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A Novel
by Ilona Bannister
Five lives. Five stories. Four will live—one will die. Who it will be? In this slow-burn masterpiece of psychological fiction, the choice is all yours.
Have you ever tried to pass the time by imagining the lives of the strangers standing next to you? Ilona Bannister's Five introduces readers to five seemingly random people waiting for a train. But these are not just any five people. From the beginning we know that one of them is going to die soon. Very soon. In five minutes the next train to London will arrive, killing one of them. But before this happens you will learn their stories.
None of these people are saints. Readers might fall in love with the beautiful young man who is on the verge of gambling his life away. They may pity the cantankerous old woman who has fallen to the ground yet is refusing help. Perhaps readers will look away from the child throwing a tantrum. Or judge his mother, who must surely be to blame. And some will be curiously compelled by the successful and damaged businessman orbiting them all.
These are the candidates for this morning's misfortune. But they don't know it. Only you know. And you, our complicit reader, will not be able to resist deciding who deserves to walk away, and who deserves only five more minutes to live.
An incredibly original novel that breaks the fourth wall and asks the reader to be judge, jury, and executioner, Five looks at some of the most complicated issues of contemporary life: motherhood, disability, addiction. Every stranger has a story. And in Ilona Bannister's skillful hands, five people's stories come together to create an unforgettable novel.
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (6/4/2026)
This week I'm listening to Five by Ilona Bannister which is described as a psychological thriller. Five strangers are waiting at a London train station, and one will die, says the narrator, in five mi...
-Connie_K
"This is not your average whodunit ... [A] tense, deftly written page-turner filled with memorable characters, a surprisingly philosophical core, and a plot in which each minute brings a new surprise ... [C]lever and incisive writing and the unique format make readers participants in the action and complicit in weighing the characters' worthiness. It's unsettling and immersive." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[A] sharply observed suspense novel from Bannister ... [her] compassion and gift for nerve-shredding tension make this a ride worth taking." —Publishers Weekly
"Bannister writes a morbidly entertaining story about deeply unlikable characters and the familial trauma that brings them all together. Her choice to break the fourth wall is a clever way to tell a story that only takes place over the span of about five minutes ... for fans of intense psychological thrillers." —Booklist
"Ridiculously good!! Razor-sharp, wickedly funny, and darkly thrilling. Five is a gripping, chilling story that asks difficult questions about judgement, forgiveness, and the notion of cause and effect. Unforgettable." —Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark
"Propulsive, sharp, and ferociously addictive, Five is one of the most original novels I've read in years. I devoured it quickly, but I can't stop thinking about this story. Ilona Bannister is such a talent." —Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of The Note and The Better Sister
This information about Five was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ilona Bannister, born and raised in New York, lives in the UK with her husband and sons. Her first book, When I Ran Away, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize.
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