I’m not a big reader of speculative fiction but I was so intrigued by the concept of Five Minds that I couldn’t resist giving it a go – and I’m so glad I did because it is truly a thrilling and fascinating ride. The story takes place in the not so distant (if the world continues the way it is) future where lifespans have a fixed expiration date and at the age of 17 humans must make one of four choices about how they live. Of these choices the rarest is a commune which essentially involves five minds sharing one body, each allotted four hours a day. We follow one such commune with whom things have gotten complicated after one of the commune members disappears under suspicious circumstances.

I loved Five Minds – it is like nothing else I’ve read and the whole premise and execution of the plot is masterfully done. The structure worked particularly well, each commune member only has four hours each to live and cannot communicate directly with one another – so they interact via messages. These messages paint a fascinating picture of how these five human beings ended up sharing a body and how they feel about each other. The idea of someone else being in control of what feels like your body and only being able to rely on what they tell you about their actions whilst they are in charge is frightening but immensely intriguing. I don’t want to say much about the intricacies of the plot because it is best experienced for yourself but the way events unfold is a gripping and immersive journey. Five Minds is original, dark, fast paced, clever and satisfyingly twisty. A brilliant debut!

One of the most brilliant and original mix of speculative fiction and thriller i've read in a long time.
Gay Morpuss is an excellent writer and delivers a story that keeps you on the edge and entertain at the same time.
The world building is detailed and you can think that could be our future. The characters are well developed, the five minds that inhabit the same body are distinct and well developed. You get to know them during the books, their stories and their present.
It's a thought provoking and fascinating read, strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Set it’s the not to distant future, this dystopian thriller showcases a world where all disease has been cured. Sounds fantastic right? But this scientific breakthrough caused an unsustainable increase in population. To resolve this, every 17 year old has to make a choice - to become a worker, a hedonist, an Android or a commune.
Alex, Kate, Mike, Ben and Sierra chose to become a commune - five minds in one body, with each person in control of the body for four hours at a time. Due swap their body for a brand new model, they enter a death park, playing simulated games to win time - the currency of the day. Except one member makes a deal with a mysteries stranger and suddenly one mind has disappeared …

I really enjoyed the dystopian world the author built. It’s a fascinating setting, rich in detail and I couldn’t get enough of it. It had lots of elements similar to other books I have loved - it felt like a mash up of Ready Player One, The Hunger Games and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle but with a ton of its own originality and appeal as well.
The first half or two thirds of the book was a five star read for sure. The latter part of the book was less appealing to me. I got a bit impatient for them to unravel the mystery of the missing mind in their commune. I did guess the culprit but I felt like their motivation was a bit weak and the ending was lacking the finesse and cleverness I had experienced at the beginning of the book. I’d give the second half three stars and four stars overall for the book.

It’s an interesting and original premise for the book and I would definitely read more from this author if he could continue the fantastic world building of the first half of Five Minds. It’s an entertaining read for fans of dystopian, sci-fi or murder mystery genres.

Thank you to the author, Viper Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I was hooked by this book's novel premise and while I wouldn't say this book lived up to my expectations, it wasn't bad either.

What I liked
- I liked that each person really felt different to read. It can be really challenging to make just 2 povs feel different, let alone 5
- the world building. I don't understand how the science could have worked but I really did like this dystopian setting and the rules

What I didn't like so much
- this book is all set in one place, pretty much and I'd have liked to see what the world was like outside this one, unique area
-I'd have liked to see more of some characters. of the 5 minds, there are basically 2 main characters, one side character and 2 mostly afterthoughts, which I thought was a shame
-i guessed the ending pretty much. For a bit I thought I got it wrong, but in the end I was right and I do wish it had been completely unexpected

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review

Five Minds is a really clever story which will keep you thinking as well as thoroughly entertained. The set up for the book is well thought out and taps into some relevant issues facing society today and produces an incredible but rather terrifying solution. It took me a few chapters to get my head around how the process worked and I enjoyed the puzzle. I don’t read a lot of sci-fi style books but the dystopian aspect appealed to me and I am also a fan of other books from the same publisher so felt fairly confident I would enjoy this one and I wasn’t wrong.

The five minds within the commune are a real mix of personalities and not necessarily people who would choose to spend time together in normal circumstances! The spats, disagreements and upset between various members make the idea of living in this way seem quite claustrophobic and I’m not sure that I would have gone down this road were this the currently reality. Settling for less time but spending it in luxury might swing it for me! The death parks are creepy but work very well to allow this new world to proceed!

