to be entertained more than informed.

WOW!!!That is probably the best way I can describe this book! I have read & enjoyed John Marr's previous books & I loved 'The One' so 'The Passengers' , set in the same time frame was definitely a book I wanted read.

It is a few years in the future. Cars have become diverless. The earlier & the cheaper models had some driver input but the latest & ever more common Level 5 cars are completely controlled by computer.

Eight people set off one morning in their individual Level 5 cars. They are a mixed bunch of people. There's a war hero, a woman escaping an abusive relationship, a woman who escaped war to come to the UK, a fading movie star, a pregnant woman, a husband & wife in separate cars & a man who is at the end of his rope.

Libby is reluctantly attending a sort of jury service as a member of the public looking at accidents involving automated vehicles & deciding fault. Libby is not a fan of automated cars & the first day had decided her that she was not a fan of this jury either! On the second day of her services the computer system is taken over. A mysterious voice tells them that eight Level 5 cars are now under his control. The system has been hacked & in a few hours time they will come together in a massive collision. The panel can hear the driver's stories & decide who is the one person who's car will stop before impact. Social media & the news channels were instantly onto this & the internet exploded with judgements & comments.

As one who took a while to warm to the idea of automatic gearboxes, fully computer controlled cars fill me with horror! I could imagine the captive passengers fear & helplessness- regardless of who or what they were or had done.

The 'jury' knew only part of each passenger's story- much as they did when deciding fault in car accidents. Social media judged & condemned without knowing the facts. The Government put their spin on it & subtly pushed their own agenda. Of course this is fiction, but I couldn't help thinking that it probably wasn't so far from the truth.

The aftermath at first seemed a bit superfluous & I wondered if it should have ended earlier, but no. It drew things to a close at the right time.

This was an amazing read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publishers in return for my independent honest review. Thank you.
The premise of this book interested me. Future our world. People stuck in locked remotely driven cars. There is definitely going to be a big drama!
Wow I wasn't expecting such a cleverly thought out plot that constantly had you questioning your own ethics and integrity with twists and turns you didn't expect.
The plot starts quite slow as we are introduced to all the characters in the cars and a little about their lives and families. The plot then swaps to Libby who has been called in for jury duty looking into cases where driverless cars have been involved in accidents. She is joined by other jurors in a highly secure location.
The characteristics of everyone involved are very well drawn and totally believeable. I especially liked Libby as she wasn't afraid to speak her mind and questioned decisions other jurors wanted to make.
Persevere with the slower pacing at the start as you will soon not be able to put this book down.
At times there are some graphic images and what really occurred to me throughout reading this,is that although set in a dystopian world, the plot was not beyond the possibility of really happening in our lifetime. Scary thought!I
So if you love a good thriller,some suspence and something a little different to the usual thriller tropes,then this is for you.
I now want to read more from this author.

Boy, does this book make one question their morals?! John Marrs is bang on the money with relevant trend in the current focus on AI in this wondrous age of technology! AI is something that no longer seems utopic or unachievable. In The Passengers, Marrs has taken AI and cars- the natural next step- making human life ever/even more so comfortable… now, we can drive to work and do our make up in the cars without worrying the cops will fine us. Now, we can drive to anywhere at all without ever getting lost again. Now, we can sit in a car and read a newspaper, play a video game or speak on the mobile phone. Market for hands-free sets went down, down, down with the government bill that put fully autonomous cars on the roads! Welcome to the future!
On one of the days, 8 people, Passengers, get in their new swanky, super duper uber awesome cars to go about their busy lives. It is on one of those days, these 8 AI equipped cars, get hacked. Funnily enough… Human error in everything we do is the biggest risk and we have come to think that with technology, the human error does not exist anymore. How bloody wrong we are. I don’t trust technology to be more perfect in anything than what a human does. Anyway…
Government is clever, too! They push through the bill, altering everyone’s lives but they also know that the devil is in the detail. As accidents happen, a group is set up – of officials and random civilians to judge whether accidents involving AI equipped cars are the fault of the car or the victims. Clever, I tell yous!
So – Cars, hacked, 8 poor souls on their way to the death. The countdown is on! We have the 2 hour and something wracking up our blood pressure as we come nearer to the end of the innocent souls. But, how innocent are they really? And should their innocence or guilt really allow anyone to decide who should live or die? And can you really know enough about someone in this short space of time to decide whether they are worthy of continuing their life as part of society?
I love how this book explores the advancement of technology- making the plot of this book, this very book, ahead of the game on the fiction market whilst at the same time showing the potential everything that can go wrong! Government and diverse cast of characters thrown into the mix and we got ourselves a right cabbage-soup! But that is not all… because- wait for it- the power of the tweet and the hashtag is also thrown into pot as the whole world witnesses the events live and are prompted to have their say! Can you imagine? And bloody hell does it get nasty!
Marrs has yet again taken something unique and innovative and turned it into a proper page-turner. As a bonus, if you’re familiar with his earlier works, the concept from The One is also referenced which I truly enjoyed!

