Five

A Novel

De: Ilona Bannister

Narrado por: Clare Corbett, George Naylor, Juliet Stevenson, Kristin Atherton, Marlowe Chan Reeves, Theo Solomon

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “[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.

Narrator was charming

Hard to keep up with the characters. Interesting premise and enjoyable back stories for the main characters

Good but not a thriller.

This book was described as fast paced. A thriller. It’s not. It a detailed story about 5 different people’s lives. It’s well told but slow and thoughtful.

Incredible Read

This book was an incredible read. The actors reading the story do an excellent job. I love how this author weaves a story. Incredible!!!!

Good book, but…

I liked this premise of this book, but it put me in a weird headspace. I wish someone had mentioned the trigger warnings so I will. The book is well written and characters well developed, but in developing the characters there is animal abuse and death. I generally stay away from books like that, but it happens pretty far into the book and I kept thinking it would be done. If you’re sensitive to that skip this one, I wish I had.

Great Character Development

Very thought provoking. Extremely vivid descriptions. A good story and i treating narration. I highly recommend this book for a book club because it will definitely spark conversation.