Five Minds is a different kind of escapism read. It requires concentration but it is really worthwhile giving it the time and getting your head around the commune. The story has been really well thought out and is carefully written to keep you engrossed and fully immersed. It is a mystery like no other and throws up a lot of talking points. Definitely one for a book group who fancy a challenge!

Talk about mind-blowing! I’m not usually a fan of speculative fiction but of course I love a good murder mystery. Could Guy Morpuss reel me in to his dystopian futuristic book? I bought the audio book having realised that I wasn’t going to be able to read it in time to leave a publication review and from the beginning I was captivated.

That proved to be a good decision as Joe Jameson’s narration is excellent and drew me into Guy Morpuss’ game playing futuristic world where the prize is time on your life – or in this case lives, and the penalty for losing is death.

We are in a future, not too far away, where having woken up to the destruction that we have wrought on the planet, we have come up with a novel idea to address the conservation of future resources. Flying is out for all but billionaires, but the most radical implementation has come in the way that we live our lives.

The solution is a novel take on population control. Every child lives their life as normal until the age of 17 and thereafter they are required to choose what option they want going forward.

Which option you choose dictates how long you will live – with shorter lives having added incentives. Five Minds is the story of five people who have been selected to share one body as a commune – parcelling out the hours between themselves so each gets 4 hours a day and there is 4 hours downtime. After 25 years the worn out body can be exchanged for another.

The commune personalities are chosen to work together. No individual has a say in who is part of their commune. It is possible to add time to a life, but the way to do this is risky. There are Death Parks where participants compete against each other to win added time, but the penalties for losing are severe, so it really is a last resort unless you are a born gambler. These competitions are really tricky puzzles involving VR simulations and I really got caught up in the quests and adventures that our challengers became embroiled in.

Kate, Alex, Sierra, Ben and Mike share a body. They have very different personalities and enjoy different activities. They have chosen their parcel of time to best reflect their interests. Each has a distinctive voice and a unique personality; it is simply that they share a body – which makes it interesting when it comes to relationship forming!

What makes this work is the level of detail that draws you into this high concept world. It is wholly believable and so skilfully done that it is not hard to accept the concept from the outset. Morpuss creates a world full of flawed and believable characters where it seems not at all unusual that five of them should be sharing a body. They communicate by leaving messages for each other and need to act in concert on big decisions.

When one of the commune disappears, the others try to find out what has happened to that person, only to be hampered by the fact that they have no ‘collective memory’. Not all of the 5 commune members like each other, either and there is tension between them which is exacerbated by some rogue behaviour on the part of one member.

When it becomes clear that someone is targeting the commune, they have to try and work out who that might be and why, and this forms the crux of this novel which left my head spinning and my mind blown.

Verdict: Five Minds is innovative, daring and not a little mind-blowing, but mostly it is a brilliantly plotted and highly original crime thriller. It has pace and verve and never lets the action drag for a micro-second. All the way through I was guessing and second guessing and still my mind was well and truly bamboozled. I inhaled this one. Brilliant, intense and inspirational writing from a debut author to watch!

Five Minds is an ingenious blend of sci-fi, speculative fiction and murder mystery, set in a disturbing future where global resource shortages have forced the population into accepting a drastic form of rationing, where the key currency is time. I came across it through recommendations in a couple of book groups, and was intrigued by the premise, but found the extended game sequences detracted from my general enjoyment of the main plot.

Alex, Kate, Mike, Ben and Sierra are a commune - five personalities, forced to take turns sharing one body in four hour shifts every day since the age of seventeen. They can only communicate through internal messages, and only one can be “awake” at a time. All of them except Alex have agreed to enter a Death Park, where contestants participate in simulated role-player games to compete for additional time alive. Communes - known as “schizos”, have an advantage over other contestants - if they lose their current life, they have four more bodies to inhabit for their extended lifespan, but when one of them disappears after losing a game, they come to realise that someone is changing the rules, and they are now playing for keeps.

I’m not much of a sci-fi fan, but my husband is, so I have seen a lot of the more popular movies & TV shoes in the genre, and this combined elements of Altered Carbon (I gave up after one episode - too dark, too confusing), In Time, Blade Runner and Ready Player One. The world-building was well done if not entirely logical, and the characters convincing if mostly unsympathetic. Each one describes their own experience as they cycle through their day, in past tense until they enter a game, when they shift to present tense narration - I get why, it doesn’t mean I have to like it. I’ve never been into any kind of role-player game, so found these sections a bit boring, apart from Sierra the Sociopath’s submarine simulation - probably because to me psychology is far more interesting than puzzles. I didn’t guess what was going on until the final reveal and enjoyed being wrong-footed by the clever ending.