This book is like a breath of fresh air. It’s a thriller but with such a different story that it draws you in straight away.
When someone hacks into the systems of eight self-drive cars, their passengers are set on a fatal collision course.
They each get in their cars, programme in their destination, but soon receive a message to say they are no longer in control of their cars, and will probably be dead within 2.5 hours.
We then meet Libby who is on jury service looking at accidents involving driverless cars. She’s seriously out voted in her opinion but nevertheless stands up for what she believes in.
It soon becomes clear that eight cars have been hacked into and communication is set up with the office where Libby is, involving her in the crisis.
The people with her are all shocked to the core by what’s happening and tensions soon rise as they realise they have no control of the situation.
‘The Hacker’ makes some dangerous decisions and soon has their full attention.
I can’t go into the story much more as I don’t want to spoil it but this is so much more than hostage situation.
I loved this book and loved the uniqueness of the story.
Thanks to Penguin Random House UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

John Marrs' best, and most ambitious, book to date.

Picture this! It's the near future and you're cruising along in your state-of-the-art driverless car. You might be eating breakfast, applying makeup, reading a book, talking on the phone, or just relaxing, when all of a sudden your car deviates from it's pre-programmed destination.

Then a voice sounds from the centre console.

‘”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. “'

This is what happens to eight autonomous British cars carrying eight passengers. And the worse news is still to come. The terrorist who's taken control intends to crash the cars into one another at full speed. Well, seven of them anyway. One of them will be spared, and each passenger will be given the opportunity to plead their case.

And who will ultimately decide their fate?

The internet public. Because everything that's happening is live streaming.

Exciting, high-speed, pulse-pounding, as well as frightening and unsettling. This was the maximum tech-thriller. A timely and all too relevant insight into the potentially destructive nature of technology – how reliant on it we are, how it's changing the way we connect with the world, interact and view one another, exposing us to dangers that used to be the stuff of science fiction. The spread of social media features prominently, with mob and mass mentality, lack of personal responsibility and accountability, and vigilantism rearing its ugly head in judgemental and hateful ways.

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.

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.

With just over a week left in May, The Passengers is in prime position to be crowned my top read of the month. Everything about it was crazy good, and I have no hesitation in recommending it to all readers. Fingers crossed, that like The One, this also gets picked up for a Netflix series.

Can I start with, “wow”. I’ve enjoyed all of John Marrs’ books so knew this would be great. But it was amazing. Set in the not too distant future, we are in the age of driverless cars. A great step? Maybe not. Especially when 8 cars have their system hacked and are hostages on their way to die. A jury is to decide who lives and who dies. But they’re only told minimal information about the passengers. None of whom are what they first appear to be. Twists and turns along the way and well recommended.

Eight self-drive cars have been hijacked. 8 people sit trapped in their cars waiting to die because that is what the hacker has promised. However, before they die, their secrets are being revealed one by one. Who is the hacker? Why were the 8 picked? What secrets are they hiding?

Intense doesn’t even begin to describe this adrenaline-filled thriller. My heart was racing from the first chapter. Through multiple narrators, we get to see the nightmare unfold as the cars are taken. Who is going to live? Are they all going to die? I had so many questions and most of the answers had my jaw drop.

