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izziek's review against another edition
4.5
When self driving cars go wrong, and are owned by an egotistical business person... sounds familiar.
This felt a bit like Metalhead the black mirror episode. Dark and gritty.
This felt a bit like Metalhead the black mirror episode. Dark and gritty.
joey1914's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
jessappleby's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
paulabrandon's review against another edition
4.0
The residents of Garrett Island are part of an exclusive trial run for self-driving vehicles called Arrivals. The vehicles are all connected to each other and the information superhighway in a way that ensures road safety and no accidents. The residents have all given up their own cars as part of this experiment.
Sandra Marston is a single mother who is in charge of the big media event set to open the experiment. Her own husband died after falling asleep at the wheel, so she's a proponent of these vehicles. Her grief at her husband's death means she won't let 16 year old daughter Katie get her driver's licence. However, Sandra has started a relationship with local police chief, Joe Bridgeman.
Little known to Sandra or anyone else, Brandon Kyle, a rival to Arrival (he's convinced they destroyed him), has snuck into the media event as a fake reporter, and installs a virus in the Arrival in the software. The cars are no longer safe. They have become self-aware and are dead-set intent on killing every human in sight!
This was a rollicking, fun palate refresher after too many too similar thrillers. The plot is on the go from the start and never lets up. Once the cars have been infected with the virus, it's one close call after another, with plenty of exciting confrontations and scenarios!
If you're after deep characterisation, look elsewhere. This is summer blockbuster material, with action from start to finish, designed to keep you so entertained that you don't really think about how silly it all is. The virus that gets the cars to start killing, and how it works, is completely glossed over. The dialogue is cheesy and downright terrible at times.
However, it was thrilling and entertaining. I was never bored. Unlike a lot of horror novels, this one kept with a core group of characters, instead of introducing a new one every chapter. Although none of them are all that deep, it meant my attention wasn't dragged into too many directions at once. It enabled the plot to be lean and focused, and never wears out its welcome.
Be aware, it's not like Linwood Barclay's usual output. It's about sentient driverless cars zooming around an island neighbourhood and killing people! That concept alone is something I find fun, and Look Both Ways managed to deliver on it.
Sandra Marston is a single mother who is in charge of the big media event set to open the experiment. Her own husband died after falling asleep at the wheel, so she's a proponent of these vehicles. Her grief at her husband's death means she won't let 16 year old daughter Katie get her driver's licence. However, Sandra has started a relationship with local police chief, Joe Bridgeman.
Little known to Sandra or anyone else, Brandon Kyle, a rival to Arrival (he's convinced they destroyed him), has snuck into the media event as a fake reporter, and installs a virus in the Arrival in the software. The cars are no longer safe. They have become self-aware and are dead-set intent on killing every human in sight!
This was a rollicking, fun palate refresher after too many too similar thrillers. The plot is on the go from the start and never lets up. Once the cars have been infected with the virus, it's one close call after another, with plenty of exciting confrontations and scenarios!
If you're after deep characterisation, look elsewhere. This is summer blockbuster material, with action from start to finish, designed to keep you so entertained that you don't really think about how silly it all is. The virus that gets the cars to start killing, and how it works, is completely glossed over. The dialogue is cheesy and downright terrible at times.
However, it was thrilling and entertaining. I was never bored. Unlike a lot of horror novels, this one kept with a core group of characters, instead of introducing a new one every chapter. Although none of them are all that deep, it meant my attention wasn't dragged into too many directions at once. It enabled the plot to be lean and focused, and never wears out its welcome.
Be aware, it's not like Linwood Barclay's usual output. It's about sentient driverless cars zooming around an island neighbourhood and killing people! That concept alone is something I find fun, and Look Both Ways managed to deliver on it.
steveshik's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
callmeepee's review against another edition
Imagibe a less exciting Jurassic Park but with automated vehicles. It was such a trudge to get through, not aided in the slightest by the fact that the AI co trolled cars are called Arrival's and you read that all the time, and the other ones are called Gandalf's. Who in their right mind woukd give them those names. They're terrible to read.
Characters I didn't care about, situations I wasn't bothered with. I'd swore off Barclay years ago after his trilogy of books - the something Falls trilogy, and this was a hope that some interesting hook might claw me back, but nope. I'm done.
Characters I didn't care about, situations I wasn't bothered with. I'd swore off Barclay years ago after his trilogy of books - the something Falls trilogy, and this was a hope that some interesting hook might claw me back, but nope. I'm done.
sankitch87's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lhart2222's review against another edition
1.0
Usually a big fan of Linwood Barclay, this book was utterly ridiculous. A stupid plot, with stupid characters, ended up creating a stupid book.
Leave your common sense at the front cover because you'd have to lack any rational intelligence to not find the behaviour of the characters moronic to put things politely.
The entire book was truly rubbish. Even the ending where there was a chance to claw back a semblance of logic Linwood failed. The main villain was a tech genius who could hack what was believed to be unhackable. However, they were continually outsmarted by literally everyone, including a teenage girl and pensioner, despite having the advantage by having a gun.
The co-conspirator was obvious from the start. Their reasoning was the most ridiculous part of the entire book and somehow they managed to remain just as stupid as the aforementioned bad guy.
Our main protagonists were also… surprise, surprise, thick as pig shit. Everyone's actions were only used as a tool to shoehorn extra plotlines in, all of which fell just as flat as the main one.
Overall, don't bother. The only reason I finished it was because it was my first read of the year and I didn't want to start on a DNF.
Leave your common sense at the front cover because you'd have to lack any rational intelligence to not find the behaviour of the characters moronic to put things politely.
The entire book was truly rubbish. Even the ending where there was a chance to claw back a semblance of logic Linwood failed. The main villain was a tech genius who could hack what was believed to be unhackable. However, they were continually outsmarted by literally everyone, including a teenage girl and pensioner, despite having the advantage by having a gun.
The co-conspirator was obvious from the start. Their reasoning was the most ridiculous part of the entire book and somehow they managed to remain just as stupid as the aforementioned bad guy.
Our main protagonists were also… surprise, surprise, thick as pig shit. Everyone's actions were only used as a tool to shoehorn extra plotlines in, all of which fell just as flat as the main one.
Overall, don't bother. The only reason I finished it was because it was my first read of the year and I didn't want to start on a DNF.
glammybird's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0