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Title: The Fifth Profession
ISBN: 0446515620
Author:
David Morrell
Publicate Date: 1990-05-01
Publish: 1990-05-01
List Price: $41.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $34.61
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Hard to put down
Spy intrigue in the days between morse coded messages and ubiquitous cellphones, overtones of The Manchurian Candidate, still almost sci-fi medicine at the time, a love story through hell, and you have The Fifth Profession.
There are a few typos in the paperback's English printing (no idea about the Japanese). Some easy to correct in your mind, some not.
I agree with some that the plot wraps up rather quickly, but the author does not close the book like a movie with captions over black or character photos/videos (in other words, a dry historical account of what happened). I can't go into specifics without spoiling the ending, but I don't get the overwhelming impression the author was trying to meet a deadline, rather his characters were trying to get to, and away from, their own destinies.
I would definitely pick up another one of Morrell's older books if I found it on the discount rack, as I did with The Fifth Profession.
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2: Keeps You Reading
There is something about David Morrell's style--he's just very readable. This book concerns two executive protectors who get themselves into a strange situation where they cannot judge what reality is or what their memories are. It's an interesting read and it keeps your interest till the end.
As a side note, you learn a heck of a lot about Japan's history and the lore of the samurai. Quite interesting and enjoyable. A recommended novel.
I will make a point now of comparing this book with Dennis Lehane's "Shutter Island". Both concern main characters who cannot judge if their memories are correct or not. Lehane just doesn't keep your interest in his book [but Mystic River is awesome] while Morrell ALWAYS holds your interest. I've read two Morrell's in a row and have two more ready.
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3: Inane, corny
The book has a certain zany energy to it, but the plot is inane and the writing is incredibly corny. I couldn't even listen to it as an audio book. If you're interested in the Japanese underworld read Barry Eisler's John Rain series instead.
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4: Highs and Lows
As an aspiring author of espionage/action fiction, I was referred to the writings of David Morrell. What I've discovered...
PROS: He has an exceptional talent for describing settings--often briefly, yet just detailed enough to make them realistic. Wooded hills. Bustling cities. European villages. His favorite technique is to use short, fragmented sentences. Like this. Because. It's fast and confusing, immediate. A sense of urgency--abruptly (2 words he loves to use, incidentally). Yes, he has a real talent for action, weaving in and out of scenes. I was quite captivated.
Morrell's other gift is to interweave background history and information (expository writing) within clips of dialogue. This is sometimes difficult for writers, because it can come off as dry, insipid lumps of prose.
CONS: Unfortunately, Morrell frequently exceeds his talents. One wooded hill blends into another. His fragmented sentences... Leave you. Gasping for air (in a bad way). His "Who dunnit?" tricks of repeating the same questions over and over, having characters regurgitate the same pestering facts, while ending scenes only to begin with the same silly dilemma, over and over, surpass the "suspense" and "tension" for which these tricks were designed. Instead they become simply aggravating, as if he's run of out of material and needs to fill 400 pages.
More than that, I often felt he was condescending to us readers. Are we mentally handicapped and need every new page to reiterate ever last page we read?
Which brings me to dialogue. Basically...well, he stinks. For such a "best-selling" author, he had me writhing in pain, cursing the flat, cookie-cutter characters and their absolutely, horrific interactions. "I'll follow you to hell," says the female, upon the first few minutes of meeting the protagonist. I knew right then I was in hell.
I found myself flipping through pages, scanning entire chapters, seeing the dread quotation marks (" "), which signaled, warning: bad dialogue. Keep flipping. In fact, I think this book could've been 150 pages, and it would've been much tighter and suspenseful. The female character? A prop. Useless. And the ending? As fast his urgency to end the drama and collect a paycheck. Abruptly.
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5: My first and last David Morrell novel
This book features an incredibly lame plot and even lamer dialog that is so corny it almost seems like parody. Then there is the obnoxious phrase that two of the main characters say to one another ad nauseum: "But...(dramatic pause, I assume) I saw you die!" I wish they had seen ME die so I wouldn't have had to finish reading this idiotic book. Take out this phrase and the 500 page book would probably be reduced to 450 pages. This was the first - and last - David Morrell book I will read.
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