Fast paced, suspense-filled with such an entertaining premise, I was totally hooked on this one. Like in ‘The One’, Marrs created something different yet realistic. At first, I kept thinking about how cool it would be to have a self-drive car. Imagine being able to read, sleep or simply enjoy the view as your car takes you to your destination. I could picture myself in that world. However, the fear soon became real and the idealistic world with automatic cars became a nightmare. My heart practically raced with each twist. Some were so unexpected that it took a while to recover from the shock.

The Passengers is my fourth book by John Marrs. Each one of his books has been unique and immersive and this one was no different. It was well-written, captivating and quite twisty. I can’t wait to see what else Mr. Marrs comes up with. What an entertaining read!

Woah! If this is the future then I'm locking myself in a library and NEVER, EVER leaving again! (Actually, I *may* do that anyway...)  Welcome to damppebbles today and to my review of a book which has proven to be hugely popular, The Passengers by John Marrs.  I received a free eARC of this book via NetGalley but that has in no way influenced my review.

I should probably admit that this is the first John Marrs novel I've read.  I know how popular his books are, and I even organised a blog tour for his last release, so I'm kicking myself for not having read anything by him before.  BECAUSE I LOVED THE PASSENGERS!!  What a novel, what a terrifying yet brilliant novel this is.  I think what makes it even scarier is the fact that you can envisage this being our future.  This is where we are headed if technology keeps developing at the rate it currently is.  And that's flipping terrifying.  All of my smart devices, including my phone and my Fitbit, are going in the bin.  And you will never ever get me in a driverless car.  End of.

The Passengers is set in the not too distant future which gives the author a little more room to manoeuvre with his story as there are inventions in Marrs's future world which don't exist in the present.   I expect driverless cars will be the norm in the future but for now, let us bask in the knowledge that we are safe from the horrific idea of a vehicle propelling us around at high speed which we or no other human being has any control over.

Eight lives.  Set on a collision course. Picked at random.  Or are they?  The Government are proud of their driverless car system.  For once, the UK is leading the way while the rest of the world watches.  Road traffic accidents are down, the number of fatalities due to RTAs have been reduced.  The system is infallible.  That is until hackers find their way into the technology and set eight random cars on a collision course.  A secret government jury is thrown into the limelight when they are told they can save one of The Passengers.  But only one.   Interfere with the cars or try and stop the collision and there will be consequences.  Severe consequences.  But not everything is as it first seems and when people are putting across their best side, who knows what other terrible secrets they are hiding from the world. The Jury and the public must decide who lives and who dies...

Not only is this a terrifying book but I also found it absolutely fascinating.  There are some pretty evil, unlikable characters in this novel but probably the most repulsive is the general public who eagerly have their say via social media.  That mob mentality takes over and oh boy, it's terrifying.  Unwittingly, mental health nurse Libby becomes embroiled in the hackers plan to terrorise the world when she is called to be part of the secret government jury.  What she doesn't expect is to recognise one of The Passengers, which turns her world upside down and puts her an impossible situation.  I liked Libby.  I wanted to do the right thing and kick some MP butt!  She did come across as a little whiny at times but in the same situation, I think I would be a little whiny too.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes.  I loved it.  There was one aspect that I struggled with but I'm not going to go into detail about that now.  I love the concept of this book, normal people being picked off one by one for the terrible secrets they keep.  The way the novel takes a good hard look at society and how much information we dish out to third party companies without a seconds thought and the way, when tucked safely behind a screen and are completely anonymous, we turn on each other in the worst way possible.  So easy to read, so hard to put down.  If this is the future then I'm going to start looking for that library to lock myself in.  Absolutely brilliant.

I chose to read and review an eARC of The Passengers.  The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Absolutely fascinating, I love this style of speculative fiction - no matter what advances we make, our weakness is our human nature.
Imagine a world where we no longer drive, but are instead driven. Relying on artificial intelligence to keep us safe, it sounds like a wonderful advance. Except, who programmes the AI?
Some fantastic characters, and some amazing plot twists - this is brilliantly written, guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat.