Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - The Passengers

The Passengers by John Marrs is a gripping and fast-paced thriller that explores the potential dangers of self-driving cars. The story follows eight passengers who are locked inside their autonomous vehicles and forced to play a deadly game orchestrated by an unknown hacker. With their lives on the line, the passengers must race against time to uncover the hacker's identity and save themselves.

While the concept of the book is intriguing and the plot is well-paced, as someone who works in IT I found some of the technical aspects of the story to be a bit tacky or exaggerated. The book is clearly written with a layperson audience in mind, and some of the technological details may not be entirely accurate or plausible.

That being said, Marrs does a good job of keeping the reader engaged with his skillful use of suspense and multiple perspectives. Each passenger's backstory is revealed through a series of flashbacks, which adds depth and complexity to the characters. The ending of the book is surprising and satisfying, wrapping up the story in a neat and unexpected way.

Overall, while The Passengers may not be entirely realistic in its portrayal of technology and cybersecurity, it's still an enjoyable and thrilling read. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller with plenty of twists and turns, then The Passengers is definitely worth a look.

Content Warnings

loysydneyweissman's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

if you like black mirror you’ll like this. i genuinely was surprised by every twist.

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xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The Passengers was a great deep dive into surveillance, survival, privacy, rebellion, change vs tradition, groupthink, mob mentality, capitalism, artificial intelligence and and much, much more. Despite my interest in tech thriller/horror content, this was my first experience with reading a modern day dystopian focused entirely around our technological advancement. It's far too close for comfort but that dose of realism made it much more terrifying. The social media aspect to this story was awfully true to life. The general public are so far removed from the matter in question that they become desensitised to the trauma they are witnessing. I could see this genuinely happening in modern day society. Don’t let the length of this book deter you from picking it up as it was engaging and fast-paced throughout. I thoroughly recommend if the themes I mentioned interest you and you enjoy sci-fi literature.

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bethmalena's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

It was a good “beach read” - fast paced and I could half-pay-attention without losing the plot. It felt like an elaborate expansion of the trolley problem, combined with the perils of social media and hacking.

Spoiler

I know the two women of colour were killed off early to show the racism and colonialism of the public, but it still felt like an injustice to cut their stories off so early.

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taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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hilarylouise's review against another edition

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hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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