Eight Passengers are stuck in separate driverless cars when a hacker takes control. Only one will survive in this cat-and-mouse thriller.
The eight people trapped include a pregnant woman, an aging actress, a married couple, an abused Indian housewife, an illegal immigrant, a disabled war hero, and a man with a mysteriously absent history. Claire only has two more months to wait for her son, Tate, to be born. Sofia is an elderly but famous actress, who thinks she is on a television reality show. Married couple Sam and Heidi are riding in separate cars when both of them are taken under the hacker’s control. Shabana is the beaten wife of an accused human trafficker. Unfortunately, the taxi taking her to a divorce attorney is hijacked. Shabana doesn’t understand what the hacker is saying because she doesn’t speak English. Each has only two and a half hours to convince the hacker they should be the sole survivor. But all have secrets to hide. Will they be saved?
Libby is on the Vehicle Inquest Jury deciding whether man or machine is behind road collisions. When the visuals of the hack are posted on social media, the jury is asked to fix the problem. Libby is surprised to see a man she had a brief casual connection with several months ago is one of the victims. When the hacker appears on their screens, he asks the five-person jury to make life or death decisions over the riders’ fate. The sixth juror is public opinion on social media.
Passengers is a rather clever take on the old movie and party game, Lifeboat. If you had food and water for one person on a lifeboat, who is most deserving, an elderly Gandhi or an unknown ten-year-old with her whole life ahead of her. The pacing is quick as a whip making this a 100 mph ride to the conclusion. It’s great fun! 4 stars!
Thanks to Berkley Books and Edelweiss+ for a copy in exchange for my honest review.