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Five Survive

Five Survive

ThrillerYoung Adult
Pages
391
Published
2022
Language
English

Synopsis

Eight hours. That's how long Red Kenny and her friends have been stranded on a remote road, their RV stopped dead in the middle of nowhere at the start of a spring-break trip. Someone has slashed their tires and shot out their electronics, and a sniper is watching from the dark tree line — refusing to let them leave until one of them confesses a secret.

As the standoff drags on and the group turns on one another, it becomes horrifyingly clear that the gunman knows exactly what he's after, and that the secret at the center of it all is closer to Red than anyone realizes. With no way to call for help and the clock running down, staying alive will mean facing a truth she has spent her life avoiding.

Unfolding almost in real time, Holly Jackson's claustrophobic YA thriller is a pressure-cooker of suspense.

Prose complexity
1/10

Vibe

TenseDarkGrittyMysterious
SurvivalRoad TripLocked RoomBetrayalRevenge

Genres

Thriller Young Adult Crime Mystery Suspense Psychological Thriller

About the author

H
Holly Jackson

Holly Jackson is a British writer of young adult crime fiction, born in 1992 and raised in Buckinghamshire, England. She finished a first attempt at a novel at fifteen, and studied literary linguistics and creative writing at the University of Nottingham, where she also took a master's degree in English. Her debut, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (2019), was followed by Good Girl, Bad Blood (2020), As Good As Dead (2021) and the prequel novella Kill Joy, and was adapted for television by the BBC i...

Characters

Red KennyProtagonist

Eighteen-year-old narrator, grieving her mother's death, who is holding the secret the sniper has come for.

Maddy LavoySupporting

Red's best friend, whose family owns the borrowed RV.

Oliver LavoySupporting

Maddy's headstrong older brother, who appoints himself leader of the trapped group.

Reyna Flores-SerranoSupporting

Oliver's girlfriend, outwardly the composed one of the group.

Simon YooSupporting

The joker of the group, whose humour cracks as the night wears on.

All characters in Five Survive

Frequently asked questions

  • Is Five Survive part of a series?

    No. Five Survive is a standalone novel — Holly Jackson's first after the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder trilogy. It shares no characters or setting with that series, so it can be read on its own with no prior reading.

  • How much time does the story cover?

    Eight hours of a single night. Six friends set out on a spring-break road trip in a borrowed RV, break down on a deserted road, and the rest of the novel unfolds almost in real time as a sniper holds them there until one of them gives up a secret.

  • Has Five Survive won any awards?

    Yes. It won the CrimeFest Award for Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (ages 12–16) in 2023, and it was a nominee for the 2023 Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction. It also reached number one on the New York Times Young Adult Hardcover bestseller list.

  • What age is Five Survive suitable for?

    Both publishers list it as 14 and up, and Common Sense Media recommends the same. The book has near-constant gun violence, graphic descriptions of gunshot wounds, a parent's murder recalled by the narrator, frequent strong language, and teenagers drinking. Sexual content is minimal.

  • Is there an audiobook of Five Survive?

    Yes. The unabridged audiobook is narrated by Emma Galvin and published by Listening Library, released alongside the book in November 2022. It runs a little over ten and a half hours.

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