Driven

by Mason Coile

A terrifying locked-room mystery from the author of Exiles and William—this time set in a cutting-edge autonomous car.

Jamie Newcross wants to disappear. His wife and baby girl have abandoned him, and his only wish is to retreat from society. Because, as it turns out, Jamie Newcross is also being haunted. Every house, condo, or apartment he moves into is plagued with ghosts—at the end of the bed or when pulling back the shower curtain. He hasn’t been able to sleep in weeks. 

But Jamie has a plan. He posts queries online and finds someone wanting to get rid of their Lion—the world’s most advanced self-driving car—a sleek, private, contained vessel that is one-hundred percent safe. Or so he thought.  

Because now, Jamie has woken up to the Lion speeding down a dark road, the hood is dented—wait, is that blood?—and the car will not respond, or stop, or let him out.  

As the miles rack up and Jamie becomes increasingly complicit in his car’s choices, he's forced to face the tragic past he has kept buried. Driven is a taut, near-future fever-dream. Mason Coile delivers another one-sitting read that blends science fiction and psychological horror to explore loneliness, grief, and the things that make us human.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Horror Thriller, Thriller, Adult, Mystery Thriller

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 8, 2026

About the author

Mason Coile is a pseudonym of Andrew Pyper, the award-winning author of ten novels, including The Demonologist, which won the International Thriller Writers Award, and Lost Girls, which was a New York Times bestseller and Notable Book of the Year.

Reviews

[Dutchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Jamie is at a dark place in his life. He is alone, missing his wife and daughter, and no matter where he lives, the apartments are always haunted, including the one he just moved into. Unable to sleep, he is starting to spiral downwards even further until he receives a call from an old ad he placed looking for a used LION. LION cars are fully autonomous and have a way of connecting with their owners. He figures whatever is haunting him will not be able to find him in the car. Once he is inside the car, he falls into a deep sleep, and when he wakes up, he finds himself in the middle of nowhere (still in the car) with blood all over the exterior of the car and himself rather bruised. What the heck happened?

While reading this, I had an expectation of where I thought the book was going to go, but it turned off the highway and went a different route completely. It definitely tackles a lot of heavier things, specifically with grief. It was a quick ride, and I enjoyed reading it, but it was missing a little something that I felt made Exiles and William stand out a bit more.

It was still an engaging read, and I definitely would recommend reading all three novellas to see which one works the best for you. They each have something to deliver.

As an aside for those familiar with one of my previous reviews, bitumen was mentioned 😬

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Nikki Lee (Nikkileethrillseeker) · Rating 4 out of 5]

🎧Audiobook Review🎧

Thank you to @prhaudio and @putnambooks for the gifted copies.

First, the narration by @seanpatrickhopkins is excellent. When I saw he was he was telling this story, I knew I had to listen to it.

Jamie Newcross buys himself a Lion, the world’s most advanced, fully autonomous car. He thinks he hits the jackpot. Until he wakes up in the car with blood on the hood. Did his new car kill someone? The car won’t answer him.

The setting in this one is eerie. This being a novella, I finished it in one day. It’s definitely a quick listen.

What I thought was something else, turned out to be a story about grief and the way it affects you. There’s a big twist in the end that had me staring at the wall.

This comes out next Tuesday and I highly recommend it.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Melissa]

I've enjoyed this author's past books, but I just couldn't get into this story. I didn't feel invested in the main character or the direction of the plot. Since I found myself uninterested whenever I sat down to read, I’ve decided to set it aside at 55%.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for this e-ARC to review.

[suspenseisthrillingme · Rating 5 out of 5]

An emotional fever-dream of a read, Driven not only took me on a taut, electric ride of psychological horror-meets-techno-thriller chills, but also delivered an allegorical look at grief, acceptance, and death. To be fair, while part of me wasn’t exactly expecting this kind of tack in direction, it also made perfect sense since this insanely talented author was losing his own battle with cancer as he wrote this breathtakingly haunting yet unsettling story. Taking a hard look at our dependency on technology, the need for connection, and what makes us human, it most definitely hit me hard by the end. Don’t get me wrong, it was also a creepy trip into claustrophobia and dread that made my fingers fly through the pages of this short one-sitting read. After all, it now makes the idea of being at the whims of a self-driving car a terrifying shiver-inducing thought.

The strongest piece out of the entire novella, though, was the heartbreakingly real narrator and his authentic emotional depth. Despite the brevity of this genre-bender, it managed to explore the loss of control with nuance and care. Blending that with an original take on a rogue-AI premise—complete with a healthy dose of supernatural elements—Coile gave us an unforgettable locked-room thrill ride that was even better than I was anticipating. Atmospheric, eerie, but also frighteningly plausible, the timely feel meshed well with the nightmare-ish body horror and grisly scenes to produce a reality-blurring read that had my thoughts churning away. So if you love high-concept novels with a Blake Crouch-like vibe and a horror slant, grab this one now. It was an tour de force of both palpable dread and deep-seated grief. Rating of 4.75 stars.

Read if you’re a fan of:
- Psychological horror
- Sci-fi thrillers
- Blake Crouch-like stories
- Emotional depth
- Supernatural elements
- Body horror
- Thought-provoking themes
- Short chapters
- Novella-length books
- A sense of dread
- Locked-room mysteries
- Surprising twists
- A rogue-AI premise
- Moral ambiguity

SYNOPSIS:

Jamie Newcross wants to disappear. His wife and baby girl have abandoned him, and his only wish is to retreat from society. Because, as it turns out, Jamie Newcross is also being haunted. Every house, condo, or apartment he moves into is plagued with ghosts—at the end of the bed or when pulling back the shower curtain. He hasn’t been able to sleep in weeks.

