Eight self-drive cars are hacked when their passengers are on the way to their destination. 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.
Libby despises self-drive car, but she was invited to participate with other jurors to decide whether autonomous vehicles should be blamed for several accidents. Their discussion is interrupted with the live feed of the passengers who trapped in their self-drive car. The hacker tells the passengers that they will be dead in two hours thirty minutes. All their destinations have been rerouted to the same location.
Jack, a member of the Parliament and also the Transport Minister, has full confidence with the security of the autonomous vehicles until the jurors, the operative staff and his face appear on the screen. The hacker informs him that all eight cars will collide each other in two hours and ten minutes. The public has to vote, and the jurors need to decide which passenger will be the sole survivor. The remaining four passengers will be sacrificed during the process.
Each passenger will be interviewed by their supporting juror, and the passengers have to prove that they deserved to stay alive. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as they thought as the hacker knows every passenger's dark secret. Only part of the truth will be revealed, and the public has to make the decision based on the partial revelation.
There were several plot twists towards the end of the story. I felt the ending was disappointing but the idea is unique and creative. Unfortunately, I didn't like the character, Libby. She tends to be unreasonable and seems desperate for a relationship. The story probably is a good reflection of our future, which is something worth to ponder if autonomous vehicles are implemented on all roads in a country.
Rating: ★★★
More reviews can be found on Goodreads: The Passengers by John Marrs.