This was a buddy read with Ms. Kaceey! We really enjoyed discussing the premise of this one and think all of you will too. The super high definition picture was so crystal clear it was like he was there, relaxing on a restaurant terrace’s lounger, lying by Stephenie’s side and wrapped in a warm jumper as they enjoyed the setting sun over the vast vista. The camera panned slowly from left to right, zooming over the crescent bay and uninhabited islands ahead. The few clouds above them were illuminated with blues and oranges but cast the islands in shadows. Three, why did Noah pretend to be Jude and for that matter, why go through the convoluted process of their initial meeting? It made no sense other than Marrs using that and numerous other coincidences to piece together the fracture within the story. That Libby happened to have witnessed the aforementioned deaths just seemed too convenient. Idk, something about the plot and execution seems convoluted and protracted. It’s not Rupert,’ the voice replied. ‘And it might surprise you to learn that your vehicle is no longer under your control.’ This was going to be a hands-down five star read for me until the momentum just dropped off at about 80% just fizzling across the finish line. Aaahhh! I was so close to sending up all the stars and putting it up in my favorites’ shelf alongside John Marrs previous sensation, The One.

Neither of those things matter right now,’ the voice replied. ‘The only thing you need to know at this point is that in two hours and thirty minutes from now, it is highly likely that you will be dead.’ The book starts with eight self driving cars, each with a passenger, that will collide in about two and a half hours. There is a group of five people who are tasked with deciding which person will be spared. Only limited information is given about each person and the entire situation is being televised. This is one big, horrible reality show and it's not going to end well for a lot of people.

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Situations are still going to arise where an accident is imminent, but without a human to control the vehicle, what will happen if you are to say, hit grandma crossing the street, versus crash head on into a vehicle carrying the country's most loved footballer? Claire wiped her eyes and cheeks with her palms, turned the music off and remained in an apprehensive silence as the car continued its journey. She ran through the to-do list again; there was so much she needed to complete by the afternoon for this to work. She kept reminding herself that everything she was doing was for the right reasons; it was all for Tate. And as much as she longed to meet him, a tiny part of her wanted him to remain safe inside her forever, where she could continue to protect him from the cruelty of the world. Are you sure your parents have kept the date free?’ asked Sam. ‘Your mum’s hopeless when it comes to remembering she’s volunteered to babysit.’ Without giving too much away, this book definitely was multi-faceted, and a great deal of it actually focuses on social commentary surrounding the consequences of self-driving cars and the importance we place on one person or one attribute vs. another. There are still plenty of twists for the thriller lovers, but when Marrs says he spent a lot of time researching this book, I believe it! It really made me reflect on the role technology plays in my life and how much control I would be truly willing to give up...and how much I would cling to for dear life! This was my first John Marrs novel, but I have already read two others by him since this book! This was a standalone book, but it was set in the same universe as one of the author's other books called The One, which was referenced a few times. It's not necessary to read that first, but I feel like I should have?

He looked to his wrist for the time, forgetting he had long discarded his watch. It had gathered details from his pulse and temperature to reveal his metabolism, blood pressure and many other diagnosis’s he didn’t care to be informed about. He didn’t need to read the digits on a display to know his stress levels were soaring. Heidi knew her husband was lying because so was she. She had worn a baby pink polish that day. Recently, she had found herself testing him more and more frequently over the most minute and innocuous of topics, just to see how much he was prepared to fabricate. I thought the story was well-paced and filled with fascinating characters. Told from multiple points of view, we learn about the characters/Passengers and their individual stories. There are also news reports, online polls, tweets, and other social media interspersed throughout the novel which added to the story. BUT, I see them ALL the time, and rarely hear about an accident. They are still in phase 4-a driver is present and can take over...if they are actually paying attention and not texting on their phone...

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No, as I explained to you earlier, this group are patients in their early teens and I’ve been assured they are all huge fans of Space & Time.’ In fact, between the problem of drivers still talking or texting on cell phones (despite it now being against the law), impairment (both legal and illegal), wrong way driving accidents, and road rage...these cars have proven to be safer than those driven by humans...