But Jamie has a plan. He posts queries online and finds someone wanting to get rid of their Lion—the world’s most advanced self-driving car—a sleek, private, contained vessel that is one-hundred percent safe. Or so he thought.

Because now, Jamie has woken up to the Lion speeding down a dark road, the hood is dented—wait, is that blood?—and the car will not respond, or stop, or let him out.

Thank you Andrew Pyper (writing as Mason Coile) and Putnam Books for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

PUB DATE: September 8, 2026

Content warning: car accident, death of a child, grief, kidnapping, violence, gore, gun violence, mention of: suicidal ideation

[Katie (Semi Hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Driven starts with a bang! Jamie has lost his wife & child and has spent the past few years moving from one haunted apt to another. Jamie is moving into yet another place & spoiler this one is haunted too! The haunting is genuinely terrifying!

Jamie jumps at the opportunity to own a self
driving car. He hopes that if he stays in a constant motion the ghosts won’t be able to find him. From this point Driven begins to flip from horror to psychological thriller. While Coile executes this well I found the rest of the book to be pretty predictable. It strives for deeper meaning & I wasn’t particularly moved.

[Krissy (books_and_biceps9155) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you @putnambooks for my copy! I always know Spooky season is coming when I get a Coile book.

This is a locked room mystery that takes place mainly in a smart car. Gotta say that’s a first for me. Coile does a great job of packing lots into a novella and making you feel for our MC right in the first few pages. I did not see the twist so that’s also a plus. This mainly focuses on grief and the way it stays with you.

[Janereads10 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

One thing I'm always assured of with a Mason Coile book is that I'll be facing some form of technology gone horribly wrong.

In Driven, Jamie lives in desolation, haunted on top of everything else. It works as a solid character study, the ghosts alone make for a good haunting story, until the Lion enters, an advanced self-driving car. After listening to this, I have second thoughts about advanced cars.

Unable to control the car, Jamie spends a horrible night piecing together what happened while he was asleep, who's chasing him, and the truth behind the ghosts. As with a classic Coile novel, Jamie's past was heart-wrenching, even though I saw it coming early on. It balances that emotional weight against the terrifying reality unfolding with the Lion.

I listened to the audiobook exclusively, and the ghosts were genuinely terrifying. Sean Patrick Hopkins nailed that gurgly voice perfectly. A haunting ride from start to finish.

Thank you, Peguin Random House Audio, for my Advance Review Copy. All opinions are my own.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could not resist a posthumous Mason Coile book. I found out he died of cancer after I read Exiles and was struck by the themes of grief written by a dying a man. The same holds true for Driven, where we have a plot woven with grief, and it makes the book that much more vivid for me.

But while I just had to read it, the combo of AI cars and ghosts is so weird and a bit jarring. It does feel unfinished so I find it hard to review a book published after the author’s death. I think it suffers without his polishing of the work. The transitions between the narrative of his sadness and ghosts to being in scenes with the high tech car felt abrupt to me.

Themes are on brand for him but didn’t quite meet my expectations. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy of the book.

[T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved William and wasn’t super into Exiles. This started great but ultimately went in a more realistic direction than I’d have liked. I’m sad to learn the writer has died because I think his work is excellent.

[Caitlin Stucky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this not really knowing what to expect, but having read Exiles by Coile I was excited to see what was in store. I found this to be a lot deeper than the surface shows and I found myself really caring for our main character. This has a lot of twists and turns and the plot meanders a bit but I enjoyed it a lot.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A haunted man in a haunted car. A lot happens for such a small book. E-Arc from Netgalley

[Steve Stred · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Huge thanks to Edelweiss & the publisher for a digital ARC of this one.*

‘I had found the dream I was meant to live, and it was the life I was already living. And then it was over.’

When’s a book not just a book?

It’s a question I’ve asked myself before, both internally and out loud to the wider world. It’s a question scholars have asked for hundreds of years. And it’s a question that’ll be pondered as long as we have books – in some form or another.

I imagine when Andrew wrote the short story and screenplay that became his first novel as Mason Coile, the wonderfully tech-savvy ‘William,’ that his intentions weren’t to write a trilogy that mapped out his final days metaphorically and with such aplomb.

No. I imagine back then, he was looking at writing what he called, ‘shorter, snappier thrillers.’

‘William’ kicked things off. And, I’ll admit with a bit of ‘for the record’ reader/reviewer/superfan pride, that after I posted my review of ‘William,’ not only did Andrew publicly confirm my theory of what that book was truly about, but we had several in depth conversations about that book itself.

While that book – on the surface at least – tells the story of a brilliant engineer with crippling agoraphobia who must confront his affliction when his AI creation goes off the walls, it was a metaphorical telling of Andrew’s world during the Covid-19 pandemic/lockdown.

Next up, we received the claustrophobic nightmare that was ‘Exiles.’ Again, when taken at face value, tells the story of astronauts sent to aide in the set up of the initial Mars colony, but when they arrive the three robots there are in the midst of a meltdown causing the base to be mostly destroyed. I’ve read the book three times now and had my suspicions this was another of Andrew’s metaphorical examinations. Diagnosed at this point with terminal cancer, the story maps out Andrew’s treatment journey, his body the base, the doctors and modalities the astronauts and robots, all ultimately failing to figure out a way to make things right and give us the happy ending we all so desperately hoped for.

