Holly Jackson, the mastermind behind the beloved A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy, ventures into new territory with Five Survive, a standalone thriller that trades cozy English murder mysteries for the suffocating terror of an American road trip gone catastrophically wrong. The premise is deceptively simple: six college friends—Red Kenny, Maddy and Oliver Lavoy, Reyna Flores-Serrano, Simon Yoo, and Arthur Gotti—embark on a spring break journey to Gulf Shores in a borrowed RV. When their vehicle breaks down on a remote South Carolina road in the dead of night, they quickly realize this is no ordinary mechanical failure.
What follows is eight hours of psychological warfare as a sniper in the darkness systematically picks them off, demanding that one of them reveal a secret worth killing for. Jackson transforms the thirty-one-foot RV from a vessel of freedom into a pressure cooker where friendships fracture, lies unravel, and survival instincts override everything else.
Character Analysis: Red Kenny’s Journey Through Guilt and Truth
At the heart of Five Survive is Red Kenny, a protagonist carrying the crushing weight of survivor’s guilt following her mother’s murder. Red’s internal monologue reveals Jackson’s skill at crafting psychologically complex characters—her constant self-deprecation and the way she measures her worth against the affluent Lavoy family creates a genuinely sympathetic narrator. The author expertly weaves Red’s backstory throughout the narrative, slowly revealing that her police captain mother, Grace Kenny, was executed with her own service weapon, leaving Red to navigate both grief and financial instability.
Jackson’s characterization extends brilliantly to the ensemble cast. Oliver Lavoy emerges as a fascinating study in privileged entitlement masking dangerous volatility. His transformation from protective older brother to knife-wielding aggressor feels both shocking and inevitable, particularly as his own dark secret—killing someone in a bar fight months earlier—comes to light. Maddy Lavoy serves as the moral compass of the group, her injury midway through the book raising the stakes exponentially and forcing difficult decisions about sacrifice and survival.
Arthur Gotti represents Jackson’s most ambitious character creation: the boy-next-door with deadly ulterior motives. His reveal as Frank Gotti’s son, planted in Red’s life to extract information about the witness in his father’s trial, recontextualizes every seemingly genuine moment between him and Red. The romantic tension Jackson builds between them becomes genuinely heartbreaking when viewed through the lens of manipulation and betrayal.
Plot Structure: A Real-Time Thriller That Mostly Succeeds
Jackson employs a real-time narrative structure, dividing the book into hourly chapters from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. This approach creates genuine urgency and claustrophobia, though it occasionally feels constraining when certain revelations require extensive backstory. The pacing generally works in the book’s favor, particularly during action sequences where the immediacy of the format shines.
The central mystery—who among them harbors the secret the sniper wants—unfolds through a series of increasingly complex revelations. Jackson demonstrates her mystery-writing chops by layering multiple secrets and red herrings. Oliver and Reyna’s hit-and-run incident, Simon’s stolen RV situation, and ultimately Red’s false testimony in the Frank Gotti trial create a web of deception that keeps readers guessing.
However, the final revelation about Catherine Lavoy’s corruption feels somewhat rushed and perhaps overly complicated. The idea that she would simultaneously hire Red as a false witness AND plan to sacrifice her to eliminate political rival Mo Frazer requires significant suspension of disbelief. While the “win-win” philosophy makes thematic sense given Catherine’s character, the execution of this twist feels more clever than emotionally satisfying.
Writing Style: Jackson’s Evolution as a Thriller Writer
Jackson’s prose has evolved considerably from her A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series. Gone are the cozy small-town vibes and amateur detective work, replaced by gritty psychological tension and visceral violence. Her writing captures the suffocating atmosphere of the RV brilliantly—readers can practically feel the stale air and mounting claustrophobia as the night progresses.
The author excels at creating moments of genuine terror, particularly during the sniper sequences. The description of Don and Joyce’s sudden, brutal deaths serves as a stark reminder that no one is safe, while Maddy’s shooting elevates the stakes from psychological to life-or-death. Jackson doesn’t shy away from the messiness of violence, making the threat feel immediate and real.
However, some dialogue feels forced, particularly Oliver’s more villainous moments. His transition from protective brother to antagonist occasionally reads as melodramatic rather than genuinely menacing. Additionally, certain character motivations—particularly Arthur’s growing attachment to Red despite his mission—could have been explored more thoroughly.
