Five

Someone will die here this morning, at this suburban train station.

It will happen in the next five minutes when the 7:06 to London Victoria arrives.

Take note of their positions. The child, the mother, the businessman, the old woman and the gambler.

One of them will die despite your attachment to them. There is probably one you want to get rid of. You don’ t have to admit who. But perhaps you should ask yourself why.

The train has stopped. Someone is dead. Was it who you chose?

It wasn’t your fault...So why, dear reader, do you feel so guilty?

Unfolding in real time, Five will have you on the edge of your seat, as you race to the end to find out who survives... and who dies.

Ilona Bannister was a dual qualified US attorney and UK immigration solicitor before she started writing fiction.

Her first novel, When I Ran Away, was developed on Faber Academy’s Work in Progress course.

Her latest novel, FIVE, published in May 2026.

Ilona has written for Stylist, The Guardian, and Literary Hub among others, and was featured on National Public Radio in the US.

Ilona’s experiences as a mother, lawyer, and an American transplant in Britain are reflected in her novels.

Although she will always be a New Yorker at heart, Ilona’s home is in London with her husband and young sons.

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