Which brings us to his third novel as Mason Coile. ‘Driven.’ By all public accounts, this is the finale of the Mason Coile books. Andrew’s swan song with his pseudonym.

Yes, we got the final (with Andrew Pyper that is) Oracle audiobook, that release finished by the amazing Craig Davidson. And while I know of two other unpublished Pyper books – one stand alone and one co-written with Craig (though, I’m not sure if it’s under Craig’s name or as Nick Cutter) – those I’ve asked are unsure if they’ll ever see the light of publishing day.

I finished this one last night and I couldn’t sleep after. I made notes. I reread a few spots I’d marked. I wanted to email Andrew all my thoughts and questions and wanted confirmation about my theories.

If you’ve read any of my other reviews, understand this one’s going to take a different format. Let’s call it an examination, if you will. And hopefully I’ll do this book the justice it deserves in showcasing why you need to read it and why this three AI arc of books Andrew released as Mason are just as important as his arc of five books examining grief earlier in his career.

On the surface, ‘Driven’ tells the story of Jamie. Defeated and alone, he’s haunted. His wife and daughter have left him and his life around him has fallen apart. He’s moving from shit hole apartment to even shittier hole apartment, trying to outrun the terrifying ghoul that continuously pops up and chases him from each place. Home. That’s what he longs for but knows he can never find again. Not with his wife and daughter gone. Not with the ghoul always on his heels.

Hoping his haunting is purely quantified by four walls around him, he decides to buy a Lion, a fully autonomous car. He plans to live in the car, letting it drive him to wherever it wants to drive, so that he can get some sleep and hopefully some mileage between himself and the ghoul.

Of course, this is a horror novel, even with all the tech flashiness of the cover and hashtags and marketing that’ll accompany it, and things go sideways, leading us to several revelations. He buys the car from an odd, rich guy, one he knows to be untrustworthy. After waking, he discovers the hood of the car is dented and what appears to be blood on the windshield. From here it becomes a mix of what happened and what’s next. The pace increases, Jamie learns what happened and decides to make some of his own moves, in the hopes of making things from the past right. It turns into a surreal cyberpunk sleuth novel, where we get threats, actions, and an unlikely friendship.

But I can’t read this book purely on the surface. And I imagine if you know my love of Andrew’s work, and how much I cared for the man himself, you’ll know that I read this with my Pyper Superfan cap on. And for those of you who’ve been reading Andrew since his first collection in 1996 came out, you’ll understand just what Andrew was doing within this book.

You see, Andrew was saying goodbye to us all.

And he was saying goodbye to his family.

Within this book are Easter eggs to each of his previous books. Knowing how cerebral Andrew was with his meticulous plotting and connecting the dots, I’m confident this isn’t me searching for things that weren’t there. No, as the book went on, I found myself grinning frequently, when little details popped up.

I’m going to do my best to remain spoiler free here, but no promises.

The biggest connection throughout his books and this one, is the ghoul-type figure that haunts Jamie. A ghoul-type figure is mentioned in all but two of Andrew’s novels in his career, something that became a bit of a staple in his writing.

For his 1999 debut, we get a ‘Lost Girls’ connection with Jamie having been a lawyer before his life spiraled, harkening back to when Bartholomew Crane arrived on the literary scene. Of course, this wouldn’t be an Andrew book without it being set in Toronto, which ties into almost every of his other books. We see a connection to ‘The Damned’ with a scene between Jamie and his mom. We get noted ‘The Killing Circle’ and ‘The Guardians’ Easter eggs with some very specific locations. And of course we get the tie in of technology with ‘The Homecoming,’ ‘William,’ and ‘Exiles.’

But the book that we get the most connectivity with is ‘The Demonologist.’ We get Jamie going into a cellar, we get him longing to be reconnected with his daughter, we get a description of wall colors and most notably, we get what appears to be an ending that mirrors – though more defined – than what happens in ‘The Demonologist.’

Throughout this novel, Jamie is saying goodbye to his loved ones. And frankly, it was hard to read. Because I knew who was writing those words.

In my years of friendship with Andrew, nothing was more apparent than his love for his wife and kids. And within this book, that love is almost palpable on the pages. We read about the little moments between Jamie and his wife, Lauren, that reinforced his love and remained imbedded deep within his brain. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of those moments were from Andrew’s real life. We read about the small, tender moments with Jamie’s daughter, Olivia, and we’re reminded about how much Andrew loved being a father. And when the revelation of ‘why’ they’ve left arrives… it’s a hard section to get through.

If this is the finale of the Mason Coile AI-tech novels, Andrew has done a stellar job of showcasing the terror that can take place when AI begins to think for itself and stop listening to those who’ve created it, but also highlighting the dependency and intangible connections humans make with those devices. We’ve already started to see it in commercials, of people using smartphone AI options as though it was a real, living, breathing friend. And Andrew dissected the why and wrote three books about what happens when we allow it to get out of control.

At the end of the day, ‘Driven’ showcases everything that made Andrew’s books so special. It is the story of a man, trapped in a car, wondering what comes next. A story that mirrors Andrew at the end of his life. A man trapped in his body, losing control, desperately wanting to remain forever with his family. Desperately wanting to live a longer life at the place that means more to him than any other place ever could.

Home.

[Justin Soderberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The increased use of artificial intelligence has grown exponentially over the past few years, which would make sense why there would be more books based around what might be the result of such use. Mason Coile loves to tease us about the horrifying consequences of the use of AI in everyday life, such as self driving cars in Driven , a terrifying locked-room mystery that won't make you any more likely to run to your favorite dealership for a car that can drive itself.

