On the good side, The Fifth Man by James Lapore did not try to glamorize or whitewash criminals. The main characters are the leader of a crime family and his son, with other side characters like the Russians, Chechen spies, Greeks, American friends and family. None of them comes across as anyone you would want to spend time with or trust for a moment to do anything that does not benefit their long term goals.
On the bad side, it was not clear what those long term goals were for any of the characters. We get a hint that Chris Massi, the family leader, had government connections and backing, and his side kick Max Green could connect with unnamed intelligence sources. Chris’ children, Matt and Tess, were both smart and physically appealing, highly educated, aware but not involved in their father’s “business”.
The Fifth Man is short enough that I read it in an evening. That was a good thing.
Matt and Chris were aware that murder is wrong, aware that they were making pivotal choices, but that was it. There was no ambivalence about immorality, no care for their souls nor the harm they did to themselves and others.
I thought several times about putting it down since the characters were so unappealing, but I was curious exactly who was doing what and why. Unfortunately we don’t learn the real motivations or even the full plot(s). Some characters ended up dead whom I thought were helpers and the back story didn’t make a ton of sense.
Supposedly Chris saw the face of a Russian intelligence leader, the Wolf, and thus the Wolf wanted him dead. OK, that’s clear. Bu the convoluted plot and set up didn’t match that simple goal. The Wolf wanted Chris dead and apparently all his works and family with him.
The ending sums up the overall flavor of the book: People died and no one gained.
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