I’m at a stage just now where I’m craving novelty in my reading choices - and this certainly delivered on that front, it was especially impressive for a debut author - I’ll be on the lookout for whatever he comes up with next.
Thanks to NetGalley and Viper books for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily.
Five Minds is available now.

Absolutely brilliant filled with twists and I did guess both of the twists but I wasn't even bothered I loved the book so much. Would love a follow up to this book to see what could happen after the events of this one. No spoilers from me. I loved it was from every characters point of view each chapter it just kept me wanting to read more. I didn't want to put the book down.

Five Minds is a high concept thriller, set in the near future where human lives are limited for environmental reasons. To reduce impact on the planet, some people choose to share a single body between five minds, called a commune. In this novel, one such commune is thrown into turmoil when one of the five disappears in a way that shouldn’t happen - has there been a murder? If so, are the innocent minds sharing a body with a murderer?

This was a great story with well differentiated characters and brilliant world-building. A recommended and original novel, but I wish there had been a happier ending.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

This is a truly original read: a dystopian sci-fi thriller. In the future the world is over populated and it has become law that you must decide as a teenager how you want to live your life. Mike, Alex, Kate, Sierra and Ben decide to live as a commune, meaning all five share one body on a time allotted basis. One of them may be a killer.

Tautly plotted and cleverly written this is a novel which requires some concentration. The characterisation is excellent and you really get inside the minds of the five protagonists. They have completely different personalities and come alive as individuals

This is a complex and compelling book which is totally rewarding.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viper Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Five Minds is an intriguing new speculative fiction by Guy Morpuss. It starts with five different characters who share the one body but who each live only four hours a day. Schizo, as they are known, are like a commune that wakes up in a different place, with no memory of the previous life. They can exchange messages but Alex, Kate, Mike, Sierra and Ben must agree in order to make decisions. Needing upgrades for their next host body, they travel to Death Park and gamble for time by solving scenarios. One of the characters then disappears, setting off a series of events and the hunt is on for a murderer. A most original and enjoyable read of a thriller that makes for a significant debut with a four-star rating. Many thanks to Serpent's Tail and the author for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes – a marvellously different story.

Five Minds is a brilliant and wholly original speculative crime thriller and Morpuss’ debut murder mystery set in the near future where, to solve the planet’s population problem and lack of earthly resources, human bodies play host to multiple minds. But it then begs the question: what if you might be sharing a body with a murderer? One body. Five minds. And one of them is a murderer. Alex wakes up. Alex brushes his teeth. Alex has breakfast. Three hours are left until Sierra takes over the body. He hopes she doesn’t damage it. And where has Mike gone? The Earth’s population explosion has finally been controlled. At the age of seventeen, every child must choose how to live the rest of their life – as a Worker (where you remain the same as you are - Human), an Android or Andi (upload your mind into an artificial body), a Hedonist (live a life of luxury but die aged 42) or to live in a Commune (live to 142 but share your body).

The choice is not only between the way in which you live but your lifespan, too. Alex, Kate, Sierra, Ben and Mike are a commune: five minds sharing one body, living for four hours each per day; they have been together for the past 25 years. Time has become a commodity to be traded and spent. In the death parks, disturbing simulated virtual reality games are played in which time can be gambled like money and won to increase lifespans, but it can also work inversely and you can have your life cut short should you lose. Every quarter of a century a commune can also play to attempt to win time to upgrade and find their next host body. During a game, one of them disappears. Have they been killed? And if so, by someone outside their body or by another member of the Commune? They are all in danger, and as they search for the answer old animosities resurface and they must find out from whom – and why – they are all under threat.

This compulsive, immersive and refreshing read is a superb classic murder mystery set in a richly imagined speculative near future world. It takes a traditional premise and doubles down – how do you catch a murderer when you might be sharing a body with them? There is plenty of action, drama, intrigue, excitement and twists throughout, and the author makes great use of misdirection to throw you off the scent; it's cleverly woven and poignant, too. This is a tale that twists reality and plays with the consequences and features multiple minds, changing allegiances and revenge. But Five Minds is not just a high concept thrill ride, it also makes you think and raises some interesting dilemmas: would you be willing to die at 42 if you never worked and lived a life of leisurely luxury? Would you trade living to 142 for being forced to share your body with four other people? Pacy, thought-provoking, character-driven noir told from the perspectives of each occupant of the body, this is a fascinating, exhilarating and entertaining read. Highly recommended.