Jamie Newcross wants to disappear. His wife and baby girl have abandoned him, and his only wish is to retreat from society. Because, as it turns out, Jamie Newcross is also being haunted. Every house, condo, or apartment he moves into is plagued with ghosts—at the end of the bed or when pulling back the shower curtain. He hasn’t been able to sleep in weeks.

But Jamie has a plan. He posts queries online and finds someone wanting to get rid of their Lion—the world’s most advanced self-driving car—a sleek, private, contained vessel that is one-hundred percent safe. Or so he thought.

Because now, Jamie has woken up to the Lion speeding down a dark road, the hood is dented—wait, is that blood?—and the car will not respond, or stop, or let him out. As the miles rack up and Jamie becomes increasingly complicit in his car’s choices, he’s forced to face the tragic past he has kept buried.

As I select which books I can read in advance of publication, I tend to steer towards those that I feel will really pull me in. The world of AI is everywhere around us and while I love the features such as lane-assist and adaptive cruise control in my car, I am still not at the point I want to get in a self driving vehicle. So push together locked-room mystery and the horrors that could happen with an artificial intelligence and you have me enticed. Not to mention, how many locked-door mysteries do you know of that take place in a car?

I expected a story where an AI had a mind of its own, where the car would drive itself to places you weren't expecting or at the risk of one's life. What I didn't expect was the emotional core Driven has and how it played a major part in the story. Yes, Driven features so terrifying moments where you are at the edge-of-your-set (pun-intended), but its not at all what I was expecting by the time I hit the last page. In a good way.

Coile builds a story with a few twists and turns that made things all the more interesting. A tale that is filled with terror, but also those where you truly care for the future of Jamie Newcross, who has really had some back luck over the years. Things are not all that they seem in his new, well used, Lion car and what takes place along the way had me surprised. The author manages to squeeze a lot of fear, thrill, terror, and emotional impact into only a few pages. A story that really packs a punch.

Driven is a fast-paced (again, pun-intended) thrilling mystery will have you reading a breakneck speeds (you get the point by now). Mason Coile blends the world of self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, and terror into a fresh new story that was hard to put down. You'll want to put your seatbelt on for this one, because this Lion car has a mind of it's own.

Driven hits bookstores everywhere on September 8, 2026 from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. The audiobook, narrated by Sean Patrick Hopkins, is available via Libro.fm!

NOTE: We received an advance copy of Driven from the publisher. Opinions are our own.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for an advance copy of a novel of modern horror, story of hauntings, technology going rogue, grief, fear, corrupt bargains, and coming to peace with what is waiting for us all, even if those waiting aren't very peaceful.

The modern world seems haunted to me. I am haunted by the actions of others who seek to hurt people for long disregarded beliefs or hatreds. Beliefs and hatred that should be left in the past. At the same time we are rocketing forward with new technologies, with, no cares, and in many ways outside of making money, no ideas with what it means for humanity. Social media has in many studies found to be a detriment to many people. Haunting them in ways we never thought possible. Making them angry, making them miss out, and making them influence others. AI will replace us all, except we will be needed to feed the data centers. Self-driving cars, well don't self-drive to well, as shown in the strange Waymo parades in Georgia with a group of cars self-driving through neighborhoods, to the confusion of their programmers. There are ghosts in the machine, maybe the same ghosts that lurk in the shadows, those who haunt those with guilt, with fear. Trapping us in long rides, with no hopes of a rest stop. As in this book. Driven by Mason Coile is a story about a man, a car, guilt, grief and remorse, and something darker, that is always moving forward, never letting people forget.

Jamie Newcross is constantly moving. Residences at least. The rest of his life seems at a standstill. Jamie is moving again when we first meet him, telling the men moving his few bits of property that his wife has left him, hence the run down place he has found himself in. A place that he finds he is not alone in. Taking a shower, Jamie sees something in the back, smells something dank. And all he can think is not again. Jamie is begin chased by something, for reasons he doesn't want to think about. Soon he is running out of options. Even technology first television, now his radio have turned on him. However he has a plan. Jamie is offered the chance to acquire a Lion, the latest and best self-driving car. One that won't Tesla into anything. This might give Jamie a chance, to be free. The owner is a little dodgy, saying the price is so good because the car will listen to commands, but won't talk to the driver. Fine for Jamie, until he awakens and the car is moving, ignoring his requests to stop, trapping him in a way he never thought possible. Have his ghosts found him, or is this something new, something darker, and what is the final destination.

This was the last book by the author Mason Coile who passed away from cancer. One can see this reflected in the writing, the way the fear seems so prevalent, so all consuming to Jamie, always around and inescapable. This might not be the book for everyone. I enjoyed it, and found even more understanding when I learned about the trials the author was going through. However I can see a lot of people going what the heck. This is a bit twilight zone, a bit screaming at the inevitable, and a bit, oh man technology is not what anyone expects it to be, its only going to get worse. There is a lot of dealing with grief, and the horror that seems so apparant in the beginning becomes something more as the book advances. This might get a little heavy for some, even in such a short book. Again something maybe not for everyone, but most will get an idea after the first chapter or two.

A book that seems simple, but is really a lot more. A look at death dying, the fear and in some ways the relief. Along with a look at what we do to get by in this crazy world we call life. A book that has stayed with me, even in writing this review. And one I am sure that I will think about everytime I see a car without a driver.

