Five
A Novel
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3.9 • 13 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
“[A] sizzling summer thriller . . . a kind of morality tale, a Rorschach test for all of us.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
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.
“Five is a gripping, chilling story that asks difficult questions about judgement, forgiveness, and the notion of cause and effect.”—Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Someone will die here this morning, at this suburban train station," begins this sharply observed suspense novel from Bannister (Little Prisons). The players are a cross-section of contemporary British commuters assembled at a train platform just outside of London. Emma, an emotionally walled-off single mother, struggles with the erratic behavior of her brilliant, neurodivergent six-year-old son, Gideon. Liam—a wealthy, controlling businessman—is also present. Mrs. Worth, a 78-year-old retired forensic pathologist, sits in silent judgment of Emma as she's burdened by her own private traumas. Sonny, a mixed-race 27-year-old battling grief and a gambling addiction, is motivated by an initially unexplained desperation that comes into focus as the action progresses. When Gideon's reckless dash toward the tracks sparks panic in the crowd, Emma and Liam rush to rescue him before they clash and Gideon lashes out at Liam. Then Mrs. Worth collapses, and tragedy ensues. The main action takes place across a condensed matter of minutes, but Bannister fleshes it out with insightful dives into her characters' pasts (some more convincing than others) and darkly funny asides from an omniscient narrator who addresses the reader directly. Bannister's compassion and gift for nerve-shredding tension make this a ride worth taking.
Customer Reviews
Very little point to this book
The premise held promise but neither the plot nor the writing lived up to it