Five by Ilona Bannister

 

Five people wait for an early morning train; within the next five minutes, one of them will be dead. Who will it be, and why?

From the tag lines on the cover and the synopsis, Five by Ilona Bannister comes across as a fairly standard psychological thriller, but once I started reading it turned into so much more, something that is going to sit with me for quite a while.

This is one of those thrillers where you are given virtually all of the important information right at the start. The story opens at 7:01 am and we're told that someone will die within the next five minutes. The book quickly sets the scene, giving us a brief introduction to the five people at the centre of the story, one of whom will die. What isn't clear is who, how, or why? All of that is left to the reader to make assumptions. 

By setting the scene in this way, you are immediately propelled into the action; knowing what is to follow and the short time scale immediately had my heart racing. The author uses the technique of reminding us what is happening on the platform at regular intervals throughout the story, which really built up the tension as we got closer and closer to the five-minute deadline.

What really stood out for me was the way the writer focused in on the main characters and gave us a glimpse into their lives, allowing us to see why they were waiting for the train that morning. We learn about Emma and her son Gideon, businessman Liam, elderly Mrs. Worth, and Sonny. As we delve into their backgrounds, we discover what moulded them, and this is vital as none of them are particularly likeable. The superb writing had me dealing with conflicting emotions as I read about each character. It is difficult to imagine despising someone, but also feeling sympathy for them.

This perfect mix of tension, dark humour, loathing, and empathy keeps the reader in suspense until the very end. When the outcome was finally revealed, I felt numb. I assumed there would be one of those twisty endings where the author has fooled us all, but it wasn't to be, and that in itself is satisfying. 

Five by Ilona Bannister will be published on 5th May 2026 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Juniper (HarperCollins) for a review copy.

Author Details

lona Bannister is a New Yorker but has lived in the UK with her British husband and two sons for fifteen years. She is a dual qualified US lawyer and UK solicitor and practiced immigration law in the UK before she started writing fiction. Ilona's parents and grandparents were Ukrainian immigrants to the US and their history and struggles had a great impact on her life, so she's always interested in stories about migration, otherness, and what it means to be on the outside of a place looking in. She has felt that a lot of times in her life and it's a human experience she likes to explore through writing. Her first book, When I Ran Away, was shortlisted for the First Novel Prize in 2021.