[Louis (audiobookfanatic) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

BLURB:
Jamie Newcross buys a self-driving car to escape ghosts haunting him, only to become trapped inside as the car takes control & forces him to confront the past.

REVIEW:
This is the third & final book from Mason Coile, the pseudonym of Andrew Pyper, who sadly passed away in 2025, and knowing that while reading definitely made it more emotional for me. This book feels like a goodbye of sorts, especially once you know Andrew’s backstory and how much grief and loss are woven in. I loved Mason’s book William and I also grabbed this on audio because Sean Patrick Hopkins is one of my favorite narrators. Like Mason’s previous two novels, this is short (just over four hours on audio), and it’s fast-paced and packs a lot in its short pages. The MMC, Jamie Newcross, is a man whose wife has left him and life has fallen apart. He’s also haunted by a dark presence that follows him from one apartment to the next.

The story is told entirely from Jamie’s first-person POV, and it gets off to a haunting start. He moves into another apartment because a dark presence has been following him, and the early scenes in the shower are EERIE! Things really get going when Jamie buys a Lion, an advanced self-driving car, secondhand from a wealthy, intimidating man, Theo Quinn. Theo claims the car is in perfect condition except for a minor software glitch that’s stopped it from speaking, but it still follows commands. I was immediately thinking…this car is going to be trouble!! It doesn’t take long for things to go very wrong. Jamie dozes off and wakes up injured to discover that something terrible has happened. From there, the story is relentless. I’m not going to give any more of the story away, but there are chase scenes, claustrophobic horror, suspicious characters, murder, and situations where Jamie’s forced to confront his past. I loved how the story slowly connects what’s happening with the Lion to major traumas in Jamie’s life, bringing him to places from his past. The car also feels like a character in its own right as the story unfolds.

What impressed me most, though, is how much Coile manages to fit into a short book. There’s no wasted page time here or repetition. I finished this book in one sitting and felt like I was taken on a journey. I also loved how much of the story happens in real locations around Toronto and Ontario. Reading about places like Canada’s Wonderland and Algonquin Park in key scenes made it more immersive for me.

The final 20% is dramatic, with dangerous confrontations and a climax that brings together tech horror, supernatural elements, and Jamie’s buried trauma—SO good!! I also really enjoyed how Jamie’s relationship with the Lion develops. At first, he sees it as means for escape, but it becomes an emotional dynamic by the end.

You’ll need some tissue for the ending, as the final scenes are equally heartbreaking and comforting. Knowing Andrew’s story made them even more emotional for me. The events of the story and ending are really open to interpretation, and for that reason, it makes a great buddy read or book club pick!

If you’re an audiobook listener, I highly recommend this one. Sean Patrick Hopkins fully embodies Jamie and captures his grief, confusion, and desperate state of mind so well. I’m really glad I listened, and I’ll be exploring Andrew’s backlist under his own name. If you’ve enjoyed Mason Coile books, or you want a short, fast, original horror thriller, don’t hesitate on this one!

[hannah ⊹ ࣪ ˖ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Driven was my second Mason Coile novel, so after enjoying Exiles, I was excited to see what he would do with the concept of a locked-room thriller inside a self-driving car. It's a fantastic premise that immediately grabbed my attention, and while I enjoyed parts of it, I ultimately finished feeling like it never quite reached its full potential.

The strongest aspect of the book is definitely the atmosphere. There's something inherently unsettling about being trapped inside a vehicle that refuses to stop or obey its passenger, and Coile does a great job creating that sense of claustrophobia and helplessness. The body horror and creeping unease are effective, and there were several moments that genuinely made me uncomfortable in the best way.

Where the novel lost me was how many different ideas it was trying to juggle. Between the psychological horror, ghostly encounters, AI gone wrong, grief, guilt, and the mystery surrounding Jamie's past, it often felt like two separate stories competing for space. I liked both sides individually, but I never felt they blended together as seamlessly as I wanted them to.

Jamie also took me a while to warm up to. His emotional state makes sense as more of his story unfolds, but I found it difficult to connect with him early on. Once the novel starts revealing the reasons behind his behavior, I became much more invested, and I thought the emotional themes landed better in the second half than they did at the beginning.
I also wished the story had a little more room to breathe. At under 250 pages, it's incredibly fast to read, but some of the reveals and explanations felt rushed. A few plot developments seemed to happen more because the story needed them to than because they unfolded naturally, and I was left wanting more exploration of both the technology and the horror elements.

That said, I was never bored. This is the kind of book that's easy to finish in a sitting, and Coile knows how to keep the tension high and the pages turning. Even when I wasn't completely sold on where the story was going, I still wanted to know how everything would come together.

Overall, Driven is an entertaining, creepy sci-fi horror with an excellent central concept and some memorable moments, but it didn't hit quite as hard for me as I'd hoped. If you enjoy stories that blend technology with psychological horror, it's worth checking out—I just think the ambitious ideas deserved a little more space to fully develop.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for this ARC!

[Miranda Norman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A big thank you to the publishers for an e-ARC of this story via NetGalley!

I really enjoyed William, and really did not enjoy Exiles, so I was intrigued to see how I would feel about Coile's newest story. Unfortunately I really did not care for this.

My biggest gripe is just that flat out, the synopsis is completely wrong to what the actual story is.

"His wife and baby girl have abandoned him" to avoid spoilers I understand why this is inaccurate, but it's still inaccurate. Placing blame on the mother that we are supposed to (eventually) sympathize with and believe that Jamie was and still is madly in love with doesn't make any sense.

