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.
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!
Narrator Performance
Driven is narrated by award-winning seasoned narrator Sean Patrick Hopkins, who’s renowned for his work in psychological horror books just like this!
In the opening chapters, Hopkins gives Jamie a tense, uneasy voice as he moves into a new apartment and waits to see if the dark presence has followed, and you can immediately hear how exhausted and on edge he is. A highlight for me is the narration during the early shower scenes. When ghostly hands, strange sounds, and horrifying images appear, Hopkins narrates Jamie’s reactions with so much intensity that I felt completely immersed and creeped out.
I really enjoyed Hopkins’s performance of Theo Quinn. He gives Theo an intimidating, slightly bullish voice, and the delivery of Theo’s dialogue made me distrust him. When Jamie gets into the Lion and wakes up injured after something bad happened, Hopkins shifts his performance nicely. You can hear the mounting panic and anxiety in Jamie’s voice as he tries to figure out where he is and what happened. The highway chase sequences were another highlight for me. Hopkins brings so much urgency and tension to these scenes that I literally felt like I was trapped inside the Lion with Jamie, holding on for dear life!
Hopkins’s narration of the scenes once Jamie reaches Canada’s Wonderland made me so emotional. In Jamie’s flashbacks, Hopkins captures everything in a way that made me feel all his regret, guilt, and pain. 😭
Hopkins’s performance really shines again during the climactic confrontations. Jamie’s forced into dangerous situations, and you can hear the desperation in his voice as he tries to survive. There’s also a noticeable shift during some late reveals, and Jamie’s acceptance of everything really comes through. You’ll need to have your tissues ready for the final scenes, as Hopkins makes the ending just as heartbreaking as it is comforting—and knowing the story behind the author makes them even more emotional.😭
Overall, this was one of the most emotional and immersive listens I’ve had this year—and a huge part of that is because of Hopkins’s performance. If you’re going to read Driven, I highly recommend the audiobook. It’s also a great option for spooky season! Don’t hesitate to add it to your TBR!
Narrator Performance
Driven is narrated by award-winning seasoned narrator Sean Patrick Hopkins, who’s renowned for his work in psychological horror books just like this!
In the opening chapters, Hopkins gives Jamie a tense, uneasy voice as he moves into a new apartment and waits to see if the dark presence has followed, and you can immediately hear how exhausted and on edge he is. A highlight for me is the narration during the early shower scenes. When ghostly hands, strange sounds, and horrifying images appear, Hopkins narrates Jamie’s reactions with so much intensity that I felt completely immersed and creeped out.
I really enjoyed Hopkins’s performance of Theo Quinn. He gives Theo an intimidating, slightly bullish voice, and the delivery of Theo’s dialogue made me distrust him. When Jamie gets into the Lion and wakes up injured after something bad happened, Hopkins shifts his performance nicely. You can hear the mounting panic and anxiety in Jamie’s voice as he tries to figure out where he is and what happened. The highway chase sequences were another highlight for me. Hopkins brings so much urgency and tension to these scenes that I literally felt like I was trapped inside the Lion with Jamie, holding on for dear life!
Hopkins’s narration of the scenes once Jamie reaches Canada’s Wonderland made me so emotional. In Jamie’s flashbacks, Hopkins captures everything in a way that made me feel all his regret, guilt, and pain. 😭
Hopkins’s performance really shines again during the climactic confrontations. Jamie’s forced into dangerous situations, and you can hear the desperation in his voice as he tries to survive. There’s also a noticeable shift during some late reveals, and Jamie’s acceptance of everything really comes through. You’ll need to have your tissues ready for the final scenes, as Hopkins makes the ending just as heartbreaking as it is comforting—and knowing the story behind the author makes them even more emotional.😭
Overall, this was one of the most emotional and immersive listens I’ve had this year—and a huge part of that is because of Hopkins’s performance. If you’re going to read Driven, I highly recommend the audiobook. It’s also a great option for spooky season! Don’t hesitate to add it to your TBR!
Driven is narrated by award-winning seasoned narrator Sean Patrick Hopkins, who’s renowned for his work in psychological horror books just like this!
In the opening chapters, Hopkins gives Jamie a tense, uneasy voice as he moves into a new apartment and waits to see if the dark presence has followed, and you can immediately hear how exhausted and on edge he is. A highlight for me is the narration during the early shower scenes. When ghostly hands, strange sounds, and horrifying images appear, Hopkins narrates Jamie’s reactions with so much intensity that I felt completely immersed and creeped out.
I really enjoyed Hopkins’s performance of Theo Quinn. He gives Theo an intimidating, slightly bullish voice, and the delivery of Theo’s dialogue made me distrust him. When Jamie gets into the Lion and wakes up injured after something bad happened, Hopkins shifts his performance nicely. You can hear the mounting panic and anxiety in Jamie’s voice as he tries to figure out where he is and what happened. The highway chase sequences were another highlight for me. Hopkins brings so much urgency and tension to these scenes that I literally felt like I was trapped inside the Lion with Jamie, holding on for dear life!
Hopkins’s narration of the scenes once Jamie reaches Canada’s Wonderland made me so emotional. In Jamie’s flashbacks, Hopkins captures everything in a way that made me feel all his regret, guilt, and pain. 😭
Hopkins’s performance really shines again during the climactic confrontations. Jamie’s forced into dangerous situations, and you can hear the desperation in his voice as he tries to survive. There’s also a noticeable shift during some late reveals, and Jamie’s acceptance of everything really comes through. You’ll need to have your tissues ready for the final scenes, as Hopkins makes the ending just as heartbreaking as it is comforting—and knowing the story behind the author makes them even more emotional.😭
Overall, this was one of the most emotional and immersive listens I’ve had this year—and a huge part of that is because of Hopkins’s performance. If you’re going to read Driven, I highly recommend the audiobook. It’s also a great option for spooky season! Don’t hesitate to add it to your TBR!