In a dystopian future, innovative ways have been found to cope with Earth's still growing population. Natural lives are limited to 80 years, but if you want to live for longer there are options - one of which is to become part of a 'commune' sharing one body between five minds, each of which 'lives' for only an allotted period of each day. Alex, Ben, Kate, Mike and Sierra have already spent 25 years in what was Mike's body - not always amicably but near enough - and it's become time to think about their next body, and earning the credits to obtain an upgrade. That's where the Death Parks come in; here games of chance or skill can help you accumulate more time or lose it all. They expect, playing to each others strengths, to do well, but when Kate accepts a dubious challenge things start to go very wrong, and one of the commune disappears. It's soon clear that someone is trying to kill them off - but how and why? And most important 'who'?

Set in a dystopian future Five Minds is a thriller with a difference. It's a fast-paced addictive read with five personalities in one body, trying to work out who is intent on killing them, set against the backdrop of the Death Park where, in games ranging from the purely physical to more intellectual games of out-psyching one's opponent, time and lives are gambled away - and that's without the threat of gangsters and the illegal games they operate. Unputdownable is often used about thrillers, but this one definitely is!

The world-building is well thought-through, and explained enough to give it credibility without over-shadowing the story with explanations, the plotting is ingenious, the characterisation great. I loved it.
There are echoes of various sci-fi films like Andrew Niccol's In Time (with Justin Timberlake) - where time is won or lost - or James Mangold's psychological thriller Identity, starring John Cusack, but ultimately Five Minds is new and original, and like nothing I've read before. This is an astounding debut, and I look forward to whatever Guy Morpuss comes up with next.

Five Minds is a complex read about 5 people, 5 minds that share one body. In a world, where overpopulation has peaked, the solution the government has found, is that by age 17, everyone must choose how to continue (or not) their lives.

Our leading characters, Mike, Sierra, Kate, Alex and Ben all share Mike's body. They have four hours each, during the day and they communicate by private message inside their minds. This is an awesome and complex concept.

The subject is interesting, and it was a nice read. It felt like I was reading a video game. Very visual representation of what is happening and all the decisions taken, especially in the gaming parts. I felt exactly like one of the minds sharing the body. It was a hard to put the book down, because I was definitely intrigued about what was going on and where this story was headed.

So I was reasonably happy during most of my read, until the end. I was disappointed. Why? Well, because of the rhythm. It is not bad. It is constant; which is good in the beginning. After the first part, the tension got higher. And it stayed that way for most of the book. Now, with the subject and the atmosphere of the story, I was expecting some bang in the end. Like a big revelation. A tension so high, I would grip my book. And I didn't feel it. It felt flat, Not rushed. Just somehow unfinished ... I finished it with a feeling of "all of this for that."

Now, I can"t say if it is me who expected much more and didn't get what I wanted or if more people felt like that. But I was actually expecting something more.

I'd sell it into my bookstore, because it really is a nice read and I am sure a lot of people would be satisfied and love it.

Loved this. Totally mind-boggling (in a good way) and brain exploding! A very clever concept that's well executed and isn't like any other book I've read. Highly recommended by me, and I look forward to reading whatever Guy comes up with next. .

Five Minds has loads of different aspects that make it totally readable across different genres. It's a dystopian, sci-fi, mystery thriller with lots to grab your imagination.

Written from the different perspectives of the members of a commune (5 minds living together in one body, each having control of the body for 4 hours a day) the action is pacy & the characters compelling. It does take a little getting used to as the story is quick & occasionally I had to take a breath & remember who was in control of the body at that moment. I love the premise of the different options you are offered at 17, if you're intrigued head over to Guy's Five Minds website to take the test for yourself & see what would suit you. There's Commune, Hedonist, Worker or Android. I got Commune which I thought was a great choice, now I'm not so sure.

Within the story there are games that the commune play in the Death Park (somewhere you can go to accrue more time) & I loved these elements as it brought another dimension to the story & provided a little addition to the action.

Overall a fab debut that would suit lots of different tastes & I think it would make a fantastic movie, although how they distinguish the different characters within one body I'll leave up to someone else.

Five Minds is an astonishingly unique and high-intensity speculative sci-fi thriller that is a must-read if you want to experience something completely new.

The best way to describe this book is to say that reading it feels like playing a video game. I felt like I was in this body with these five minds, with my movements being controlled by a higher power and a series of trials forced upon me to make it through the day.

It wasn’t quite what I was expecting as it’s definitely more action/sci-fi than psychological. I was hoping there would be more insight into the mental state of these characters and the differences between the five minds, but it is more about their actions and motivations and trials they must face to keep adding lives to their expiry date.