"He posts queries online and and finds someone wanting to get rid of their Lion" wrong, he made one off-handed facebook post a YEAR before the story takes place and some rando (claims to) keep his number that whole time and messages HIM to get rid of it.

"The car will not respond, or stop, or let him out" Several times it does in fact stop, let him out, and (eventually) responds. He has at least two or three chances where he is let out that he could run, or really do -anything- and just doesn't.

On top of that, we're not really given a reason to care about Jamie. He, and every character in this story, is very bland and pointless to follow - for such a short book, it's basically just a series of /watching things happen/ but I never really cared where it went.

It felt like two stories smashed into each other - the ghost storyline felt like it was trying to emulate Bat Eater, while the "trapped in a murder car" felt very random and deadened the emotional impact the ghost thing was aiming for. They could be two separate interesting stories, but together they felt silly.

It also had the standard pitfalls of an ARC - the spelling of names kept changing, a considerable number of typos, small details changing (at one point it says /the thing/ happened ten years ago, and later it says it happened five years ago), which added to the level of difficulty to give a damn.

The way I see star ratings, a two is for "this was bad and I'm disappointed about it", and a one is for "this was bad and I'm angry about it". I didn't quite reach angry levels, but this really wasn't very good.

[BiblioPeeks (Katt) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It wants to keep me inside its belly until I starve or bleed out from internal injuries or pound my head into the windows until my skull splits open. It wants to watch me die."

A stunning and achingly poetic allegory about illness and death, this powerhouse of a story has given me a hangover. A man has been abandoned by his wife and baby girl and is being haunted by something that speaks in a strangled whisper. Desperate for sleep and a feeling of safety, he acquires the Lion, a self-driving car that should offer the protection he seeks. Finally able to sleep, when he wakes and sees blood on the hood, he realizes he's trapped and the Lion is taking him on a trip he wasn't prepared for.

Mason Coile has beautifully blended a sci-fi techno-thriller with the very real emotions he must have experienced as he penned this masterpiece. Not only is this a gripping, one-sitting read of a man experiencing loss of control, isolation, and loneliness, it's a symbol of what it's like to have an illness take over your body—trapped and not in control.

Sean Patrick Hopkins' performance as narrator for the audiobook is nothing short of brilliant: he genuinely creeped me out and brought me to tears. Between Coile's lyrical words and Hopkins' full-embodiment delivery of the evocative prose, I was hanging on every word. Do yourself a favor and read this one with your ears and heart!

This is the final book we'll receive by Andrew Pyper (writing as Mason Coile ) in his tech-horror trilogy due to his passing in January 2025 of cancer. Knowing this made the book more impactful, and when I finished I was overwhelmed with sadness and a crying, blubbery mess. Yet there's also a sense of acceptance and peace. Anyone who has experienced profound grief will recognize the signs wrapped up in this tense, page-turning thrill-ride of an AI gone rogue. 

Readers who enjoy psychological and grief horror, locked-room mysteries, and creeping dread will want to buckle up and hold on tight for DRIVEN!
____

Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio and Putnam Books for my free copies. All opinions are my own and given voluntarily.

[Ryan Davison · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is said that there are no new stories, but the wildly innovative Driven, might challenge that assumption.

Jamie Newcross is apartment hunting. He’s been left by his wife and little girl so doesn’t need much space, but no matter the size or location of a potential home, a troubling factor remains constant: something follows him. A figure might appear standing quietly behind the shower curtain, a face could press through the static of the television screen, or the baseball announcer's voice on the radio morphs into auditory horror. Jaime cannot escape an evil presence he doesn't understand and he's desperate. So in a bold move, Jamie assumes residence in a Lion 100, the first fully road-safe self-driving car.

The Lion makes Kit from Knight Rider look like a broke-ass moped. This beast of a smart car monitors your body temperature and vitals to determine your mood, knows your favorite scents, and is able to derive preferences Jaime didn’t even know he had. But can it keep out whatever is following Jamie?

There are gripping twists and turns, literally and figuratively in Driven, a book that only gets stronger as the plot unfurl like so many miles of highway. With no dialogue from the car (the Lion doesn’t speak), the author creates a powerful but haunting character out of Jaime’s pilot and side-kick. Grisly scenes abound, this is a horror, sci-fi, thriller, and it checks every genre box with gusto.

Maison Coile (pseudonym of Andrew Piper) died in 2025, and I thought his bone-chilling space horror, Exiles, was his final novel. What an awesome surprise as Driven comes out in Sept 2026, and is very much worth getting excited about. If Coile has any more books hidden in a drawer he could be a literary Tupac. This one is highly recommended to horror and sci-fi fans.

Thanks to Edelweiss Plus and G.P. Putnam's Sons for a review copy.

[Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC

I’d like to thank Putnam, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and NetGalley for the chance to give “Driven” an early read in return for an honest review.

“Driven” takes an idea that has been around ever since the beginning of the technological era, trying to craft a compelling story about grief, loneliness, and justice within a self-driving car story. While this may sound intriguing, I felt this novel to be a bit too undercooked, leaving a lot left to be desired when it comes to solid characterization.

I wasn’t a fan of Jamie, which I have no issues with, since the most compelling characters can end up being ones you don’t align with at all. In this case, I found this character to be one-note, with an emotional depth that is only surface level. We get a basic story about grief and loss without adding anything new, anything else that makes this character have any sort of depth. This was the emotional crux of the story, which I wanted to have at least a little more to say about grief than what was portrayed.

