Cape Town - Inspired by his decades-long love of cars, international author Linwood Barclay envisions a world in which automotive technology outpaces our wildest dreams— and our darkest nightmares—in a gripping new novel of action and suspense.
The media have descended on Garrett Island, a small, isolated community that is the setting of a visionary experiment.
All the residents’ cars were sent to the mainland and for the past month the islanders have been “driving” the Arrival, a revolutionary autonomous vehicle.
With a simple voice command, an Arrival will take you wherever you want to go and, because the fleet is networked and aware of one another, car travel is now 100% safe. The future, it seems, has arrived.
As the excitement reaches a fever pitch, Sandra Montrose – islander, single mom, and public relations executive – prepares for Arrival Inc’s flashy press event.
Sandra is more than ready for this new world. Her husband died after falling asleep at the wheel and she’s relieved that her two teens, Archie and Katie, will never need driver’s licences.
But disaster strikes. A visiting journalist has vanished, possibly murdered. Before long, the Arrivals run amok, no longer taking orders from their passengers.
Is this all just a tragic accident, a technological malfunction with deadly consequences? Or were the vehicles programmed to act this way in a cruel act of corporate sabotage?
It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Look both ways by Linwood Barclay is available at www.loot.co.za (R214)
Cape Times