On the Fifth Day
by: A. J. Hartley
Published by: Berkley Books
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Reviewed by Patricia E. Reid
War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death are not just words in On The Fifth Day. The words are the names of people who are vicious beyond belief.
Thomas Knight, a teacher in Chicago, has just been fired. He has reached a point so low that he even contemplates suicide. Then he teaches of his brother’s death on a far-away island. Tom’s brother, Ed Knight was a priest. Tom and Father Ed had grown apart. Tom has also been apart from his wife Kumi for several years. He partially blames Father Ed for this separation.
Tom begins a search to discover the cause of Ed’s death and finds himself in danger immediately. A person or persons are determined that Tom find out nothing. Every door that Tom opens seems to be closed to him. He finally contacts his wife Kumi, who warns him to stop his search. While staying with Father Jim at the rectory where Father Ed was assigned, he is not only approached by a person who threatens him and goes through Ed’s belongings—but he is visited by members of Homeland Security.
Tom feels that he has no choice but to follow the trail that Father Ed took and try and make sense of his death as well as discover what Father Ed was seeking. Tom begins in Italy but travels from there to Japan and on to the Philippines. He is never alone. War, Pestilence, Famine and Death seem always to be hovering near. They take on different disguises so he has no idea who he can really trust.
Eventually Tom does learn the truth and sets his mind at rest but his journey to the truth is long and filled with danger—not just danger to himself but danger to everyone who befriends him.
The locations Tom visits and the history revealed in the book make for fascinating reading. Hartley has wonderful pictures on his web site(but the pictures are to be viewed only by those who have read the book).
Armchair Interviews says: Mixture of murder and history and travel, all well written, make this a 5-star read.
Author’s Web site: http://www.AJHartley.net
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