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Title: The Fifth Harmonic by F. Paul Wilson ISBN: 1-57174-386-3 Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.78 (9 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: You could do better Paul!
Comment: Let it be known that F Paul Wilson is one of a handful of my favorite authors. He has a pleasant easy going writing style and manages to come up with some of the darndest most interesting plots in writers-ville.
Plot
Longtime dedicated Internist, Will Cecil Burleigh, MD. has just sold his lifelong practice. It seems that Will has just learned that he has a, nearly always, fatal form of Cancer, one whose prescribed treatment is so radical and so horrifyingly disfiguring that he has elected to forgo conventional treatment.
The Story
Our story opens with our protagonist in his car sitting in front of a storefront in a local retail strip center. The storefront is unmarked, except for the word HEALER in rather small writing.
Will is trying to talk himself out of going in, being the questioning cynical kind of person he is but he has promised an old patient, Savanna Walters, who was herself diagnosed with a troubling case of Big C but now seemed to be cured, that he would see this, what? Alternative Doctor? New Age Practitioner? Shamen? Con Artist? Healer? After all Savanna claimed she saved her life.
Upon entering, the good doctor meets Maya Quennell and is smitten with her beauty. She is ostensibly in her late thirties with dark hair and skin and jade colored eyes. The offspring of a Mayan maiden and a French journalist born in Algeria and raised in France and America.
After examining Will on two separate occasions, Maya informs him that she cannot cure him that only Mother Earth can and that his only chance of survival is to stop being a skeptic (it interferes with her kind of healing) and unload all his earthly possessions, give half to charity, put half in a trust for his daughter and go with her to Mexico for treatment.
Well, this is too much for a logical person to accept so Will says sorry, to which Maya says you must, "Gaea" (Mother Earth) wills it and and she smiles on you and will give you a sign.
After an abbreviated trip to wine country in France, Will receives what he takes as a sign.
Back in the USA, Though still skeptical, Will agrees to go with Maya but being the practical person he is, hires a private investigator to check Maya out. What he finds out manages to confuse rather than clarify and the investigator says he will keep investigating after Will leaves and update him via email.
So off Will and Maya go, to what Maya calls Mesoamerica an area between the Yucatan Peninsula and the Pacific Ocean, the original home of the Mayan people on a jungle adventure and a date with "Gaea" during the full Moon, to try and save Will's life.
Conclusion
First of all the book is a little short, being only 213 pages long. That itself isn't so bad but the story suffered for it by not getting developed as good as I know Wilson is capable of doing. It almost seems like he was in a hurry to finish.
Personally, and I'm not going to let this influence my rating, I thought the story was a little hoaky, though it flowed well and was an entertaining and fast read. Ultimately it smacked of science fiction. Now I have no problem with science fiction, I just like it to be more definitive and not be merged with an adventure/medical thriller.
If I've led you to believe I didn't like the book that much, I'm sorry. I did like the book. It is a quick, fun, easy read but it's not up to Wilson's usual standards. Don't be surprised to see a sequel or two following.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Fifth Harmonic
Comment: The Fifth Harmonic: A Novel
F. Paul Wilson
Hampton Roads Publishing Company
213 pgs. $22.95
The Fifth Harmonic, the new novel by F. Paul Wilson, is one of those books that reviewers find very difficult to categorize. Part globe-trotting adventure, part "new age" spiritual journey, and part medical thriller, it is all of these things, and yet something more, something unique, as well.
The Fifth Harmonic is the story of Will Burleigh, a dedicated doctor who finds himself diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of throat cancer. Unwilling to accept traditional treatments, Will is convinced by a former patient to pursue an alternative form of medicine, and consults a mysterious healer known as "Maya." Will's acceptance of his own mortality and his exploration of Maya's unorthodox methods form the basis of the novel, which follows Will and Maya's journey into the jungles of Mexico and South America as they search for the five elemental "harmonics" needed to cure Will's cancer.
F. Paul Wilson is a talented novelist, and The Fifth Harmonic ranks among the best of his recent works. While a "new age thriller" may seem on the surface to be a bit of a departure for Wilson, The Fifth Harmonic actually treads ground that faithful Wilson fans will easily recognize. For example, there are elements of the mysterious and supernatural scattered throughout, and Wilson's background as a practicing physician certainly lends credence to the medical aspects of the book. Like the majority of Wilson's work, however, it isn't the genre elements or detailed research that makes the novel stand out. Instead, it is his creation of complex and believable characters - characters that the reader really comes to identify with and care about -- that ultimately makes the novel hard to put down. While some readers may find the "new age" subtext of the novel a bit off-putting, Wilson certainly never preaches to his readers, and seems to be more intent on asking questions than giving any concrete answers. Perhaps, as a physician himself, he realizes the importance of coming to one's own decisions, rather than having them "force-fed" by an expert.
In the end, The Fifth Harmonic is an interesting and colorful adventure novel, with enough philosophy to be thought-provoking, and enough suspense and thrills to keep readers turning pages until late into the night.
Rating: 5
Summary: An exciting adventure you shouldn't miss
Comment: F. Paul Wilson is one of the best storytellers of our time. I've been a huge fan for years. The Fifth Harmonic is a departure from his other books, but what a fantastic departure it is!
Will Burleigh, MD has a particularly aggressive form of cancer where the treatment is almost as bad as the illness. His prognosis is grim. Even though Dr. Burleigh is a man of science, a man of reason and facts, he decides to give an "alternative" healing method a try. It's not a leap of faith, because he has no faith at all. It's a move spurred by desperation and his fascination with an exotic woman named Maya. Together they embark on an unforgettable spiritual adventure that will keep you turning the pages with anticipation. Wilson's characters are complex and appealing. The setting - Mesoamerica - is a character in itself. His descriptions of the Maya, their country and their history are captivating.
The Fifth Harmonic is exciting, fresh and thoroughly entertaining. I highly recommend this book whether you are already a fan of his or even if you have never read any of his books before. I assure you that you will turn into a fan after reading this gem!
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Title: Gateways by F. Paul Wilson ISBN: 0765306905 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Midnight Mass (WILSON, F PAUL) by F. Paul Wilson ISBN: 0765307057 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Sims by F. Paul Wilson ISBN: 0765305518 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Crisscross by F. Paul Wilson ISBN: 1887368701 Publisher: Gauntlet Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 2004 List Price(USD): $55.00 |
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Title: The Haunted Air by F. Paul Wilson ISBN: 0312878680 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 18 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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