It’s Valentine’s Day in London and Hampstead Heath is filled with people celebrating the holiday. Suddenly a fight breaks out between a man and woman as they start to yell at each other. This argument then leads to violence that leaves the woman dead and then the man proceeds to commit suicide.

There were five strangers that had observed the entire incident. One of them, Jen Hunter, is a journalist and instinctually questions the facts of the event they had witnessed. Is there more to the story than a simple lover’s quarrel gone wrong?

E.V. Adamson has created a fantastic thriller that will pull you in and keep you guessing. I loved the fast pace and the alternating POV between Bex and Jen, this kept me fully engaged from beginning to end. It was a mental puzzle with all of the pieces falling into place one by one. I can highly recommend this one to thriller/mystery fans!

Many thanks to Scarlet and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Thank You to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of five strangers in exchange for an honest review. This book was not what I expected. I thought it would be about five stranger solving a mystery, but it did not quite turn out like that. The main characters were two women that have been best friends forever and had been through some trauma’s together. I could not identify with either one of those characters, thus the book was not really to my liking. I think other people may like it. It is well written

The title makes it sound like it’s going to be about 5 strangers working together to figure out some mystery. It’s not. In fact, I found the “strangers” that were there with the main character to be a second thought distraction.
Fun story, but it depended on coincidences to pull it off.

A seemingly random murder in broad daylight, surrounded by people visiting the park. But did they really see what they think they saw?
This book was just ok to me. I felt that the pacing was off and it was a little predictable. However, the twist at the end caught me a bit by surprise. Overall, I will give this book 3 stars. I only connected with a few of the characters, and it’s hard when the main character is so blind to everyone around her.

Two unreliable narrators, a brutal crime scene, seven witnesses! Here’s our main question : are those witnesses also reliable?

But…What if their perceptions are also distorted! What if what they think they’ve seen is a lie, an illusion, an orchestrated play?

It seemed like a peaceful Valentine’s Day at London’s Hampstead Heath with its gravy hills and breathtaking views. Couples holding hands, planning romantic dinners, looking at the beautiful London-skyline. But a shout cuts the peaceful silence that couples share: 28 years old Daniel Oliver starts screaming at his 26 years old girlfriend Victoria De Silva, threatening to kill her, smashing broken Champagne bottle into her mouth. A brave middle aged bystander Jamie wrestles the bottle off him but Daniel takes out his knife to finish what he’s started, slashing his lover’s and his own throat.

Jamie: hedge fund manager who couldn’t stop him this time, his boyfriend Alex who videotaped the traumatic event, Ayesha Ahmed: 25 years old young doctor who performs CPR to save them, Julia Jones: middle aged, Labour MP gets startled after witnessing this horrible crime, unidentified young black man and a jogger passing by were the witnesses alongside Jen Hunter who was there to meet her friend Bex.

Jen Hunter is also one of our unreliable narrators of this story. She was a journalist, writing a popular column about her personal life till she suffered from a nervous breakdown and got sagged.

But the tragic event she’s witnessed opens can of worms and intrigues her to write a special article from the entire witnesses’ perspectives and when an anonymous Twitter account starts texting to warn her Daniel is not the one killed his girlfriend, she decides to dig out more. Could all those witnesses make a terrible mistake? Could they be misled?

Jen gets intrigued because this story gives her a chance to make a fresh start. She can return back to her writing job. She can have a chance to make things right with her ex Lawrence.

But her overprotective friend Bex is so worried that she can have another nervous breakdown and she keeps eye on her friend by watching her every move because somebody is already after her to threaten her life!

I’m not giving away more. There are so many twists in this book. The big one is foreseeable but the last one was one played. The entire conclusion was a little far fetched but I always admire great written, sick, dark obsession stories and balanced pacing, riveting development of the book still kept me on my toes.

There are still some plot holes and some too exaggerated explanations but I’m still rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 cat-mouse game, manipulative, mind bending, pathological liar stars.

I couldn’t put this delicious mystery down. It was so much fun to read!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Scarlet for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Five Strangers.

The premise was interesting but sadly the plot failed to keep my interest.

I also found the title misleading; this isn't really about the perspectives of five strangers who witness a brutal attack in a park.

This is really about the co-dependent relationship between two women, Jen and Bex.

Bex and Jen are unsympathetic characters; the former is Single White Female-ing her BFF, and the latter is a weak, wishy washy, unremarkable middle-aged woman.

In many ways, these two deserve each other because they're sad sacks.

The plot is convoluted, unbelievable and based on ridiculous coincidence.

The narrative is 50 pages too long (at least), bloated with insight into Bex's childhood and filler from the five strangers.