Themes: Trust, Class, and the Price of Survival
Five Survive explores several weighty themes beneath its thriller veneer. The class divide between Red and the Lavoy family runs throughout the narrative, highlighting how economic disparity affects everything from college opportunities to moral choices. Red’s willingness to commit perjury for $20,000 speaks to a desperation the wealthy Lavoys cannot comprehend, creating natural tension that Jackson exploits effectively.
“Five Survive” also examines the corrosive nature of secrets and the lengths people will go to protect their reputations. Each character harbors something shameful, and the sniper’s demands force them to weigh their secrets against their lives. This creates fascinating moral dilemmas: Is Oliver’s accidental killing worse than Red’s intentional perjury? How far should friendship extend when survival is at stake?
Trust emerges as perhaps the most significant theme. Jackson systematically destroys the bonds between characters, revealing that almost everyone has been lying about something fundamental. By the end, Red can trust no one completely, a isolation that feels genuinely earned through the narrative’s progression.
Critical Assessment: Strengths and Weaknesses
What Works:
- Atmosphere and Tension: Jackson creates genuine claustrophobia and sustained suspense throughout the eight-hour timeline
- Character Development: Red’s emotional journey from guilt-ridden teenager to someone who can forgive herself feels authentic and earned
- Mystery Elements: The layered secrets and multiple revelations keep readers engaged and guessing
- Real Stakes: Unlike many YA thrillers, characters face genuine consequences, including death
What Doesn’t:
- Overly Complex Resolution: The Catherine Lavoy revelation requires too many moving pieces to feel entirely credible
- Pacing Issues: Some flashback sequences disrupt the real-time tension Jackson works so hard to build
- Dialogue Problems: Certain character interactions feel wooden, particularly during heightened emotional moments
- Convenient Coincidences: Arthur’s integration into Red’s friend group stretches believability, even given his ulterior motives
Comparison to Jackson’s Previous Work and Similar Titles
Five Survive represents a significant departure from Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series, trading that trilogy’s amateur detective charm for raw psychological thriller territory. While fans of Pip Fitz-Amobi might initially feel disoriented by the darker tone, Jackson’s mystery-writing skills translate well to this more intense format.
“Five Survive” fits within the recent trend of YA thrillers that aren’t afraid to embrace genuine darkness. Readers who enjoyed the tension of Karen M. McManus’s “One of Us Is Lying” or the claustrophobic atmosphere of Gretchen McNeil’s “Ten” will find much to appreciate here. However, Jackson’s work feels more psychologically complex than many of its contemporaries, particularly in its exploration of class and guilt.
Recommended Similar Reads:
- “One of Us Is Lying” by Karen M. McManus – For readers who enjoy ensemble mysteries with hidden secrets
- “The Cousins” by Karen M. McManus – Another take on family secrets and dangerous revelations
- “Ten” by Gretchen McNeil – For those who appreciate isolated settings and mounting psychological pressure
- “We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart – Explores similar themes of privilege, guilt, and devastating family secrets
- “The Dead Girls Club” by Damien Angelica Walters – For readers interested in trauma, survival, and complex female friendships
Final Verdict: A Solid Thriller with Room for Improvement
Five Survive succeeds as a tense, engaging thriller that showcases Jackson’s ability to work outside her established comfort zone. While it doesn’t quite reach the heights of her previous series, it offers enough genuine suspense and character development to satisfy thriller enthusiasts. The book’s exploration of class dynamics and moral ambiguity elevates it above typical YA fare, even when certain plot elements feel overstretched.
Jackson has created a genuinely claustrophobic experience that will keep readers turning pages, even if they occasionally question the logic of certain revelations. Red Kenny’s emotional journey provides the heart the story needs, while the supporting cast offers enough complexity to maintain interest throughout the night-long ordeal.
For readers seeking a fast-paced thriller with psychological depth, Five Survive delivers tension and surprises in equal measure. While it may not convert mystery purists who prefer Jackson’s earlier work, it demonstrates her versatility as a writer and her willingness to tackle darker, more complex material. The book stands as proof that YA thrillers can be both entertaining and substantive, even when they don’t quite stick every landing.
- Recommended for: Fans of psychological thrillers, readers who enjoy ensemble mysteries, and anyone looking for YA fiction that isn’t afraid to explore darker themes. Best appreciated by those who don’t mind complex plotting in service of character development and atmospheric tension.