The Fifth Profession

This book started out great, mystery intrigue spying and bodyguard-ing. Then it took a left turn out of interesting into crazy town. Spoiler Alert* Their brains were messed with. So it goes on and on and on Matrix style with is this a dream is this a real memory or is this fabricated. Chapter after chapter as they are chased and chase people. Oh and then all of a sudden the woman who was saved is suddenly and inexplicably in love with our protagonist. Seriously there is hardly any meaningful con [...]

Started off good, got kinda annoying, got annoying, got dumb, got retarded, got jesus fucking christ./

The book starts off like an action flick from the 80’s which stars two heroes and a heroine oozes sexuality. Since one of them is a Caucasian and the other a Japanese, I am going to assume for Hollywood’s sake that we will put in Mel Gibson and Chow Yun Fat as the protagonists. The movie trailers tell us that one of them is a Navy SEAL and the other is trained in the Samurai arts. They are executive protectors of the first order and both get sent on a mission to Greece. You settle in with po [...]

While many of the elements of fiction I loved were in place, interesting protagonists, intriguing settings, brain-bending true-to-life science (neuroscience), spies, assassins, questionable memories, martial arts, and moving action, I felt the end lacked something. It didn't feel like the most powerful ending that Morrell could have written. On the whole, I liked the book and will lend it out to my friends. I learned a lot, though, about Executive Protectors, tradecraft, Japan, and Japanese Cult [...]

p450: savage shook his head fiercely, as if strong enough denial would erase the carnage around him, would made the corpses disappear second morrell;it reads like ludlum's bourne crossed with the wachowskis' the matrix;well, maybe minus the transgender part

An interesting tangle of plot and character as Morrell flashes between past, present and false memories. A great fast paced read, possibly slightly less violent than some of his other books.

This is the 2nd time I read this book. The first time was way back when I was in college. All I remembered was that I had found the book to be awesome then. Well after hundreds of thrillers later, thousands of life experiences later, a few paradigm shifts in my personal outlook towards life, I enjoyed the book but not THAT much. What I had once labelled as awesome has now fallen back into being a good "One Time Read" page turner.The plot is a bit far-fetched. It starts off in a furious and lucid [...]

or a moral, but it needs to be bloody, and it needs to be fun. This book is both of those things, and in spades.It is also deeply, and unintentionally, silly.It doesn't seem that way, at first. There's an intro about the importance and glorious history of professional protectors, in both Eastern and Western cultures. Then we get our hero, Savage, starting a new rescue assignment. Then we get a flashback, which starts very wellAnd ends with a moment so OTT it becomes splat-stick.Back to the prese [...]

What a missed opportunity. Morrell is probably one of the sloppiest bestselling writers around. While the story could have been cool, the book is bogged down by his repetitive writing style - what's up with those karate-callused hands in every second paragraph and Morrell's obsession with people tasting bile on a constant basis - to name only a few.On top of that he forgets and drops an entire major plot line halfway through the novel and offers up a finale that makes neither sense nor does it o [...]

Savage and Akira, “protectors,” aka bodyguards, aka "The Fifth Profession," are severely injured at a meetingbut when they compare notes, each saw the other killed—in fact, beheaded, right after their client was killed. Problem: all are still alive. False memories via surg procedure. Sidebar of love story with Rachel. Just too many wild improbabilities for me, leaps of illogicad when I was done that it was over.

This might be the worst book I have ever read. It does have some entertainment value in being the WORST book I have ever read, but not even enough to gain it a half star.Morrell wrote this nearly 30 years ago, inventing computer and medical capabilities that do not exist now, yet alone then. Enter characters and an author obsessed with self disembowelment -- it is mentioned no fewer than seven times -- in the service of some billionaire. But that isn't even the stupid story.It is a story of two [...]

Had to stop halfway."corny" comes to mind.

The beginning was really great til about halfway through. Then the premise got rather confusing. (that's an understatement) but on the whole I did enjoy the book.

Remember, one man's bookflap summary can be another man's spoiler.The fifth profession, according to author David Morrell, is "protector" - after hunter, farmer, prostitute, politician. By which I think he means that after we have met our physical and sexual needs, then we strive to acquire goods and power -- and then, we need guards so that other people won't take our goods or topple our power.The key character is a man named Savage, and that's just the one-word name he's chosen to use when doi [...]

How do you tell if a book has samurai in it? Don't worry, they'll put a katana on the cover. A book about ninjas is a little harder, since they are invisible to anyone that hasn't just been killed by a ninja. How do you tell if a book is a thriller? Don't worry, they'll put a gun on the cover.Professional protectors - the fifth profession. get it! - Savage and Akira are teamed up to protect a travelling businessman. Things go horribly wrong and Savage is beaten to a pulp after seeing the busines [...]