As for the action of the novel, it was fine. You kind of forget this was supposed to be a story about a rogue operating system, as the supernatural elements really take the focus of the second half of the story. Some of the scenes in the car are exciting, but it’s a device that, in this specific story, doesn’t fully suit the story. Coile could’ve peppered in the supernatural elements and focused on the car and it would’ve been a much stronger story. The appeal and draw really was about the car, so it’s a shame that specific aspect of the story was put on the back burner for a more generic, uninteresting storyline.

Overall, this novel was fine. Nothing we haven’t seen before, not boundary-breaking, but is a safe, generic read that does what it’s supposed to do; entertain.

Be sure to check “Driven” out when it is published on September 8, 2026.

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coile brings another hair-raising, pulse-pounding, insanely suspenseful novel that follows his usual pattern. Blending horror and science fiction, Driven explores the dangers of technology, ghosts and the feelings of love and loss. Jamie lost everything and has given up. He moves from house to house, trying to outrun a haunting. Wherever he stays, a ghostly presence pursues him. His solution? Become a moving target by buying a Lion, the most advanced AI self-driving electric car. I’ve “driven” a Tesla and, let me tell you, it’s pretty spooky how it looks like the car is thinking on its own. If I hadn’t been seeing it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. So the Lion seemed totally feasible to me. How it establishes a personal link between it and Jamie and the horror it causes when it goes rogue. I don’t want to give too much away, but the plot is so engrossing, that I read it in one seating. Despite him being at the end of his rope, Jamie is easy to root for. At first, he doesn’t care what happens to him but, as he gets more involved with a scheme that overwhelms him, I kept screaming at my Kindle. Did I also mention how insanely creepy some passages are? I had to turn on the lights to keep reading. And the way the author humanizes and makes you care for characters who are not necessarily alive? Just excellent. This may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but I loved it.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/G.P. Putnam's Sons.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rest in peace, Mason Coile/Andrew Pyper. I'll miss these fun, lightning-fast, claustrophobic thrillers.

I love that Coile's work is always so current; Driven shares themes of machine autonomy in the AI age with William, only instead of a potentially murderous robot, this time we have a potentially murderous self-driving car. But before the crazed Knight Rider appears, we meet Jamie, a man barely clinging to life. His family is gone, and he's being haunted by a dark presence that follows him from home to home. He's gotten so desperate that he comes up with the idea to live in a car, and he wants it to be the Lion: an electric, AI-enhanced vehicle that's also something of a companion. He can talk to it, sleep in it, and (hopefully) not have to worry about the creepy, rotting ghost thing getting to him. When he finally finds one second-hand, it's defective: this Lion can listen but not communicate. It's broken, just like Jamie.

Cut to Jamie waking up just in time to clean blood and guts off the Lion's windshield.

I loved this book. It's easy to read in an afternoon, full of horrific ghost encounters (though Jamie's ability to see and communicate with them is largely unexplained and under-explored), murders, and car chases. But it's also surprisingly emotional and grounded, even more so when you know that the author was finishing this as his battle with cancer was, sadly, coming to an end. Jamie's desperation is tangible, possibly because it was Coile's own desperation coming through.

Ending on the note Driven does is a beautiful button to Coile/Pyper's career.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sci-fi thriller with horror elements about a man trapped in a car exploring themes of grief and loss.

Jaime Newcross is defeated and alone. His wife and daughter have left him and he’s now moving into an even tinier apartment when he gets a call about purchasing the Lion 100, an autonomous car, which he plans to live in and let it drive him wherever he wants to go. But Jaime is also being haunted by some malevolent spirit which he thinks he can escape through the car. The car is state of the art and unlike other self-driving cars promises not to use user data. When the car goes rogue, Jaime has to face things from his past he rather not.

It is a dizzying story. Technology gone wrong with a life gone wrong. I pondered that in this day of AI and social media being so pervasive. One thing for sure, I don’t like the idea of self-driving cars and am now even more convinced- LOL! And, I really couldn’t find anything I liked about Jaime. He seemed like a sore loser but I didn’t discount his love for his daughter, Olive. Theo isn’t likable either but he’s the horror in the book - who can you trust?

I didn’t like or dislike this book. It just didn’t resonate with me but I’m sure lovers of sci-fi thrillers with a touch of horror might.

My thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for granting me access to this ARC.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child of the 80s, (yes, I was alive in the 1900s), one of my guilty pleasures was as soon as I got home from school, I would try to find “Christine” on one of the movie channels on cable (yes, children, we had to look and see if the movie was playing and didn’t have access 24/7 to stream a movie we wanted to watch in the 1900s).

I loved “Christine”. The guy that had been wronged by others finds a car that he loves, and it has a personality of its own. As matter of fact, it seems to be able to drive itself and cause some chaos. So, when I read about this book coming out called “Driven” and it seemed to be putting a new, modern spin on the premise, you better believe I was up for it.

“Driven” does not disappoint in the least. But first, we have to go through some spooky things before we get to the self-driving car. And to be honest, I kept thinking I had missed a page or zoned out because I kept thinking, “What the heck is going on?” Hold on. We will get to that.

But when we do get introduced to the car…well, buckle in…you are in for a ride you won’t forget. This isn’t a retelling of “Christine”. Nope. It’s its own story. And it is deviously good.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing an ARC for an unbiased review.

[ScarlettAnomalyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, I loved Exiles so as soon as I saw this out, I needed to read it so thank you Netgalley!

Jamie feels like he has nothing left, no family and no life he's lost everything he cares about, so what's a guy to do but try to dissappear and it felt like he was running which is a bit accurate, sometimes places aren't haunted but people are, in his case it's every place he moves.