Of course, you do get a great insight into these character’s minds at the same time, as Morpuss does a fantastic job of giving these five characters distinctive personalities, all while sharing the same body and appearance. But the book is much more about the world that Morpuss has created and the path these characters must take to survive it.

Although this isn’t my typical genre, I do love a dystopian setting and Morpuss’ creation is absolutely brilliant. I was worried that it would take a while for me to understand the concept and get to know the characters, but this all happens very quickly which is unusual for any book, let alone one so original and complex.

As a debut novel, this is an outstanding effort by Morpuss. I haven’t experienced a book like this before but I most definitely had a lot of fun navigating this new world. I look forward to seeing where Morpuss will take us next.

Great stuff, a different and unusual sci-fi meets detective story, well written and twisty as heck! Five minds in one body or commune as it's known, each living for four hours at a time. You do need to get your head around it but once you are in, whoa! Not my ususal type of book, very glad I gave it a go. Once the characters go into the Death Park things really kick off.and you do need to pay attention to try and work out the murderer. A good read!

I love this feeling when I'm reading a debut which is so perfect that I'm blown away! And that was definitely the case with Five Minds.

This book has everything:
-> sci-fi & dystopia + murders!
-> a set of characters which are so different and yet they're forced to work together
-> GAMES! And if you go on Guy's website you'll find several games that you can actually play
-> perfectly built world and the storylines
-> betrayal and revenge

I truly cared about the characters, I wished them all the best and hoped they're going to survive whatever was coming for them. I felt engaged in their stories and I couldn't believe how some of them could behave knowing they're stuck together for over a hundred years!

The story is fascinating, there's not a single moment when you want to put down the book. You just need to continue, even though it's a middle of the night and you should wake up at 6:30 in the morning!

The idea to build such an interesting world, the choices that people need to make at 17, the reasons why they need to make them - unique. It's terrifying because who knows what will happen in a few hundred years if we won't stop killing the planet and the science will keep developing and improving.

It was so entertaining, perfectly plotted, super enjoyable.

I've read over 150 books so far, and this one is definitely in my top of 2021.

I hope to see many more stories coming from Guy Morpuss!

Well, if you’re looking for a book that will make your head hurt and make you feel like your brain is leaking out of your ears … here it is! Oddly enough, I totally mean that in the best way possible.

At its core, ‘Five Minds‘ is a murder mystery. Plenty of those around, I hear you thinking, what’s so special about this one? Let me enlighten you. The killer might quite possibly be sharing a body with their victim. Yes, you read that right. And no, it’s nothing like party central in there.

Earth’s population had been growing completely out of control and the powers that be (whoever they are) came up with a solution. At the age of seventeen, Earthlings must choose how they will spend the rest of their lives. Alex, Kate, Sierra, Mike and Ben opted to live in a commune. Five minds sharing one body. The five visit a Death Park, a place where games are played in which you can win – or lose – lifespan. The five want to win time to upgrade to a new host body. But then Kate accepts a dangerous offer and things start to go very, very wrong.

Sounds complicated, doesn’t it? To be fair, I struggled at the beginning of this book. It was somewhat of a strange experience where I quite liked what I was reading, but I had no clue what was going on and it frustrated me. Part of me wanted to throw in the towel. Luckily, the other part was too stubborn and kept going because despite the synapses in my brain misfiring all over the place, this extremely addictive story had me utterly immersed. It was totally worth it and I’m so glad I kept reading because ‘Five Minds‘ is one of the most original and complex stories I’ve ever read.

What a genius way of turning the crime fiction genre completely onto its head! You’re going to need your full concentration for this one. These five minds work in cycles of four hours so there’s quite a bit of switching back and forth. Yet, it never gets confusing as all five have very distinct voices and attitudes. Could one of them, in a most complicated way, be a killer though? For the longest time, I was unable to figure it out.

This is one of those books where the less you say the better. I really don’t want to give anything away. You just need to dive in and discover everything for yourself. ‘Five Minds‘ is incredibly clever, full of intrigue and suspense. But also immensely thought-provoking. You can’t help but try and decide which option you would go for if they are presented to you at seventeen years of age. Heck, most days I can’t even decide what to have for dinner and that’s a far less impactful life decision to make. Pretty sure I wouldn’t want to be part of a commune though.

Read the book and get back to me with what you would choose. In the meantime, immerse yourself into this amazing world Guy Morpuss has created and be in awe when you realise that this is a debut! A debut that blows most of the current crime fiction books straight out of the water. I have no idea how Guy Morpuss is going to follow this one up but I sure can’t wait to find out.