Ilona Bannister

Fiction 2026 | 228 pages

Five opens on an underground track in London.  The next train is due in five minutes.  What you know as reader is that there are five people waiting for the train that are relevant to the story.  One of the five will die in five minutes but we don't know which.  The book then describes the lives and personalities of the five characters, broken up by occasional short forays to the subway, to see just what is happening on the track and among the five characters (and some interesting minor support characters).

The author has the luxury (?) of designing the characters however she chooses, without being really constrained by plot or interrelationships.  Though three of the five actually DO know each other.  We learn the characters' childhood, work, adulthood, and each is unique and intriguing. They are ages 7 to 72.

In the end, of course, we discover who dies.

I would recommend this book for its completely unique story, and excellent writing.  And mystery.... the mystery keeps you engaged.

September 2026