It also didn't help that I didn't care about Bex so her past didn't interest me.

There is no urgency or suspense, and the 'threats' Jen face are cliche; mean tweets from a creepy handle; red herrings that an ex is behind all of Jen's troubles; Jen believing she's being followed.

The premise had potential but the final result didn't live up to it.

Massive surprise! I was hoping for it to be good of course, but I thought this might be a bit generic and wasn't that sure. It did everything perfectly. The writing, the plot, the narrative, the characters, everything! And this it where you see that the difference between a good novel and a great one, are not always about big things, but more in the way the author handle every little details in it and Adamson does it like a master. I definitely recommend it!

This book will definitely make you think about relationships and what our childhood and friendships mean. Jen and Bex, both had tragedy at a young age, bond as friends but it seems like they have much different ways of coping!! Lots of twisty plots and unexpected danger and it’s a who’s who til the startling end!!
#FiveStrangers#NetGalley

I was not at all prepared for how much I would enjoy Five Strangers!
It is a gorgeous February day, actually, Valentine’s Day and Jen Hunter is waiting for her friend Bex at Hampstead Heath. A day for love turns tragic with no warning as a man murders the woman he was with and then commits suicide. For the five witnesses, it is something that will affect each of their lives and something that none of them will ever forget.
Jen had lost her job and her boyfriend, and even if she was not already having an awful day, this tragedy will have unimaginable repercussions for her. She receives a message asking her if she is certain about what happened at the park. At first, convinced this is obviously someone's idea of a cruel joke, events soon lead her on a journey to find the truth. Is it possible that the five of them have somehow been deceived?
Her investigation uncovers many secrets but as she digs deeper, she slowly fears that she is either losing her grip on reality or that someone once very close to her wants her dead. The more I learned about Jen, the more I questioned whether or not she was an unreliable narrator or if something more sinister was occurring. Told from Jen and Bex's POVs, I found out how far someone would go to fulfill their own sick agenda as I flew through the pages.
You know how you can love a book but also dislike writing a review because you don't want to give anything away. Yep, this is that book. All I will say is that this story took off in a way I never expected.4.5 stars.

WOW! I have to say I enjoyed this book way more than I anticipated. I would give it a good 4.5 rating! In five strangers, we follow Jen Hunter, who on a random Valentines Day, witnesses a horrible incident along with other strangers, but what did they actually witness and what else is there to it?
I completely fell in love with the storyline! As soon as I started it, I couldn't put it down! My only issue with it was I felt like a lot of things were spoiled really early on in the book, but I guess the point was more to see how things would unfold? rather than uncover the WHO in this book. Apart from that I found the story to be very addicting!
4 likes

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

The opening scene, where the five strangers witness a murder-suicide, was well done, and I thought the story was going to be about the unreliability of eye witnesses. Instead it featured disturbed characters, committing disturbing and unlikely acts. Jen, the main protagonist, had apparently previously been paid an astronomical amount for writing a confessional column, but had been sacked. Her friend Bex apparently worked for the planing department, but never did a stroke of work. Instead the two roamed about London constantly following other people and each other. People kept revealing their deepest secrets to Jen, knowing she was a journalist, and then asking her not to print what they had said. There were so many unbelievable coincidences and examples of mental ill-health that by the end I would have believed anything of any one.

It left a bad taste in the mouth.

I was really excited to read this after seeing the synopsis, but ultimately it did meet up to my expectations. Five strangers witness a brutal murder-suicide of a couple on Valentine’s Day. Jen Hunter, a recently fired journalist sees an opportunity to investigate the incident after she begins to question what she actually saw. The title was a little misleading as this story mainly focuses on the relationship and perspectives of Jen and her best friend, Bex. The other 'strangers' played a minor part in comparison. This story had the potential to be really good as there were lots of twists and turns along the way, but some were just truly implausible and pretty ridiculous, especially the ending.

This is one of the most interesting books I’ve read so far this year. It’s largely a book about perspective and the perspective of five different characters. Does perspective equal truth? This book does a great job of answering that.

Thank you NetGalley, Scarlet and Author for this advance ebook copy!

This amazing gripping story was fabulous! I was so intrigued by the description I had to try and get my hands on this ebook copy!.
If you like a book with twists and turns then you will like this one.
Once again I love books about reporters and journalists. They are fascinating to me!
This book has different perspectives which I liked!
The writing flowed great. Easy to keep up with!
And that ending..... Wow so didn't see that one coming!

Great, entertaining, interesting, gripping, compelling book!

Ill post to my Goodreads and Bookstagram account closer to pub date!