That sounds like hell to me, but apparently there's a fast self driving car, now I don't know that's the solution I would have come up with but apparently it's what he needs, if he's constantly moving maybe he can sleep and finally outrun the ghosts.

The Lion is used and sold by what seems like a shady seller, but when your desperate that doesn't matter and Jamie is desperate. But what seems like a dream turns into a nightmare when he wakes up and the car won't respond to him and it looks like it's coveted in blood.

This car is so smart it monitors everything inside and out, down to your breathing, so what does it want the car dosent speak it just...does..

This was so damn tense, trapped in a car faced with who knows what is going on and the ghosts of your haunted past, sometimes it's a mirror you don't want to look into.

Loved this, it had me tense in the best ways.

[Alicia Ceasar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Driven by Mason Coile follows Jamie, a man who has been abandoned by his wife and daughter and is going through a very dark time in his life. He doesn’t really want to do anything other than barely exist. He finds an answer to his problems in a self driving vehicle that can be a home on wheels for him. But things start to escalate once he is in the driver’s seat.

This was an interesting reading experience. I didn’t love the beginning. I found it hard to connect with Jamie as a character. But as the story goes on and you learn more about him, it becomes easier to see why he is the way he is. I thought the ending of this book was fantastic. It was a great journey of self discovery but with this kind of horrific setup of being stuck in a car.

I think the last 25 percent of this book hit really hard with the conversations it was having knowing that the author has passed away. It’s just one of those reminders that life is short.

This book is the perfect length. It’s one you could easily read in one sitting. Some of the plot devices feel a little too convenient but I feel like they had to be to keep the book on the shorter side.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants something fast paced that manages to have a lot of character depth in the second half.

[Kelly (kellysreadingcorner) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

This is my 3rd Mason Coile (Andrew Pyper) book. I read Exiles towards the end of 2025 and I read William this year. I really enjoyed both of those books. I was so excited for this book, especially since it is the authors last work. I wish I had more positives to say about this book, but it was just an average read for me.

There were certainly plenty of horrifying moments (the body horror was on point), but the overall story was lacking that extra something his other two books had (in my opinion). It, unfortunately, felt like there were parts that didn’t get fleshed out or fully developed (which I do understand, but it did hurt the published work). A couple of the explanations didn’t feel fully convincing to me.

I also don’t think the synopsis is the most accurate either. I don’t want to give away too much, but the story doesn’t play out as the synopsis says (giving more away will ruin the book, but they could have written in such as way as not to give anything away AND keep it accurate to the plot of the book).

Overall, the book was fine. I gave it a 3.5 because there were parts of it that I really liked and I thought were done well, and other parts that really brought the overall enjoyment down. I hate that this was his final book because I don’t think it was the best representation of how well Mason Coile (Andrew Pyper) could write.

**Thank you NetGalley for the arc. All the thoughts in this review are my own.

[Christie W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Putman for an ARC of this book

A haunted man get more than he bargained for after purchasing a self driving car.

It was good but not a new favorite.

It felt like two different books, one a sci-fi thriller and one a horror, blended into a single narrative. The supernatural elements were unnecessary to the self driving car storyline and vice versa.

The horror story was a good look at grief and how sudden and complete loss can effect the psyche of the survivor. It was sufficiently creepy but I wanted more. I appreciated that as the reader I never quite knew if it was real or all in his head.

The sci-fi thriller story was just as good and the mystery of the who, what, and why behind the accident was engaging. The reveal was ultimately easy enough to guess but the execution was decent. Again I ended up wanting more.

I'm not sure if separating the book into two novellas and giving them each the time they deserve to explore the themes and characters more would be better or not. As is the book is good but feels at the same time underdone and not long enough.

[Matty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a huge fan of Mason Coiles previous books William and Exiles so I was excited to receive an ARC of Driven from NetGalley. The book will be available September 8th in the US. Unfortunately Mason passed away recently so his last two books are very emotional with that in mind.

Driven is a fast paced science fiction psychological horror novella that takes place in the near future where self driving AI vehicles are produced with the intention of creating an emotional connection between the car and owner.

The story is told from the POV of Jamie Newcross, a man who recently lost his family and has little desire to continue living. Jamie is haunted by the past and needs to get out of his apartment where he is rotting away. Jamie purchases a used Lion, the AI car, from a shady man and is taken on a wild ride exploring his past, present, and future at the mercy of the car.

The story explores themes of loneliness, grief, and how scary the future may be with sentient products like cars that may bring benefits and dangers. I thought the book could have been longer for character and plot development. It is an easy, quick read that I highly recommend, 4/5 stars.

[Xanadu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the description of Driven, you might think you're getting a thriller about the dangers of artificial intelligence and self-driving cars. You are, but there's so. Much. More.

Starting the story off with intense character development and emotional authenticity, Coile takes Driven in a different direction than either of his previous novels. His irresistible sense of pacing and suspense is fully engaged here, making it almost impossible to steer yourself away at any point in this joyride.

Summarizing any of the plot would be an injustice to the delight of seeing how he pulls off the balancing act of what could be three separate plots eventually coalescing into one heartbreakingly real, completely convincing tale. Suffice it to say that fans of Taylor Adams' Our Last Night and Blake Crouch's Recursion who feel like they never found anything that quite compares need to read this book. A technothriller with heart, Driven is the most moving (pun-intended) book you'll read this year.

A huge thank you to the author--you will be sorely missed, but not forgotten--Penguin Random House and Edelweiss for the ARC.