What’s going on underneath the hood of the self-driving car industry? According to Joanne McNeil, the tech critic behind a thrilling new industry satire, the harsh reality is a whole lot of “bizarre and usually non-functional technologies that don’t deliver on their promises.” The author of Lurking makes her blistering fiction debut with Wrong Way, a closely observed novel about how individual lives are shattered by Big Tech’s hollow promises.
After years scraping by in the gig economy, Teresa’s life changes forever when she’s hired for a mysterious new role at AllOver, a tech behemoth billing itself as “an experience company.” The sizeable paycheck is seductive, as is the bombastic sales pitch from AllOver: “You are getting paid to learn a trade that, to the rest of the world, hasn’t been invented yet. You’re a VIP with a backstage pass to a new career.” There’s just one problem. AllOver’s new rideshare service boasts driverless cars (called “CRs”), but the reality is more sinister—instead, contractors like Teresa operate the vehicles while hiding inside a secret compartmen