I read this book many years ago (most likely more than once) and I really liked it, so when I saw it in my mom's bookshelf I borrowed it to re-read it. Morrell's style of writing is quite straight-forward, so it's easy to read.The story is interesting and thrilling, I like that we get to learn a bit more about Japanese culture and history and I find the idea of modern samurais kind of cool. We get the story about two men who work as executive protectors, Savage who is American and Akira who is J [...]

I REALLY tried to be patient with this author [David Morrell], I thought I could get past his endless attempts to try and show he had researched his books and CONSTANTLY seemed to delight in stuffing examples of this into his book by having one character explain yet another thing to another character, I thought I could get past the way his characters seemed to speak like they were in a really bad 70s movie, but I lost it when towards the end of this book, one of the main two characters is behead [...]

A novel about a man who is a protector is hired to rescue a woman from an abusive husband. As the mission progresses, he sees a person who is suppose to be dead which leads to many unanswered questions. This book had plenty of action to keep the reader interested. I enjoyed the first half book much more than the second half. The second half had more to do with the conspiracy and to me, the conspiracy became too much. I did enjoy the aspects of Japanese life that was in this book. If you are goin [...]

The first fiction book I've read in a long while. It started off like a standard, but competently executed thriller. Then, it took an unexpected and very intriguing twist. Then, it became one of the most cringe-inducing absurdities I've read in a long time. The constant assertiveness of Rachel's soft breasts. The clumsy exoticization of Japanese history and culture. The stupid characterization of Akira. "Call me Savage! Because that's how I feel!" (the dude had previously taken the pseudonym of [...]

I read this one in college some twenty years ago. I can't remember much, but it still resonates. A bodyguard rescues a movie star's sister from her abusive Greek husband's island fortress. There's also a modern day Japanese Samurai the bodyguard teams up with. There's also something about false memories not to mention the hit teams pursuing them. Give it a shot.Reviewed by, David Feeney, author; Terror on the high seas

It was a pretty decent book over all. It did an excellent job the reader in suspense until the end of the book. My major complaint with the book was that the author seemed very fond of particular descriptive phrases. These phrases appeared way too many times in my opinion. "Karate calloused hands", "Sad, melancholy eyes", "Jamais vu". It was so repetitive it became very annoying. You would think a professional writer could come up with different words for essentially describing similar situation [...]

Poorly written, the dialogue alone is similar to watching bad acting in a "B" movie. Having done some fairly heavy reading lately, I thought I'd try something light but this is a perfect example of why I generally (though not always) stay away from modern fiction. Side note: many uses of Jesus' name as a swear word and a couple scenes of smut, both of which I find very completely unnecessary and offensive. With all of these issues (and more), I'll not be picking up any more works by Mr. Morrell. [...]

I remember starting this book a while ago and then losing the copy somehow. Having finally completed it, I am not sure I read it. Cant remember which is reality and which is my imagination. And that's what this book is all about. The plot is very interesting and extremely well handled but the climax is a major let down and frankly am not sure Morrell could have done much more. Anyways, a good read and worth spending time on.

Great book! David Morrell pens some great stories. They seem somewhat unique to me, not so much in plot or characters themselves, but how the story is crafted; how the plot develops and the action within the story. A lot of action, fast paced, moving quickly from chapter to chapter. I can't compare this writer to any other I've read so far. He definitely has a distinct style and one I am quite pleased with. I look forward to my next Morrell book.

executive protectors are hired. they watch like body guards or help others out. the main character rescues a woman from her abusive husband and starts a ball rolling on who wants who killed. the main character and a ninja he meets has to find out why each other thought they saw the other die 6 months ago.

A fast paced trip through, Japan, Europe and the U.S.A. with some good plot turns, interesting twists and lots of actions. The life of an “executive protector” is always interesting, but what do you do when everything you have known to be true turns out to be a lie. That’s the question facing Savage and Akira in novel.

At one time, The Fifth Profession was the bestselling book of Morrell's career. While not my personal favorite of his, with The Brotherhood of the Rose and The Fraternity of the Stone still my two favorite works of fiction ever written, The Fifth Profession is an exciting read that never lets up and takes the reader on a journey into a foreign world that many have never encountered.

I really like the David Morrell books and have read quite a few over the years. This one is about two bodyguards who are connected by a previous job and each thought the other was dead coming together to ry and solve the mystery and put the pieces together. It was published in the early 90s so now seems a bot old fashioned but it is still a very decent read if you like espionage or thrillers.

I really liked the book it was very original and interesting. It does make you pay attention otherwise you may get lost because it involves alot of plot turns in the beggining. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes action, mystery, and originality.

Morrell tops nearly every author in terms of orchestrating a plot that really intrigues and stays ahead of the reader's predictions. Some suspension of disbelief is required here, but the plot helps make up for this.