Five Survive by Holly Jackson

About the book:

(Blurb from Exclusive Books)

Eight hours.
Six friends.
One sniper . . .

Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. And as the wheels are shot out, one by one, the friends realise that this is no accident. There’s a sniper out there. He’s watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for. As a game of cat-and-mouse plays out, the group desperately tries to get help. Buried secrets are forced to light and tensions within the group reach deadly levels. Only one thing is for sure. Not everyone will survive the night . . .

My Thoughts

Having experienced the hype of Holly Jackson’s “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” series, I was quite keen to read “Five Survive,” her newest offering.

The event in this book mainly takes place over the span of eight hours.  It is a suspenseful thrill ride.

Six friends, stuck in a RV, in an area with no cellular phone reception, with an active sniper lurking outside in the dark – this is heart-racing stuff.  It gave me serious “Wrong Turn” and “Jeepers Creepers” chills.   In this claustrophobic and isolated environment, it was a study in die dynamic between friends in traumatic circumstances.

“Oh, come on,’ Simon interjected. ‘This is turning into Lord of the F*cking Flies. We’re going to end up killing each other, forget about the sniper.”

I was kept guessing, and at one stage I didn’t trust anyone.  The puzzle pieces slowly started to fit together, with a few curve balls throw into the mix as well.

“Was that fair? Maybe Red’s understanding of it was skewed, because it didn’t seem fair at all, her life in the hands of five other people. But when had life ever been fair to her, why should death be any different?”

It took me a while to get used to the first person POV, but it may just be a personal grumble.

Holly Jackson’s writing was very visual, and I could picture everything very clearly, almost as if I was watching a movie.  I did feel as if I was not so deeply invested in all the characters and their well-being, but that is in order, I can’t imagine that the reader was supposed to adore every single protagonist.

Some parts were a bit repetitive, but in general, this was a quick, thrilling, and entertaining read.  The ideal book to read if you need a nudge out of a reading slump.

What I enjoyed most:

• Suspenseful page-turner
• Kept guessing.
• Quick and easy read
• Was hooked all the way through.

With thanks to Exclusive Books for the opportunity to read this book!

The Details

PUBLISHED BY:  HarperCollins Publishers (published locally – South Africa – by Jonathan Ball Publishers)
EAN:  9780008592622
DATE PUBLISHED:  08 December 2022
PAGES:400
GENRE:  Thrillers (YA)

About the Author

Holly Jackson: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2159079/holly-jackson/